Sunday Morning Thoughts-Divided Fan Base Edition

[StarkVegasSteve]

Yesterday was the definition of UGLY UGLY win, but it was a win and we cannot lose sight of that in the grands scheme.

1. A win is a win. Yes I was pissed and disgusted that we could not move the ball. Yes I was pissed and disgusted at our 4th down decision making. Yes I was pissed and disgusted that we went into the Stansbury Stall with 13 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter. And yes I was pissed and disgusted that our kicker cannot make a 29 yd FG to put the game on ice. Saying all that, WE WON. And at the end of the day you are 4-3 instead of 3-4.

2. Defense played lights out. Yes the Arkansas line is hot garbage, but two weeks ago we could not get pressure on Western Michigan. Whether it was Arnett taking over the playcalling or Brock finally figuring something out we frustrated and flustered Jefferson all day and clogged things up enough where he did not feel comfortable enough to run.

3. Mike Wright can work if you let him be Mike Wright. I thought early on we were calling plays that were beneficial to him and helped him get into a rhythm. We were running zone reads, boots, and play action with short throws. I think we need to continue to open the playbook up a bit more for him and maybe incorporate a little RPO action.

4. Saying all that, Will still gives this team the best chance to win. This offense still operates best when we are able to push the ball down the field. If Will is going to be out more games, which looks like a certainty, we have to find a way to get the ball into the hands of Tulu, Robinson, Mosley, Roberson, Whittemore, etc 10-12 yds down the field and let them go to work. Whether that be RPO, boot out with crossing routes, air raid mesh concepts, etc we have to get our receivers in space a bit more.

5. Point 4 and 5 go hand in hand because we have to get some pressure off our backs. We are going to get Marks killed. He will be running head first into 7 and 8 man boxes next week. Wright is the same way. Our run game needs to be complementary of the pass game. We have to at least make the respect the throw. This is no different than the drop 8 with the AR.

6. Our O line play yesterday in regards to pre snap penalties was inexcusable. We have a veteran group who has played in almost every stadium in the SEC. Pre snap penalties, especially from our GD center are unacceptable.

7. Leave the TEs off the field until we can get a real TE. Harmon is a WR, Elliss is either an OL or DL, and Goede may quite possibly be the worst player we have put on scholarship in the last 20 years. He is up there with King Ani. Like how our staff looked at that kid and thought he deserved a scholarship blows my mind.

8. I have never seen our fan base this divided. It is not just on this board or just on GP and SPS. It is everywhere. I understand some people did not like the AR and that is ok. Some do not like whatever the hell this offense is either. I personally do not like either in the form we ran them in. Both are incredibly boring. We traded dink and dunk passes for dink and dunk runs. Neither is conducive to long term success. Whether you like the scheme or you hate the scheme, none of us are making a decision on the scheme. If it does not work then changes will be made, it is that simple. Whether that means changing the OC or changing the HC I can guarantee you Selmon will do what needs to be done. This is his wait and see period. That ends on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

9. If you do not already, please support the Bulldog Initiative. My god, we need a transfer QB and this is the way. Like it or not, this is how you get stuff done in the new age of college football. And if you do not agree, that is ok. But do not complain. We as a fan base can either be part of the problem or part of the solution. We need to choose to be the latter.

10. WE WON. SMILE. BE HAPPY. AND BEAT AUBURN.

[Todd4State]

Outstanding post!

I agree with everything.

As it stands the results are in and we are now 94th nationally in total offense and up to 64 in total defense.

We are dead last in PPG in SEC only games and we are .5 points from being last in the league in all games. Offense is Croom bad.

But if the defense can continue to play like they did Saturday we could turn this around and win 7-8 games.

[msstate7]

I completely understand why ZA put the brakes on barbay in the 2nd half, but being that conservative will get you beat. I think he will learn from it. Even with the waaayyy to conservative 2nd half offense, we were a bad block and a missed chip shot fg from winning 17-3.

Our staff passed a big test yesterday for me. I think performance out of a bye week is a good barometer of how good a coach is. We weren't pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but our defense was night and day from the previous 6 games. Now trust your OC, ZA

[Todd4State]

I completely understand why ZA put the brakes on barbay in the 2nd half, but being that conservative will get you beat. I think he will learn from it. Even with the waaayyy to conservative 2nd half offense, we were a bad block and a missed chip shot fg from winning 17-3.

Our staff passed a big test yesterday for me. I think performance out of a bye week is a good barometer of how good a coach is. We weren't pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but our defense was night and day from the previous 6 games. Now trust your OC, ZA

I think he is just conservative. This has happened in several games now.

[KOdawg1]

This is multiple times ZA has meddled with the offense because he was thinking about his defense.

I get that you want to avoid putting your defense in bad spots, but good Lord, he's gotta stop thinking like a defensive coordinator and more like a head coach. We have to score points to win the game. Being scared and conservative will get you beat. Especially on the road.

This is why I prefer offensive head coaches.

[lastmajordog]

If memory serves Emory Bellard lost two EB?s doing the we got the lead lets just run up middle stall. The Dick Pace interference and the Wind blown field goal were both a result of getting a lead and then sitting on it inc losing it......Would like to know how many DOG loses or near loses were because of this strategy.

[StarkVegasSteve]

If memory serves Emory Bellard lost two EB?s doing the we got the lead lets just run up middle stall. The Dick Pace interference and the Wind blown field goal were both a result of getting a lead and then sitting on it inc losing it......Would like to know how many DOG loses or near loses were because of this strategy.

Any big game of the Stansbury era

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

Defenive playcalling was certainly different- saw some stunts and S blitzes I haven't seen all year. The question is, how improved are we and how much does Arkansas just suck? We'll find out more next week.

I thought the opening offensive gameplan was good. they gave Wright simple throws and called a variety of run plays to take advantage of however Arky lined up. BUT, sometime in the 2nd Q things changes. We went more conservative in the run game and took zero chances passing. Arky stacked the box and we didn't even attempt to adapt, just prayed we'd survive till the clock hit zero. It HAD to be Arnett. No OC enters a game with variety, has success, goes vanilla, has no success, and then stays vanilla. Not in a 1 score game where the QB isn't trowing pics. It was Arnett being a typical defensive minded idiot.

So to sumarize:

Positives- Team is still "bought in", Arnett is improving the D, Barbay might not be as dumb as he seems (assuming he put together then 1st Q strategy).

Neutral- Arky seemed like a team that had given up. Not sure how much you can really extrapolate from that game long term.

Negatives- Arnett is still a dumbass who meddles in the O, and if he didn't learn that lesson after ZOna he never will. Arnett is also over his head as a HC, the 4th down calls were not difficult decisions and he bungled them all. Will Friend is a fraud, I mean it's game 7 after a bye and we can't snap a ball without a false start because of some crowed noise? Pathetic.

Long term, if Arnett can get another SEC win and fix some bad assistant hires I'm pro giving him another year. If he wins another SEC game but wants to stick with this staff next year he's not the right man for the job. If he doesn't win another SEC game he should be gone regardless of what he wants to do staff wise. But we'll bring him back next year baring a 40+ point blowout to OM even if we go 5-7

[Cooterpoot]

Arkansas was checked out offensively. They had receivers open all day and couldn't make a play. Their OC is really bad. Their OL is bad. They look poorly coached just like us. That might be the two worst SEC teams. Certainly 2 of the worst 4.
I don't enjoy Miss State football. I almost didn't watch yesterday.

[TrapGame]

Yesterday's game was a fight between two wheelchair-bound special ed kids in the cafeteria b/c one stole of other's pudding.

Arkansas quit on Pittman yesterday. They didn't give two ****s about that game. Pittman is a fired coach walking and he knows it.

It's nice to have a win but let's stop acting like we beat UGA 7-3.

[Santiago]

Arkansas was checked out offensively. They had receivers open all day and couldn't make a play. Their OC is really bad. Their OL is bad. They look poorly coached just like us. That might be the two worst SEC teams. Certainly 2 of the worst 4.
I don't enjoy Miss State football. I almost didn't watch yesterday.

And they were without Rocket Sanders. That was always KJ's go to guy when they needed yards in past games.

[Really Clark?]

And they were without Rocket Sanders. That was always KJ's go to guy when they needed yards in past games.

He didn't play against BYU, LSU or Bama but they scored in those games.

[Coursesuper]

Arkansas was checked out offensively. They had receivers open all day and couldn't make a play. Their OC is really bad. Their OL is bad. They look poorly coached just like us. That might be the two worst SEC teams. Certainly 2 of the worst 4.
I don't enjoy Miss State football. I almost didn't watch yesterday.

I know that guy! The one that would rather play golf than watch this program.

[Coach34]

He didn't play against BYU, LSU or Bama but they scored in those games.

exactly. We beat KJ's ass yesterday like nobody else has. All the credit in the world to our D

[BlackSailsDawg]

Arkansas was checked out offensively. They had receivers open all day and couldn't make a play. Their OC is really bad. Their OL is bad. They look poorly coached just like us. That might be the two worst SEC teams. Certainly 2 of the worst 4.
I don't enjoy Miss State football. I almost didn't watch yesterday.

Yes, Ark had open WRs all game. Easy to see that. In fact, had KJ not thrown it in the dirt to a wide open WR in the endzone we would have lost this game.

[Really Clark?]

Yes, Ark had open WRs all game. Easy to see that. In fact, had KJ not thrown it in the dirt to a wide open WR in the endzone we would have lost this game.

He was visibly frustrated and uncomfortable yesterday. Our surprising pressure had a lot to do with that to though.

[BlackSailsDawg]

He was visibly frustrated and uncomfortable yesterday. Our surprising pressure had a lot to do with that to though.

It was great to see some of the blitzes we have not seen this season. I talked about that a few weeks ago. Was great to see us use our speed to get to the QB.

KJ is over it. He's not just frustrated he and the OC ain't getting along.

[Cooterpoot]

He was visibly frustrated and uncomfortable yesterday. Our surprising pressure had a lot to do with that to though.

He's been pretty bad all season. The offense is bad and the OL is worse. No running doesn't help.
Best defensive effort of the year for us but that team has quit. There's a reason they've lost 6 in a row.

[BlackSailsDawg]

He's been pretty bad all season. The offense is bad and the OL is worse. No running doesn't help.
Best defensive effort of the year for us but that team has quit. There's a reason they've lost 6 in a row.

This can not be stressed enough. We beat a team that is demoralized and poorly coach and we did it because we could not get set! Nothing about this game was good. KJ not hitting the WRs that were open isn't exactly our defense being great or even good. It means that the QB of the other team sucked it up.

[CaptainObvious]

I completely understand why ZA put the brakes on barbay in the 2nd half, but being that conservative will get you beat. I think he will learn from it. Even with the waaayyy to conservative 2nd half offense, we were a bad block and a missed chip shot fg from winning 17-3.

Our staff passed a big test yesterday for me. I think performance out of a bye week is a good barometer of how good a coach is. We weren't pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but our defense was night and day from the previous 6 games. Now trust your OC, ZA

Or, and this is the more likely scenario for this team, had our WR gotten set before the snap that surprised the heck out of our QB, State loses the game 10-7 because of huge inefficiencies in the offense.