10 post-Spring Game predictions

[Coach34]

1. Quay Evans starts at DT by the 3rd game at the latest. And it's not a knock on the rest of the guys- Quay is just extremely talented. The importance of getting him in early cant be overlooked.
2. Tyler Russell knocks the great Derrick Taite from being the season TD pass leader
3. Chad Bumphis gets really pissed about Jameon Lewis taking his playing time
4. Josh Robinson will make sure we wont miss Vick Ballard- he's better than Ballard right now. Perkins will still get plenty of time though due to his importance in the passing game.
5. We will indeed start the season 7-0
6. This will be the best defense we have had under Mullen- not sure we will improve on being 16th in the country in Scoring D like last year- but we will be better than 61st against the run. There will be less bending and very little breaking.
7. Our DL is 1999 good.
8. Tobias Smith's health could literally be the difference in going 10-2 or 8-4
9. We break the top half of the SEC in scoring offense
10. Another Egg Bowl blowout

 

[Coach34]

1. Quay Evans starts at DT by the 3rd game at the latest. And it's not a knock on the rest of the guys- Quay is just extremely talented. The importance of getting him in early cant be overlooked.
2. Tyler Russell knocks the great Derrick Taite from being the season TD pass leader
3. Chad Bumphis gets really pissed about Jameon Lewis taking his playing time
4. Josh Robinson will make sure we wont miss Vick Ballard- he's better than Ballard right now. Perkins will still get plenty of time though due to his importance in the passing game.
5. We will indeed start the season 7-0
6. This will be the best defense we have had under Mullen- not sure we will improve on being 16th in the country in Scoring D like last year- but we will be better than 61st against the run. There will be less bending and very little breaking.
7. Our DL is 1999 good.
8. Tobias Smith's health could literally be the difference in going 10-2 or 8-4
9. We break the top half of the SEC in scoring offense
10. Another Egg Bowl blowout

 

[Coach34]

1. Quay Evans starts at DT by the 3rd game at the latest. And it's not a knock on the rest of the guys- Quay is just extremely talented. The importance of getting him in early cant be overlooked.
2. Tyler Russell knocks the great Derrick Taite from being the season TD pass leader
3. Chad Bumphis gets really pissed about Jameon Lewis taking his playing time
4. Josh Robinson will make sure we wont miss Vick Ballard- he's better than Ballard right now. Perkins will still get plenty of time though due to his importance in the passing game.
5. We will indeed start the season 7-0
6. This will be the best defense we have had under Mullen- not sure we will improve on being 16th in the country in Scoring D like last year- but we will be better than 61st against the run. There will be less bending and very little breaking.
7. Our DL is 1999 good.
8. Tobias Smith's health could literally be the difference in going 10-2 or 8-4
9. We break the top half of the SEC in scoring offense
10. Another Egg Bowl blowout

 

[patdog]

6. This will be the best defense we have had under Mullen- not sure we will improve on being 16th in the country in Scoring D like last year- but we will be better than 61st against the run. There will be less bending and very little breaking.

This is going to get the offense the ball in much better field position than we had last year. It seemed like every time we got the ball we had to go 80 yards fora TD. That won't be the case this fall.

 

[mstatefan88]

I think the most important one is Tobias. I totally agree with you. He might be the most important player on the entire roster and his health directly affects our team probably more than anyone except Tyler Russell.

I'm big on Tyler Russell. He may be throwing a few more picks than people are comfortable with, but look at who he's throwing them to. Banks, Slay, and McKinney who is an emerging star. It's not like he's throwing picks to scrubs. I think he can also get the single season passing yards record. He would have to average 200 yards per game in the regular season to get within 22 yards of Marler. A bowl game would pass him.

Russell also has 13 career TD passes. Taite had 38 for his career. I'm not sure Russell could get 2 TD passes a game, but if he did he would pass that record as well. He will do that before he is done here, but with the weapons we have at WR he has a chance to do it next year.

 

[BR549.sixpack]

Go back and look at the Auburn game.

 

[futaba.79]

Toby Golliday, Kevin Sluder, Alvin McKinley (who am I missing?). Throw in the hybrid LB/DE's Cornell Menafee, Rob Knight , Conner Stephens and '99 was pretty damn strong. I don't think the '12 unit will be in their league, but I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Irondawg]

He's talented but I think he stays 2nd string for most of the year but gets a number of snaps. I think PJ Jones and cherrington will get some situational run/pass duty there and Virges is solid. Plus KE can slide down in pass rush situations.

I also agree though that unless his fumbles come back there's no way we can keep Tubby Lewis off the field. He needs to touch the ball 5-8 time a game somehow and we could also use him a 3rd down Sproles kind of back as well although Perk is also a great receiver and Robinson fits the mold too.

Amazing how many more offensive weapons we have than 4 years ago.

 

[Skink]

urigellarku

 

[FlabLoser]

Toby Golliday, Kevin Sluder, Alvin McKinley (who am I missing?). Throw in the hybrid LB/DE's Cornell Menafee, Rob Knight , Conner Stephens and '99 was pretty damn strong. I don't think the '12 unit will be in their league, but I hope I'm wrong.

We have the best DL that we've had in many years, but its not close to 1999. I'm still not seeing anything special at DE. It was clear to me that the DL in the spring game played soft on purpose. But still, Autry was quite bland.

We'll be tough in the middle, but I still don't see a dominant pass rush.

And if 2012 is a repeat of 2011 due to OL injury, FlabLoser will become HairLoser.

 

[msudawg200]

1. Quay Evans starts at DT by the 3rd game at the latest. And it's not a knock on the rest of the guys- Quay is just extremely talented. The importance of getting him in early cant be overlooked.
2. Tyler Russell knocks the great Derrick Taite from being the season TD pass leader
3. Chad Bumphis gets really pissed about Jameon Lewis taking his playing time
4. Josh Robinson will make sure we wont miss Vick Ballard- he's better than Ballard right now. Perkins will still get plenty of time though due to his importance in the passing game.
5. We will indeed start the season 7-0
6. This will be the best defense we have had under Mullen- not sure we will improve on being 16th in the country in Scoring D like last year- but we will be better than 61st against the run. There will be less bending and very little breaking.
7. Our DL is 1999 good.
8. Tobias Smith's health could literally be the difference in going 10-2 or 8-4
9. We break the top half of the SEC in scoring offense
10. Another Egg Bowl blowout

1. Wouldn't surprise me though I would bet against it if only because of his youth. But I could definitely see "starter's reps" by that time, just maybe not the official job yet.
2. Agree - I think the record is only like 16 and Russell got 8 in half a season's work last year.
3. This probably should happen, but it seems like we stuck with Bumphis even when we shouldn't have last year, so hopefully the coaches can get past that.
4. Agree and disagree. I agree that we probably won't miss Ballard, but I do not think that Robinson is better right now than Ballard was. I think he has better physical tools, but I think Ballard had better vision, and I would guess Ballard was better in the passing game (though I admit to not knowing how good Robinson is in this respect, but typically young running backs struggle with pass protection).
5. I won't argue with this, but the Auburn game aGAIN is huge here. Need to win that one.
6. Agree
7. Geez, I think I'll disagree, which hurts because I love our Dline. But that 1999 line was outstanding, and I think we have that potential but fall just short. I think it's close though and if Cox would have come back, I don't think it'd even be a debate.
8. Very well could be (though for me, I'd say the difference between 7-9 wins). I think this depends a lot on the health of the Oline. I think we could get by without Tobias if we stayed healthy on the line and Holley was solid, but I wasn't exactly wowed by Holley in the spring game.
9. I'm going to say we finish just outside of this. Maybe even as close as 8th. But I think Arkansas, Bama, LSU, and UGA definitely beat us here. I also think that USC, Mizzou, TAMU, Vandy, Auburn, and Florida have a chance to beat us here. I think we'll be close with those last 6, but I'll say we're in the middle to bottom half of that group to give us an 8th to 10th place finish.
10. I think we'll win, but I'm expecting a little more out of UM this year. I think we win by 1-2 scores with the game being on their field this year.

 

[Coach34]

for the Bears in 2011 in case you forgot.

 

[Buford T. Justice]

1. Quay Evans starts at DT by the 3rd game at the latest. And it's not a knock on the rest of the guys- Quay is just extremely talented. The importance of getting him in early cant be overlooked.
2. Tyler Russell knocks the great Derrick Taite from being the season TD pass leader
3. Chad Bumphis gets really pissed about Jameon Lewis taking his playing time
4. Josh Robinson will make sure we wont miss Vick Ballard- he's better than Ballard right now. Perkins will still get plenty of time though due to his importance in the passing game.
5. We will indeed start the season 7-0
6. This will be the best defense we have had under Mullen- not sure we will improve on being 16th in the country in Scoring D like last year- but we will be better than 61st against the run. There will be less bending and very little breaking.
7. Our DL is 1999 good.
8. Tobias Smith's health could literally be the difference in going 10-2 or 8-4
9. We break the top half of the SEC in scoring offense
10. Another Egg Bowl blowout

1. Agreed that getting Quay in early was key. Get him used to the size, strength, and speed of the game. Teach him technique and teach him how to play and work hard.
2. Agreed on Russell.
3. Jameon Lewis can be special. Fumbling and stupid decision are the only thing that might hold him back.
4. Saying Josh Robinson is better than Vick Ballard right now takes balls. Coach34 is stepping up to the plate.
5. I expect 7-0.
6. DL does look tough. We need McCardell to be a force on 3rd and long.
7. We will see, but I do like this line.
8. Agreed on Tobias Smith. Keeping my fingers crossed.
9. Scoring will depend on the offensive line and keeping Russell healthy.
10. We will beat that ***. Again.

Mullen's solid recruiting, player development, and redshirting will begin to show real dividends. Offensive line will be real good in 2013. I'm a little worried about the offensive line in 2012, but they do have potential.

 

[patdog]

Granted, we were a bad kickoff and punt return team, but we gave up far too many kickoffs and punts from midfield last year and that's because the defense gave up too many yards (and time of possession). We start getting teams to go 3 and out and we'll get better field position even with a below par return game.</p>

 

[aTotal360]

I'll buy all of your predictions except for #5. We are...

 

[FreeDawg]

I think he breaks the rotation and his reps increase all year long eventually landing him starter like reps. I just dont see him starting unless it was a recruiting promise we cant break (which I doubt). I saw 4 practices and the spring game. Im a 90% but I think I have a good grasp of what was going on out there. I thought Curtis Virges locked the other DT spot down. He was impressive. I thought PJ Jones looked very good as well. I think Quay has the ceiling to pass those guys but not fully until next year. Quay's biggest deal right now is getting into shape and I do believe he will look and move a whole lot better by the end of fall camp

 

[Coach34]

Toby Golliday, Kevin Sluder, Alvin McKinley (who am I missing?). Throw in the hybrid LB/DE's Cornell Menafee, Rob Knight , Conner Stephens and '99 was pretty damn strong. I don't think the '12 unit will be in their league, but I hope I'm wrong.

Boyd is going to be a 3rd round pick at the very worst- more likely a 2nd round guy
Quay is going to be a 3 yr player and leave early
Autry is going to be a draft pick
PJ keeps getting better and better
Cherrington is a space eater
Eulls projects to a mid-round draftee
The coaching staff thinks Nick James has the potential to be a 3 yr player and then NFL draft

Our DL is going to be special for a Miss State team

 

[patdog]

Mullen's solid recruiting, player development, and redshirting will begin to show real dividends.

Bears have been trying to get Mullen to leave and saying he's at MSU for the short-term ever since he got here. But he's built the program for the long-term and has redshirted some guys when a lot of other coaches would have played them. That's going to really start to pay off the next few years, starting this fall.

 

[Sauron]

*Like has already been said, that's legendary status.
*Quay will be a forevermore beast. I don't know about right now, but he will be in the future. You are looking at another first round draft pick in about three years if he *keeps his head on right.
*Tobias Smith is an absolute must. If he stays healthy. we can beat AU and TAMU to get to nine regular season wins. AU can brag about being better this year, but they aint. You don't lose your best QB and then you're biggest play-maker on O and be better. I'm sorry Barners. You just don't. If they start Frazier, just load the box and keep somebody on him in the spy and make the dude beat you with his arm. I doubt he can. TAMU has no defense. Zero. Russell and the RBS will eat them alive. And at the crib too, we'll hang fiddy on 'em.

 

[FreeDawg]

Mullen's solid recruiting, player development, and redshirting will begin to show real dividends.

Bears have been trying to get Mullen to leave and saying he's at MSU for the short-term ever since he got here. But he's built the program for the long-term and has redshirted some guys when a lot of other coaches would have played them. That's going to really start to pay off the next few years, starting this fall.

You dont have to look any further than Joe Morrow for example 1a. He could have helped big time next year but Dan is thinking about long term success. Now he will have 4 years with guys who can actually deliver the ball to him

 

[Coach34]

He has good feet, body control, pursued straight down the line on plays away, pushed the pocket back...another 3 months in the weight room and then Fall practice- your going to see a very good player at DT for us

 

[22yardpunt]

was the Auburn game last year.

 

[shsdawg]

we will be decent or better every where else I think.

 

[FreeDawg]

He has good feet, body control, pursued straight down the line on plays away, pushed the pocket back...another 3 months in the weight room and then Fall practice- your going to see a very good player at DT for us

They are all dead on, Im just stating I think the starting by the 3rd game might be a little overzealous

 

[HD6]

*

 

[dawgstudent]

he put on the Ole Miss guy in the 99 Egg Bowl. It was on Bean's interception.

 

[Skink]

predictions be taken seriously this time?

 

[JackShephard]

but you may want to check your math there. Am i mistaken or did he miss 09 by one game and hit 10 dead on? Last year was a laugher, but i give him a pass b/c we all thought the same thing.

On another note - It's good to see the JR love finally. I've been saying since last August that he would be The Man, while everyone else was claiming it would be Nick Griffin. For what it's worth - Josh will be "my boy" this year.

 

[futaba.79]

and Boyd hasn't been drafted yet. The rest is pure speculation.

We already know that Wyms had a nice NFL career. McKinley and Hilliard played as well. Davis didn't do much but he made a roster. If 4 guys on the '12 squad have an NFL career, I'll be thrilled. Saying the '12 DL is comparable to '99 is a claim you back up with what might be not what is.

 

[Rosebowl.sixpack]

I like the optimism and all, but I think our offensive line will limit us in terms on wins this year. Our schedule is favorable, so we should be able to win 6 or 7 games.

 

[patdog]

Our DL is going to unreal this fall. Maybe not quite as good as 1999, but very close. Neither Coach34 or I is going to be able to prove that to you now, but just wait and see.

 

[shutterdawg]

2. Tyler Russell knocks the great Derrick Taite from being the season TD pass leader

Ahh, the difference a year makes. http://sixpackspeak.yuku.com/reply/450025/Super-Bulldog-Weekend-who-s-ready#reply-450025

 

[croomsgone]

the way i see it, in aggregate he only predicted 2 more wins than we got?<div>
</div><div>09 - 5-7 (predicted 6-6)</div><div>10 - 9-4 (predicted 8-4)</div><div>11 - 7-6 (predicted 9-3)</div>

 

[Xenomorph]

You finally admit he's poised to do some good things in his career so you temper it with saying he's only good by Taite's standards.

I'm surprised it's tough for you to admit you were wrong on Russell. You've been wrong so much lately it seems you would've become used to it by now.

 

[Johnson85]

I like the optimism and all, but I think our offensive line will limit us in terms on wins this year. Our schedule is favorable, so we should be able to win 6 or 7 games.

but barring injury, I think landing at the 7 end of that range would be slightly disappointing. We have 4 OOC should wins, plus UM, UK, and UT that should get us to seven. We have Auburn, TAMU that I'm guessing will be toss-ups, then we have LSU, Bama, and Ark, that you expect to be L's. I think if we can beat either Auburn or TAMU, we should probably be able to beat both of them, but you have to account for the fact that it's rare to win every game you're supposed and all the toss-ups (although we basically did it in 2010).

Of course we're still thin enough at key positions that I think the only question is how many games will be impacted by injury, not if.

 

[Coach34]

some of you will look for anything to ***** about.

I think Tyler is going to have a good year and am glad he has finally progressed into an SEC QB

"You've been wrong so much lately it seems you would've become used to it by now."


Remind me what I've been wrong on so much lately? Kenny Payne- yep, my source missed that. I got a little wooly before last season and predicted 9-10 wins in football.

"wrong so much" is not even close

 

[Xenomorph]

Cause we're a LOT better on the DL now than when Cox was as freshman.

 

[Xenomorph]

*

 

[hulkbuster]

interior of our DL has been vs. the competition they are facing. Yes they are good, but one of our greatest STRENGTHS is going against one our greatest weaknesses. But I agree w/ everything else.

 

[trumaroon]

I can't take this seriously with the Josh Robinson comment. He is too big right now and needs to lose at least 10 pounds. He made one good run but the hole was wide open and he didn't have to make anyone miss. He didn't seem to run with great power and wasn't very shifty. I would take Milton or Griffin over Robinson as an every down back right now.