Quote Originally Posted by Tater View Post
4. Vandy has had multiple picks a few games in a row. Lea has them bought in currently. Vandy is a better team than last year. But so are we. To me this was a huge litmus test after last year's embarrassing 24-17 win over them. Explicit improvement shown and not just changing from Costello to Will. Will improved. That was the first team we played this year that Will started against last year. 0 denying there is a huge improvement this year. The biggest check-in that matters left is the Egg Bowl. Can our improvement outpace Colonel BearShark?

6. We've run that already this year. Not a new play. Study up on your film.

7. Our defense needed a get right game in the worst way. And I still wouldn't say we got right. But this feels a lot like Geoff Collins defense from 2014. Prone to big plays randomly given up. Vandy didn't have the talent to make us pay when their receivers got opened. I think it's simply a lack of safety talent at this point (same as 2014). 2018 is the only time I can remember us having decent safeties and a DC that wasn't prone to the big play anyways. Really wish we would have struck while the iron was hot that year. Fortunately I don't think Arnett wants a G5 HC job and he's not done enough to convince a solid P5 job to hire him as their HC yet. If we keep him another year then I've got to ultimately wonder if he's just waiting on Leach's retirement for our job and just loves Starkville that much.

8. Tennessee will get a signature win on their season against UK. Our game will be interesting. I think first to 20 wins.

9. Hard to call someone a quality DC when they gave up 99 total in the last two meaningful games they played. And it's not like OM doesn't run a simple offense. The difference Lane runs is assuming his play call will beat your play call. So they go fast and don't read. That's why defenses that are good at disguising what they do can slow them down. We believe we can read the defense and take our time to adjust and call the play based on what the defense can do. That's why the only thing that has slowed down the Air Raid this hear is literally the best defensive mind in college football history inventing a new defensive scheme to confuse specifically us.

I'm gonna step out and expand on this. Think about a couple of things here. Nick ****ing Saban created a new defense specifically to stop Mississippi State. This is after shutting us out last year. Do you think he doesn't see the potential we have? How does that not excite you as a State fan? Mike Leach has been running this offense for over 20 years and Nick Saban still believes he has to debut a new defense to stop it? And he'll have to keep creating more because now that's another defense on film and this offense will practice and learn to execute to beat it. That's what the Air Raid does to defenses. That's the point right there. That sentence should have been all the wool anyone needs. Nick Saban didn't have to adjust to shit when Dan Mullen was here. Nick Saban complained to get rules in place to stop Gus Malzahn. We're in year 1.5 and Nick Saban is openly admitting needing to adjust to us. Wool.

As for my definition of slowing down the Air Raid. If we're going to compare the Air Raid to the Triple option, then let's be fair here. A good ball control offense should only need 24 points to win a game with the defenses MSU historically puts out.

Throw out the La Tech game because we quit for two quarters.
NC State we did exactly what was needed 24-10 with a giftwrapped 3/7 NC State took from themselves with the Mullen Jump.
Memphis we fumbled for 7 and then whatever your opinion the punt return happened. That's 24-17 if you take away our last speed touchdown but we don't go for two. So it worked as it should there.
LSU we had the leaping penalty and targeting on ourselves to give up an extra 7. That's 24-21 (given we don't go for two).
A&M we did what we were supposed to and a safety got us off schedule from the 24-22 win to take it 26-22.
Bama we got worked and Air Raid was beaten.
Vandy, we did what we were supposed to against a bad team like we should have seen against La Tech (and should against our FCS school)

So 24 points to me is the Air Raid being successful. That + clean football will win us most every game.
Nick didn't have to create a new D, every team we played last year and basically this year (Vandy aside) has stopped our O. If we had been hanging 40-50 on everyone and Saban did that then yeah, I'd be excited but that hasn't happened. Saban tweaked some things because he wasn't losing 2 in a row. Good coaches adjust.