Quote Originally Posted by Todd4State View Post
Looking at stats I think we have a decent chance to finish strong.

What we know is we are a work in progress passing the ball and we have a QB with an AC sprain. What stops us/kills us is either an elite pass rusher like Anderson from Alabama or turnovers.

I believe Alabama was an outlier. The team wasn't mentally into it and intimidated and as I said they had a super elite pass rusher. What we normally are is an offense that scores somewhere between 24-30 points a game so far and can't overcome turnovers. We typically control TOP and even when all hell breaks lose and we're playing Alabama we can still at least move the ball between the 20's.

Our defense has been more of a disappointment as they have regressed. We are 12th in sacks and tied for last with Vanderbilt in TFL. We are 9th in interceptions and 4th tied with a host of others with 2 fumble recoveries. We are 10th in turnover margin as a team. None of this is good for a defense designed to create havoc. The eye test sees a team that is poor at tackling, busts too many coverages, and consistently loses contain when rushing the QB and having a chance to get a sack. It has been a bad mess.

Reason for optimism right?

I see two likely wins and essentially going by the raw data four toss ups.

The good news is in several statistics we've played some of the best defenses in the SEC in terms of producing interceptions (turnovers) and rushing the passer on our schedule. We also have two of the worst pass defenses left on our schedule in Vanderbilt and Ole Miss. Assuming Will is healthy that should be an opportunity to produce some stats. Not to mention Tennessee State.

We also face the bottom four defenses in the SEC at producing interceptions. The one defense that's right now the best at producing interceptions on our schedule? Vanderbilt. Yep- Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, and Ole Miss all have five or less INT's on the season. To contrast that and give it some context. Alabama has 10 and LSU and A&M both have 7 INT's on the year.

Now I'm not saying that we're going to light up Kentucky, Arkansas, or Auburn...or even Ole Miss. But what I am saying is that IF we can take care of the ball against those teams and score in our typical range of 24-30 range we'll have a chance. And I'm assuming that none of those teams have a Will Anderson clone and Auburn and Kentucky may very well have someone like that. So you know assuming = ass u me. Maybe.

Now our defense for all it's faults is clearly stronger against the run. Which I believe is a big reason why we beat Texas A&M. We're still third in the SEC in rush defense which is pretty darn good. Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky are 11, 13, and 14 in the SEC in passing respectively. Texas A&M for comparison is 12. Alabama and LSU are 2 and 5. (I just want to type this) MSU is number one in passing. The concerning thing is Ole Miss is three and Auburn is 6. However both Ole Miss and Auburn appear to be becoming more and more run heavy and may continue to regress statistically as the season goes on. We'll see. Regardless they are still much better at passing than the other four SEC teams I mentioned in the 11-14 range. Basically what it really tells me is based on the stats we're probably going to have to win shootouts with Auburn and Ole Miss likely and our TOP could be even more key in those games potentially. The other big question is can we maintain our strong run defense against the 1, 4, 5, and 7 rushing teams in the conference in Ole Miss, Arkansas, Auburn, and Kentucky? So far we have played number 8 A&M, 9 Alabama, and 12 LSU for context.

X-factor- Brandon Ruiz. If there is one good thing about the Alabama game this was it. He looked good on all of his field goals and his absence may have cost us at least the LSU and Memphis games alone not to mention a few points against Texas A&M. He's also normally an automatic touchback on kickoffs which neutralizes the other teams return games even though yes, I am aware Alabama had a few good returns. But I'll give Ruiz a pass on that given that it was his first game back and the kickoffs were not terrible distance wise in general.

All of that is to say have no idea what the hell is about to happen but we have a chance.
Bro! Good stuff. Good reasons for optimism.