Sunday Morning Thoughts-Good Teams Win, Great Teams Cover

[StarkVegasSteve]

Another tough day yesterday in a tough season and in a tough last 22 months for this program. But hey, we covered for the 3rd straight week.

1. Our D played well enough to be in the game, but we left far too many plays out there. Heck we dropped to pick 6s within 4 plays of each other. It was obvious our game plan was make Weigman beat us with his arm and we excited that plan perfectly. We held them to their second lowest rushing total of the year, gave up 6 more than Arkansas. Unfortunately, Weigman executed his part of the plan perfectly as well.

2. 3rd Down was the difference in the game. Their ability to convert 3rd and medium and 3rd and long and our inability to convert 3rd and short won them the game. We just could not get off the field when it counted.

3. We have to get better on the D Line. They may be the worst MSU D Line in my lifetime. Weigman had an eternity to throw every time. We have to make an investment at that position in the portal.

4. Hutzler has improved. He has had our guys IN POSITION FAR MORE in the last 3 games than he did in the first 4. Unfortunately for us, we do not have the talent to complete the plays when they are in position to do so. Now will that save his job, probably not. But we have definitely improved schematically in the last 3.

5. Van Buren showed signs yesterday of being the answer, but he also showed signs of being a freshman. Look, there is no denying he has an absolute cannon. And an accurate one at that, but I felt like A&M made a concerted effort to take away the deep ball from him. In the first half, they were still playing a lot of man and he was still able to dissect it, but when they went zone in the second half you could see him start to struggle. He made some great throws yesterday, ie: the deep ball to Coleman and the TD to Craver, but he also missed his fair share as well. I still think if the opportunity presents itself, we will bring in a transfer.

6. The Craver injury is worrisome and the continued inability to get Akharaiyi the ball is concerning. But overall, our receiving core is as talented as it has been in a long time.

7. To the folks behind me yelling at Van Buren for sliding, IF HE GETS INJURED WE ARE DOWN TO PARSON AND JAKE WEIR. That is why we are being cautious with him. It is not because he is scared to get hit.

8. I actually did not hate the fake punt call. I mean we were not stopping them at all and at least you have the element of surprise right there instead of sending you offense out there and letting them pin their ears back. I actually was more mad about going for it in the red zone on the 1st drive, and we saw how that turned out.

9. If we continue to play the way we have been playing then 4 or 5 wins is not out of the realm of possibility. I would love to see a scenario where we are 4-7 going into the Egg Bowl. We would have everything to play for and OM would have nothing to play for with a coach with one foot out the door.

10. We need to use these last 5 games to figure out who we want long term and who we need to make sure knows how to enter the portal. I am not saying only play young guys to play them, but maybe get a look at a Xavier Gayten, or a Braylon Burnside, or a Kai McClendon.

11. It was absolutely incredible to see the 14 team come out of that tunnel with Dan leading them and Shipping Up To Boston playing. If that did not send a chill up your spine, well I can probably tell when you became a State fan.

12. Arkansas is as winnable of an SEC game as we will have coming home. They are wounded and are kind of wavering. We need to jump on them early. I think they may roll over if we do that.

[MetEdDawg]

Van Buren having some touch probably gets us another TD. That slant to Craver near the goal line had the safety out of position and he had his man beat. A little touch with some lead and it's a TD.

But Van Buren is clearly up to the task. That drive at the end of the half was beautiful. And give Luke Work credit. Another solid day for him. Our interior line was pretty bad.

Our DL in the worst I've ever seen. There's no pressure on the QB basically ever. So we have to blitz if we want to make the QB move from his spot. Why we didn't blitz on the 3rd and 23 I'm not sure. You can get away with a subpar secondary if your DL causes some havoc. We get no push ever. But credit to them for causing some turnovers. Ellington finishes the job and we might win that game.

This is clearly a team that has some young talent and a lot of older talent that isn't equipped to win ball games. But we've played two Top 5 teams and a Top 15 team and were squarely in it in the 4th quarter in all 3 of those games. When we hit the transfer portal, we need to upgrade the DL and OL badly. I almost don't care if we do anything else (although we need secondary help badly and a more dynamic RB). Go get 3 guys on each side of the line and make it happen.


Lebby has the chops to do this. Oklahoma's offense is a mess without him and our offense even with the talent gap has scored on good teams. We are improving drastically. Credit to Lebby for keeping the guys engaged. They all talk about what we are building. Lot of folks seem bought in. Hopefully he keeps them motivated because I believe we are doing certain things to prepare to win in the future.

[Mjoelner34]

2. 3rd Down was the difference in the game. Their ability to convert 3rd and medium and 3rd and long and our inability to convert 3rd and short won them the game. We just could not get off the field when it counted.

Another thing that hurt us was continually trying to run on 1st down (particularly in the 2nd half). It immediately put us in 2nd and 8 at best and many times 2nd and 10+ which let aTm pin their ears back and bring the kitchen sink after MVB on 2nd and 3rd down.

[BigDawg81]

#1) The defense was absolutely horrible on 3rd down. The turnover are great but a defense can?t depend on turnovers. Some of those are QB mistakes.

#4) I thought I saw somebody say ( I thought it was you) that State has a MOU with a sitting P4 DC

#5) MVB made freshman mistakes but he is going to be a great one. The deep ball was taking away because A&M decided to bring the house and our G5 OL was outmatched. You can?t throw the deep ball when your OL can?t pass block. When your OL is bad, it shrinks your playbook.

#8) I absolutely hated the fake punt because where it was at on the field. A&M probably would have scored anyways but it isn?t guaranteed. I think it was only a one possession lead for A&M at that time.

[NCDawg]

I agree Van Buren has a cannon arm He also has a very quick release. It amazed me how quick he got the ball out with defensive players all around him and in his face.

[NCMSTFAN]

5) If we bring in a transfer QB it should be for depth purposes only, MVB is the future. He has pretty much everything you want in a QB. Yes he makes some mistakes and will have to clean some trhings up but that comes with being a true Freshman QB. He's gone against Texas, Georgia and A&M and has shown everyone he belongs and the lights aren't too bright.

[MBDawg601]

Fake punt is a call that, if it works you are a genius and if it fails you're an idiot.

I like the aggressiveness and our staff knows we are going to need some things, outside of normal gameplanning, to happen in our favor to pull out wins.

The first three games of this season were beyond awful, the past three games have been exciting to watch and we have been in all of them against 3 of the best teams in our conference.

[PMDawg]

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[parabrave]

Dam the interior OL dam near got VB killed yesterday. Heck they could done better by just falling down and making the bull rush jump over them That would have at least slowed them down. Now also VB you're gonna have to do better in recognizing they are about to bullrush you and make adjustment.

[FISHDAWG]

Fake punts almost never work for us... It took Mullen several years to learn that and it gave them an easy TD ... in a game that is lost by 10 points it could have made a difference.
MVB should get the reins - transfer in a backup and continue to invest in the future.

[confucius say]

Hutzler has definitely improved. He can't catch the ball for Ellington and Mitchell.

Wish MVB would get down by diving forward instead of sliding. Difference in 3 yards. You're down when your hips begin to sink if you slide.

Have not seen a transfer qb we could realistically get as a 2-10/3-9 team that id rather have than MVB. That includes Arnold.

I think Arkansas is better than Missouri.

[RockyDog]

Van Buren having some touch probably gets us another TD. That slant to Craver near the goal line had the safety out of position and he had his man beat. A little touch with some lead and it's a TD.

But Van Buren is clearly up to the task. That drive at the end of the half was beautiful. And give Luke Work credit. Another solid day for him. Our interior line was pretty bad.

Our DL in the worst I've ever seen. There's no pressure on the QB basically ever. So we have to blitz if we want to make the QB move from his spot. Why we didn't blitz on the 3rd and 23 I'm not sure. You can get away with a subpar secondary if your DL causes some havoc. We get no push ever. But credit to them for causing some turnovers. Ellington finishes the job and we might win that game.

This is clearly a team that has some young talent and a lot of older talent that isn't equipped to win ball games. But we've played two Top 5 teams and a Top 15 team and were squarely in it in the 4th quarter in all 3 of those games. When we hit the transfer portal, we need to upgrade the DL and OL badly. I almost don't care if we do anything else (although we need secondary help badly and a more dynamic RB). Go get 3 guys on each side of the line and make it happen.


Lebby has the chops to do this. Oklahoma's offense is a mess without him and our offense even with the talent gap has scored on good teams. We are improving drastically. Credit to Lebby for keeping the guys engaged. They all talk about what we are building. Lot of folks seem bought in. Hopefully he keeps them motivated because I believe we are doing certain things to prepare to win in the future.

The slant to Craver was tipped. It was very slight but enough to cause the ball to wobble and drift behind him. Unfortunate but van Buren seems to sling some from the 3/4 arm slot

[parabrave]

He will learn touch on the ball as he progresses. Remember his 1st couple of long balls be overthrew the receivers by a mile and now he can put it in a teacup.. Also he will learn he doesn't have to throw lazers on all short passes.

[Matt3467]

Saw these stats posted elsewhere:

Out of 133 FBS teams, we are:
#133 Sacks
#130 TFLs
#130 3rd Down DEF
#122 Total DEF
#121 Passing Efficiency DEF
#117 Scoring DEF
#114 Rush DEF
#112 Passing Yards Allowed

Talent or not we have the worst DC in the country. We can tell ourselves Hutzler has been improving and maybe has although he certainly couldn't get worse.

[TrapGame]

3rd and 23, Hutz rushes three. WTF?

Not bringing the house there is criminal. If Weigman hit a receiver before someone got him, so be it, but not bringing everyone on that play is just inept, shit coaching.

We are a competent defensive coordinator away from being a good team. Talent? Yeah, we need some but we need a guy that knows what to do with what he's got.

[Cooterpoot]

Defense is pitiful
The rest looks pretty good

[99jc]

Saw these stats posted elsewhere:

Out of 133 FBS teams, we are:
#133 Sacks
#130 TFLs
#130 3rd Down DEF
#122 Total DEF
#121 Passing Efficiency DEF
#117 Scoring DEF
#114 Rush DEF
#112 Passing Yards Allowed

Talent or not we have the worst DC in the country. We can tell ourselves Hutzler has been improving and maybe has although he certainly couldn't get worse.

man that makes Peter Sermone look good. can anyone post his stats?

[Goldendawg]

man that makes Peter Sermone look good. can anyone post his stats?

Go to Sixpack and read the thread "Fire Hutzler Now". Article from Columbus Dispatch is quoted showing more details of his $1 million per year four year contact. Even more terrible details than just the $4 million even if he leaves. BUT: What do I know? Our family couldn't even find our 8 seats in Section 4 after 55 plus years of sitting mainly in about the same seats.***** Did get the "Gameday" apology from MSU by email followed by another email wanting more $ to join "The Cristal Society".

[Pancho]

where did your seats go?

[StarkVegasSteve]

Go to Sixpack and read the thread "Fire Hutzler Now". Article from Columbus Dispatch is quoted showing more details of his $1 million per year four year contact. Even more terrible details than just the $4 million even if he leaves. BUT: What do I know? Our family couldn't even find our 8 seats in Section 4 after 55 plus years of sitting mainly in about the same seats.***** Did get the "Gameday" apology from MSU by email followed by another email wanting more $ to join "The Cristal Society".

Can we get an explanation on this one? Do you mean someone was in your seats? Or like the seats had been physically removed?