My prediction thread on this incarnation of our beloved Maroons

[CadaverDawg]

A lack of relentless effort at any point this year = Mullen's seat is SCALDING HOT. Trust me. What happened last year is unacceptable on ANY level. We're ALL on the same page with that. Given context and what we know in hindsight, I can also understand how it happened LAST YEAR. Could you imagine how f'n frustrating it must have been to be Banks and Slay -- two guys trying to go out with a bang at a school they love and be EARLY round NFL talents -- that never got to go press man on anybody? How do you think they felt when Nickoe didn't show up for OTT help -- and made it look like they had just straight up gotten torched(Moncrief just scored again!!1!1)? How was it fair for Nickoe -- who was being asked to do more than was physically(and mentally) possible for him? Did you see his draft stock plummet because we weren't putting him in position to have success? What about the 2nd string guys at DT that no matter how they dominated in their snaps, they still spent the majority of the time sitting behind Cherrington? What about a tremendous rush LB(Wells) only getting unleashed a handful of times all year while having a guy that playing out of position in front of you that NEVER rushed and couldn't cover guys in the slot like he was being asked to do?

I can tell you this speaking from experience -- it's HARD to play with relentless effort when you think your coach is an idiot and is basically sabotaging your success... which I think we all feel about Wilson now given the time to look back on it...

It's just shortsighted and narrowminded to forget ALL of the tremendous effort we gave before all that. Remember 2009? 2010? 2011? Remember Trent Richardson talking about how hard and consistently we hit him in 2011?

I agree with everything you said EXCEPT for that it is "short sighted and narrow minded". If you know sports as well as I think you do, then you know that it is hard to break a mentality. ANd we lost the relentless effort mentality last year. Sometimes it is not just as easy as flipping a switch to get it back. Trust me, I THINK we can. And I THINK Collins will bring a whole new life to our D. And I THINK everything will turn out great. But until I KNOW that we have trashed that shitty mentality we had last year, I cannot sit here and predict 7-8 wins or more. I just can't.

Does that mean I won't be supporting them? Hell no that's not at all what Im saying....Hell, I think this is our most talented team since Sherrill's best. BUT, I guess I am just cautious until I see that last year was not contagious. If we have gotten back to the 2009 and 2010 mentality then we will be a VERY good team this year that can win 7, 8, or even 9 games.

There is no doubting the talent. It's whether or not the coaches can get that talent to reach it's potential and play for 4 quarters. We know it's possible because it was happening until last year. But will we do it? That's the big question.

[Political Hack]

I don't see it as "poor ole Missipi' tate" as much as I see it as a glaringly dumb management mistake. Scheduling a game that can make or break your season in week one is stupid... doing it against one of the more prolific offenses in the country is beyond stupid.

Our defense is STACKED. Best we've had talent wise since the late 90's IMO. But that game still worries me. We already have to play #1, #6, #7, and #13... screw it, let's throw another top 15 team in there for good measure. We don't have enough chances to prove we're good. If we beat OSU and lose the other 4, OSU means nothing.

[Coach34]

I dont think OK State is top 15 when all is said and done.

They could easily lose 4 games this year

[Percho]

But if we win August 31st- that decision looks like gold.

At some point we have to step up and play one of these games- and win it if we want notoriety and the perks that come with it

I agree Coach. If you can't win that game in August you can't get to Atlanta and win that game.

[Political Hack]

they could also easily be 9-0 going into a road game at Texas with the Big 12 title on the line... which I see as much more likely.

Hopefully they'll be 8-1.

[engie]

I agree with everything you said EXCEPT for that it is "short sighted and narrow minded". If you know sports as well as I think you do, then you know that it is hard to break a mentality.

It's REALLY easy to quit on a coach that has quit on you or you feel is sabotaging your success. Ultimately that's what happened. Our offense never gave up I don't think -- they just weren't very good(still statistically the best we've had in a bunch of metrics -- just couldn't get it done when it counted against better teams). Our defense QUIT -- and I already went into detail of why I think that was and why, in hindsight, I think a change was ABSOLUTELY necessary(I took up for Wilson for the first few screw ups(Troy, Bama)-- but I was wrong).

I had a VERY hard time playing with relentless effort my second year of college for a ton of (strictly on field) reasons -- and I'm as relentless of competitor in all walks of life as you will ever meet. Hell, that is probably obvious from my posting style. That said, I'm speaking from personal experience. It was VERY hard to keep competing when my coach had not only quit on me, but done things(even unintentionally) that hurt my future in the game... Catching 18 innings twice/week was brutal -- those mistakes made in the 17th or 18th still went in the books and on my statline. F'ing with my swing DURING the season(after not saying a single word to me in individual workouts in the preseason -- I hit every single day by myself off a tee during the offseason without ANY instruction) and killing 100% of my power numbers. Blaming me for bombs that got hit when pitchers shook my pitch calls. I could go on...

ANd we lost the relentless effort mentality last year. Sometimes it is not just as easy as flipping a switch to get it back.

Again -- IF Mullen "is who we think he is" -- this is an ABSOLUTE MUST. I think it's a non-issue. It's expected. IF that ain't back, then he's done at MSU. And he'll be done THIS year with a spectacular Houston Nutt type of collapse. It's that simple. Our fans will quit on that team and Mullen SO fast it'll blow people's minds -- and Hud is going to win the Sun Belt this year and probably win 10 games.

Freeze took a team that had lost 17 of 18 SEC games and been embarrassed and beaten down repeatedly -- and he managed to get them to play hard 13 times in a row, even while getting blown out. Like I say -- if Mullen can't do that with us this year, he's done at MSU. But he will. Relentless effort and being reenergized from this team is OBVIOUS in every practice report we've seen thusfar. Collins + Deshea = one HIGH energy defense with swag.

Trust me, I THINK we can. And I THINK Collins will bring a whole new life to our D. And I THINK everything will turn out great. But until I KNOW that we have trashed that shitty mentality we had last year, I cannot sit here and predict 7-8 wins or more. I just can't.

The hard part is definitely being able to see this stuff in advance... I just don't see the point in questioning effort based on what happened last year -- while ignoring the first 3 years? It's either there -- we're better -- and Mullen is who I think he is(just like Cohen has proven to be who I thought he was) -- or he's not -- and we start the Hud era. It's really that simple in my mind. Not much inbetween or margin for error in this...

Does that mean I won't be supporting them? Hell no that's not at all what Im saying....Hell, I think this is our most talented team since Sherrill's best. BUT, I guess I am just cautious until I see that last year was not contagious. If we have gotten back to the 2009 and 2010 mentality then we will be a VERY good team this year that can win 7, 8, or even 9 games.

Agreed

There is no doubting the talent. It's whether or not the coaches can get that talent to reach it's potential and play for 4 quarters. We know it's possible because it was happening until last year. But will we do it? That's the big question.

True. We do it -- or we make a change. Again -- really going to be a non-issue IMO

I think people are going to look at our defense against Ok State and see a deeper version of our 2010 Diaz defense...

[engie]

they could also easily be 9-0 going into a road game at Texas with the Big 12 title on the line... which I see as much more likely.

Hopefully they'll be 8-1.

TCU gonna make them quit this year. That's the team that is REALLY the class of the big12 IMO. LSU will have their hands full in week 1...

[Five-tool Poster]

You capitalize ALOT of words. IMO

[Coach34]

TCU gonna make them quit this year. That's the team that is REALLY the class of the big12 IMO. LSU will have their hands full in week 1...

Texas has 20 starters returning- they are probably going to play for the NC

They play @ Texas
@ TTech (who has a pretty damn good new coach)
TCU
State
Oklahoma

at least 4 losses this year

[Coach 57]

Any coach @ MSU and u mean ANY coach that can consistently win 6-8 games every year has no business losing his job! PERIOD!

[engie]

Any coach @ MSU and u mean ANY coach that can consistently win 6-8 games every year has no business losing his job! PERIOD!

If the football team QUITS this year like we QUIT last year -- we won't be winning 6-8 games with this schedule. We'll be struggling and likely not getting #5 when Freeze goes in dry in Starkville...

In my mind, simply losing doesn't get you put on the hot seat NEARLY as quickly as having a team that is VISIBLY not playing with relentless effort. That's what people are so down on Mullen for. Not the fact that we lost those games, but how we lost them...

Give me relentless effort and I don't give a damn about the results. They will take care of themselves...

[engie]

You capitalize ALOT of words. IMO

Good to have you, HD6**

[HancockCountyDog]

If the football team QUITS this year like we QUIT last year -- we won't be winning 6-8 games with this schedule. We'll be struggling and likely not getting #5 when Freeze goes in dry in Starkville...

In my mind, simply losing doesn't get you put on the hot seat NEARLY as quickly as having a team that is VISIBLY not playing with relentless effort. That's what people are so down on Mullen for. Not the fact that we lost those games, but how we lost them...

Give me relentless effort and I don't give a damn about the results. They will take care of themselves...

That is my concern about starting with a quality opponent. If, and it's a big if (because I think we win it) we get beat by OSU in the way we lost to several of the teams down the stretch last year, I'm worried about the team's mental state heading into a must win at Auburn.

That 2010 Bear team quit on Nutt in 2010 after losing to JSU, and though losing to Osu is no where near the same thing, a 20 point loss could have the same impact.

Bottom line is that I don't see that happening thoug, and think we jump into the top 25 after an opening weekend win.

[engie]

Texas has 20 starters returning- they are probably going to play for the NC

They play @ Texas
@ TTech (who has a pretty damn good new coach)
TCU
State
Oklahoma

at least 4 losses this year

Texas should be great for sure -- but they should have been last year as well. Diaz's scheme just hasn't really worked there for whatever reason. I don't really understand it... It was starting to show glimpses late last season though, certainly...

TCU brings back a ton too. They were one of the youngest teams in all of FBS last year and they actually play SEC-type of defense. That defense went from terrible 2 years ago(unforgettable Baylor game) to salty by the end of last season and they bring everyone back. I've noticed that Patterson tends to run his defenses in 3-4 year cycles. He'll sacrifice a given season on that side to get a bunch of young guys experience, and those guys then go on to dominate in their 3rd or 4th year. They bring back EVERYTHING for 2-3 years at a time and then they lose everything at once as well. This is the basically third year of that cycle...

Get back a Heisman darkhorse QB in Pachall as well with his head(apparently) screwed on right. He was tremendous as a soph before getting in trouble his JR year...

[Political Hack]

TCU gonna make them quit this year. That's the team that is REALLY the class of the big12 IMO. LSU will have their hands full in week 1...

TCU won 6 or 7 last year??? I can't see them making a big enough jump to pass Texas, Oki St, or OU. I think those three challenge for the ten team Big 12.

[Quaoarsking]

Texas has 20 starters returning- they are probably going to play for the NC

They play @ Texas
@ TTech (who has a pretty damn good new coach)
TCU
State
Oklahoma

at least 4 losses this year

So after underachieving absurdly over the last 3 years (we have more wins over the last 3 years than Texas does...), Mack Brown and Texas will just magically be good? Yeah, they're talented, but they've had loads of talent the past 3 years too.

[Coach34]

So after underachieving absurdly over the last 3 years (we have more wins over the last 3 years than Texas does...), Mack Brown and Texas will just magically be good? Yeah, they're talented, but they've had loads of talent the past 3 years too.

They won 9 damn games last year- and have 20 of 22 starters returning...what do you mean "will just magically be good"?