Sunday Morning Thoughts-Hello Darkness My Old Friend

[StarkVegasSteve]

Another disappointing day in a disappointing season in a disappointing last 23 months. I really do not know another way to describe it. We are at as close to the bottom as we can get and Friday at about 4:30 PM we will be at the bottom.

1. Before we tackle the game let me go ahead and get this out of the way, Ole Miss is going to skull us. There is no denying this. They could play with their backups and beat us by 5 TDs. They will make the 08 Egg Bowl look close.

2. We need to bring in a transfer to compete with Van Buren and Taylor. I have been saying this for 6 weeks and I will continue to say it. Whether that be Jackson Arnold, John Mateer, Preston Stone, Ty Simpson, Miller Moss, etc.

3. Van Buren shows flashes that he could be IT and then he shows flashes that Parson should be playing. He still has pocket presence issues, tends to sail the ball on deep balls, and has no touch on short passes. I understand that the line is an issue, we?ll get to that, but he struggles in the pocket. I really thought yesterday was probably his worst game. He may be a Freshman by classification, but he is not a Freshman anymore. He has started for over a half season in the SEC and he is still having the same issues.

4. It really sucks we are losing Booth. He really has found his stride later in the year and has been a big bright spot for us. We need this effort for 12 games from a back next year.

5. Our line seems to have figured out the run blocking stuff, but still struggle in pass pro. I do think some of the issues are Van Buren not knowing how to move in the pocket, but there are times where the pocket collapses within 2 seconds of Van Buren getting the ball. We also have to replace some spots in the offseason and really need more Ethan Miner types out of the portal over Marlon Martinez.

6. Our D is bad. There is legit no way around it. I have no clue if we will move off Hutzler. I do still think we move him to STC and bring in a DC while getting new position coaches but I have no definitive answer. I thought again we were in decent position at times yesterday but could not break down or finish the play. I mean we had Cook dead to rights for a sack and instead he escapes and gets a 1st down.

7. The biggest reason our D is bad is we have no talent in the front 4 and very little talent in the back 7. I mean our front 4 gets ZERO push. It is why they were able to run the ball 50 times yesterday and just keep the ball. They had lineman getting second level with ease.

8. Find a way to keep Coleman. He is our best receiver. Also, give him the ball 30 times next week. Either with speed sweeps, go balls, slants, screens, etc. He is the only person on our team who has straight up breakaway speed.

9. Someone please tell Craver to get his head out of his ass. We already have had to renegotiate his NIL once and really do not need to be dealing with more problems. He will probably enter the portal so be ready for that. I am not saying he is gone, but do not be surprised if he enters.

10. Lebby may need to bring in an actual OC. He can still have a heavy hand in the offense but at the end of the day he is the HC. Heck Mullen called plays but still had an OC every year. Lane has an OC, Freeze has an OC.

11. This is a fixable situation. I am not saying we will be 8-4 or 9-3 next year but we can get to 6-6 or even 7-5. We need to focus our portal efforts first and foremost on defense. You obviously take offensive guys where you can get them, but do not go out and overpay for more offensive firepower at the expense of a DL or DB that we desperately need.

12. I completely understand if people do not want to donate to NIL, but it is the only way back at this point. GIVE. There is no Larry Ellison coming to save us.

13. Brighter days are ahead. We are going to have to work to get there but it can be done.

HailState

[civildawg]

Let craver go if he tries to bend us over on NIL money. We have too many holes to worry about a pretty good WR

[EdwardDrayton]

Nice song reference. The Disturbed cover is good if you haven't heard it.

[sandjunky]

I?d say the football program is near dead.

[Todd4State]

Excellent post. I agree on all points and hope you are correct about Hutzler.

[RockyDog]

I?d say the football program is near dead.

As we are probably the dumbest, most woe is me fan base in the SEC, it’s probably deserved.

[AROB44]

As we are probably the dumbest, most woe is me fan base in the SEC, it?s probably deserved.

Yep....always wanting to fire somebody or everybody.

[Todd4State]

Yep....always wanting to fire somebody or everybody.

We don't have a problem with coaches that are performing well.

To me the issue is making dumbass risky moves like hiring an inexperienced DC with an inexperienced head coach.

[Todd4State]

If Oklahoma moves on from Joe Jon Finley as interim OC then that would be the obvious thing to do.

[Rawdawg]

On number 11, in the era of the transfer portal the amount of JUCO kids were after and likely going to bring in is terrifying.

[Brobi-wan]

I?d say the football program is near dead.

All of y’all type this like ScUM didn’t lose to Jacksonville state at home and then have their head coach run off for hiring hookers in the same decade.

[BankerDog]

On number 11, in the era of the transfer portal the amount of JUCO kids were after and likely going to bring in is terrifying.

Our old boosters say it?s the way to go! We have to!

[No BS Dawg]

Lebby commented that he was happy with the improvement on defense and what the coaches were doing. May well be coach speak for the time being, but that is Croomeasque talk.

Unless there are several Damascus Road transformations in players, coaching, scheduling, and all intangibles possible, there is little reason to think there will be 6+ wins next year. I love optimism, but reality trumps that. See this year as an example. This is one of the least talented and poorest coached MSU teams we have had in a while.

I hope Lebby acts like a CEO and cuts the dead weight and finds experienced guys to start righting the ship.

[Coursesuper]

On #11, I very seriously doubt that the 25 team will reach 6 or 7 wins. We play the same schedule flipped in 25. 7 from the current top 20 at present. We have more holes to fill than any other team on the continent and not filling them quickly enough. This is basketball from Rick Ray bad and will take more time than yall think. I hope that we can begin to show some life in 26 and at least be consistent in 27.

[gtowndawg]

I have a theory...if we make no real coaching changes on defense (should make an o line change too) then behind the scenes they already know Lebby can't get it done. It's very likely we will go winless in the SEC next year too and there will be major heat to fire the whole staff. Why buy coaches out now (if buyout rumors are true) if they know they will all be fired a year from now anyway? That's the only thing I'm paying attention to at this point.

And yes, I firmly believe if he goes 0-16 in the SEC he will be fired after year two (and he should be).

[Bothrops]

The ceiling next year is probably 4-5 wins unless the defense is retooled. Even then it's probably 5-6 W's

[parabrave]

About the pipe dream of getting a high priced transfer QB, BTW Arnold looks more like Nicky Fitz and Dan isn't coaching here no more, how about a decent QB Coach who can teach and develop MVB. Spend our resources on a Line and LBs and DBs. We can get the most talented D in the world but it wouldn't matter because the entire D Coaching staff sucks. The scheme is awful and to make matters worse they are poorly coached. The pass defenders have no clue on what to do or who to cover on every play. It looks like a asian country fire drill every time they drop back to defend the pass. And just what in the heck are the safeties doing on the long routes/ 14 last night looked totally clueless on what to do dam near every play. And that is entirely on coaching.

[NCDawg]

I don't think we've made any progress in any facets of the game this season. We could have done just as well keeping Arnett as coach for zero SEC wins and saved a lot of money besides.

[Bothrops]

I don't think we've made any progress in any facets of the game this season. We could have done just as well keeping Arnett as coach for zero SEC wins and saved a lot of money besides.

Our offense would have been much worse under Arnett.

[gtowndawg]

Our offense would have been much worse under Arnett.

But our defense would have been better under Arnett (my gosh I just threw up in my mouth a little).