Some Thoughts - So Damn Proud Of Our Football Program Today

[ShotgunDawg]

What a hellacious win.

- With a normal coaching staff & an experienced QB, I think we are about 14-17 points better than Louisville. We have SEC DL & OL & they don't. It was that simple. We may have had better players at about 18-20 positions on the field. Considering the circumstances though, hell of a win. Other than going to #1, I'm not sure I've been prouder of the Mississippi State football program.

- WTF was Dan Mullen thinking? Very rarely in any sport do you see coaches take a new job when they have a young player like Keytaon & the right culture. Still seems odd to me. In any event though, I do thank Dan for building a sustainable program & the right culture. No matter your personal feelings, he left us in a great spot.

- Thank you to Greg Knox, Ron English, Looney, Elliott, Buckley, & the GAs. You guys could've half assed it but you didn't. You were professionals & did your job at a high level. Thank you & I hope MSU people don't forget this.

- Additionally, today's game tells an awful lot about the leadership in our athletic program & in the president's office. In a leadership vacuum, they were able to identify the right people to work through the process with flying colors. We kept our recruiting class & won a bowl game against a quality team. It literally could not have gone better.

- Joe Moorhead is taking over one hell of a football program with the RIGHT culture. Culture isn't tested when things are going well. It's tested in crisis. Although we lost the Egg Bowl due to unforeseen circumstances, from the moment Fitz went down, he showed leadership & others showed leadership. It is often said that the best programs & teams are those that can police themselves & do not need the coaches to do it for them. This bowl & the preparation for it shows that MSU football has the right locker room & culture to win a championship. In the equivalent of a power vacuum with the substitute teach running practice, meetings, game plan, etc, our players got it done. They were ready to play & held each other accountable. This cannot be understated or taken for granted. Our locker room polices itself.

- Keytaon Thompson, LOL. He is a complete & total bad ass on the football field. I completely now understand why we signed Whop & why he wanted to follow Key. He knew. I agree with C34, Fitz is a 5th year SR, with tons of experience, & will be the starter for the 2018 season, but we are good after he leaves. Key is a star. For comparison sake, he has it. He is more accurate than Fitz, has better, quicker feet, more burst, & throws a more catchable ball.

- In the 2nd half, every offensive player on the field will be here in 2018. Eiland is really good & took over for Rankin in the 2nd half.

- Really excited about Kylin Hill. I thought he looked even better today than he did in the season. Has burst and moves. My guess is that he & Aeris split things about 50/50 next year.

- Lastly, Moorhead is in an interesting spot. It is very rare that new head coaches take over a program that has so many things going right for it. Usually, coaches have to come in & rebuild everything in their own image. While I totally agree that Moorhead has to make this program his & put his imprint on it, I hope that respects, appreciates, & desires to keep the current identity. I'm really excited about what Moorhead can do to make the offense more explosive (No real big plays today for us) & the new WRs should offer him plenty of fire power to do so, but MSU is a physical, smash mouth program that needs to continue to play that way. Adjust some things, improve the explosiveness of the offense, but keep the same identity & culture as best he can. It's a tough task, but with so much right in our program, it would be dumb to revamp the thing.

- I absolutely love the off season momentum this gives us & we better 17ing sell out of season tickets for the 2018 season. Our defense should be lights out & we've got two deep of play makers all over the offense. We will finish 2017 in the top 20 & should begin 2018 in the top 12. Then in 2019 with Keytaon taking over & all those WRs plus Kylin, we'll be bad ass then as well.

[Commercecomet24]

Great assessment, agree completely. I might add our secondary played very well today too. Allowed 13 for 31 with 4 picks, pretty dang good. I?m most impressed by the leadership in that locker room. I said it in the game thread, on bad teams no one leads, on good teams coaches lead on elite teams players lead. We got leaders. We have some very impressive young men in that locker room. Future is bright!

[BrunswickDawg]

all great points Shotgun.

I want to add - let?s not start talking ourselves into a QB controversy for the next 7 months. Key is the future, and it is bright, but Fitz is a 5th Senior and has proven himself time and time again. We need to stay united as a fan base and not start downing a great player and leader because ?the backup is better?. Key will get his time.

[ShotgunDawg]

all great points Shotgun.

I want to add - let?s not start talking ourselves into a QB controversy for the next 7 months. Key is the future, and it is bright, but Fitz is a 5th Senior and has proven himself time and time again. We need to stay united as a fan base and not start downing a great player and leader because ?the backup is better?. Key will get his time.

Completely agree

[Commercecomet24]

all great points Shotgun.

I want to add - let?s not start talking ourselves into a QB controversy for the next 7 months. Key is the future, and it is bright, but Fitz is a 5th Senior and has proven himself time and time again. We need to stay united as a fan base and not start downing a great player and leader because ?the backup is better?. Key will get his time.

This is correct. Key is gonna be a heckuva of a qb for us in the future but Fitz is the man in 18 and he?s gonna be hell to deal with in JoMo offense. We have 2 great qbs and that?s awesome?

[TrapGame]

About your Mullen point. Rarely will a coach leave a team this loaded for a "new challenge". Dan is a selfish, arrogant prick that was put on a short leash by Cohen. He could have sucked it up, been an adult and made the changes that were asked of him. Instead he got his ego bruised and thought he was better than Cohen, Keenum and MSU football as a whole. So, the real challenge Mullen is looking for is a football program big enough to contain his enormous ego.

He left a damn good team that is going to beat a mud hole in his new teams' ass September 29th. I hope his ego can take it.

[Mutt the Hoople]

About your Mullen point. Rarely will a coach leave a team this loaded for a "new challenge". Dan is a selfish, arrogant prick that was put on a short leash by Cohen. He could have sucked it up, been an adult and made the changes that were asked of him. Instead he got his ego bruised and thought he was better than Cohen, Keenum and MSU football as a whole. So, the real challenge Mullen is looking for is a football program big enough to contain his enormous ego.

He left a damn good team that is going to beat a mud hole in his new teams' ass September 29th. I hope his ego can take it.

You know what pissed me off? I was looking at Mullen's house he's trying to sell in Starkvegas. It's a freaking PALACE! A $1.3 million house that would probably be $10 million in Florida or California.

Yet, he hated State and hated us SO much, that he spent YEARS trying to get out of that beautiful home.

[Todd4State]

Great assessment, agree completely. I might add our secondary played very well today too. Allowed 13 for 31 with 4 picks, pretty dang good. I?m most impressed by the leadership in that locker room. I said it in the game thread, on bad teams no one leads, on good teams coaches lead on elite teams players lead. We got leaders. We have some very impressive young men in that locker room. Future is bright!

That's a pretty impressive saying. I like that.

[Tbonewannabe]

Key does give us the ability to rest Fitz some. He should be able to take a series or two against someone like UK or UM next year. If we are up by 2 TDs then give Key a series.

[Todd4State]

I agree we are in great shape and we don't need to rebuild...but a reboot is going to be very good for us.

The biggest thing I think we need to improve going forward is we need to increase the focus on recruiting and recruiting budget. That wasn't going to happen under Dan.

I think we're going to be hungry next year despite having a 9 win season and I think Moorhead is going to bring a new energy that Dan simply wasn't giving us anymore.

[Todd4State]

Key does give us the ability to rest Fitz some. He should be able to take a series or two against someone like UK or UM next year. If we are up by 2 TDs then give Key a series.

I think we're going to see Fitz and Key both play a lot in the same formation next year. That's what Penn State does with their starter and back-up. It should keep any "controversy" down and could benefit us in the long run because QB recruits will know that there is a good chance that they will play some even if they aren't the starter.

[Todd4State]

About your Mullen point. Rarely will a coach leave a team this loaded for a "new challenge". Dan is a selfish, arrogant prick that was put on a short leash by Cohen. He could have sucked it up, been an adult and made the changes that were asked of him. Instead he got his ego bruised and thought he was better than Cohen, Keenum and MSU football as a whole. So, the real challenge Mullen is looking for is a football program big enough to contain his enormous ego.

He left a damn good team that is going to beat a mud hole in his new teams' ass September 29th. I hope his ego can take it.

This is all true. He's also about to learn that we weren't totally successful just becasuse of him- but because of what WE are as a family. Today was lesson number one.

[BrunswickDawg]

I think we're going to see Fitz and Key both play a lot in the same formation next year. That's what Penn State does with their starter and back-up. It should keep any "controversy" down and could benefit us in the long run because QB recruits will know that there is a good chance that they will play some even if they aren't the starter.

I could even see us doing something along the lines of the Leak/Tebow tandem where we have 2 guys who play situationally. Our guys have enough respect for each other that it could work. That said, Fitz is the starter and it?s his team.

[Todd4State]

I could even see us doing something along the lines of the Leak/Tebow tandem where we have 2 guys who play situationally. Our guys have enough respect for each other that it could work. That said, Fitz is the starter and it?s his team.

ABSOLUTELY.

But I don't know if Moorhead will do the situational thing or not. He seems to prefer them both in the same formation based on what I've seen but we'll see. The thing about Leak and Tebow is they both had very different skill sets. Fitz and Key are more similar to each other. Both can run well.

[BHildreth3]

This is Fitz's team PERIOD. There is no discussion needed. However, I LOVE that #10 is getting a ton of experience. Same with Eiland. It will just make us better as a team.

[trob115]

I also saw Dantzler potentially take that next ?step?. He made several great plays today. I think he can be a shut down corner.

[Commercecomet24]

This is all true. He's also about to learn that we weren't totally successful just becasuse of him- but because of what WE are as a family. Today was lesson number one.

100% right! We are a family.

[msstate7]

I also saw Dantzler potentially take that next ?step?. He made several great plays today. I think he can be a shut down corner.

I feel much better about him heading into next season

[Commercecomet24]

I loved how Dantzler was playing the ball and not the man. He got his head around in time to knock at least 2 balls away today. So many dbs just play the man and never get their head around and get called for pi or give up big plays. Great technique

[Goldendawg]

My post #33 on Thoughts on Tomorrow's Game: "I say we win the game running the ball and on solid D". Proud of all the guys! Hail State!