biggest surprise on offense...............

[futaba.79]

has to be Justin Senior. At times, he just manhandles people. He has a chance to be really good.

On defense, I gotta go with Nick James. He doesn't have much in the way of stats, but he's hustling and he ain't getting pushed around.

 

[coach66]

Pretty much the whole unit is better than I thought it would be. As I have said

earlier, we present multiple problems for defensive coordinators.

 

[Digging dog]

O-Line period!!!!!
This seemed to be the major concern from most going into the season.
I'm not a stat guy with sacks allowed, hurry ups, etc., but they have done a tremendous job so far.

 

[bulldognation]

Second the O-line. There were plenty of people saying this would be our weakest link, but they have opened up holes for JRob and Dak. Hats off to those guys. When our back up center can line up and us not miss a beat it says something.

 

[msstate7]

Offense: beckwith -- I had no idea he was gonna be this good. 2 time sec o'lineman of the week

Defense: Nelson Adams -- I didn't expect him to play so much and so well.

 

[AHSDawg]

3rd, 4th and 5th the O-Line. Definitely the biggest improvement we have had since Hevesy has been there.

 

[3407Dewey]

Second the O-line. There were plenty of people saying this would be our weakest link, but they have opened up holes for JRob and Dak. Hats off to those guys. When our back up center can line up and us not miss a beat it says something.

Which begs the question, is recruiting superstars on the O-line really that big a deal? People complain about Hevesy, but he's taken 2 star guys and coached them up into a very solid O-line.

 

[msstate7]

3rd, 4th and 5th the O-Line. Definitely the biggest improvement we have had since Hevesy has been there.

I thought our oline was good last year when Dak and jrob were in the game. I love TR and LP, but they were way to finesse

 

[kired]

It helps that these are veteran guys. Beckwith, Day, and Clausell are all 5th year seniors. Malone is a 4th year junior, and Senior is in his third year --- but remember he enrolled in January so got an extra spring and summer before his redshirt year. So he's been here one semester less than Malone. They've all had the same o-line coach for that entire time.

These guys had about 80 starts between them prior to the season. That's about as much as you could ask for (we had over 90 last year because Gabe Jackson had almost 39 himself). Compare to next year we'll only have about 40 starts between our returning OL.

 

[NCDawg.sixpack]

I'll agree the OL has looked very good so far, but before we get too wooly, lets see what they do against the Auburn defensive front. Auburn is going to be the biggest test so far. If we can handle them, I'll say our OL has arrived.

 

[bulldognation]

It's always this isn't it? The next game will be our real test...

Here's the pre-game sentiment this year and shows how this season has progressed:

Game 1. USM will be tougher than you think. It's a pride thing. They're coming off a win and are out for in state bragging rights.
Game 2. Dan had all summer to game plan for a team that went 1-23 their last two years. UAB will be better test for this team.
Game 3. We have a swiss cheese secondary. South Alabama is pumped, plus they have a legit QB that will give us a real test.
Game 4. We haven't beaten LSU since prohibition, let alone at their place at night. The real test will be how they handle the loss.
Game 5. LSU win was a fluke... they're down this year. We won't know if this team is for real until they play Texas A&M.
Game 6. Texas A&M isn't as good as we thought. Arkansas exposed them. Auburn will be our real test.
Game 7. ????

 

[Dawgtini]

It's always this isn't it? The next game will be our real test...

Here's the pre-game sentiment this year and shows how this season has progressed:

Game 1. USM will be tougher than you think. It's a pride thing. They're coming off a win and are out for in state bragging rights.
Game 2. Dan had all summer to game plan for a team that went 1-23 their last two years. UAB will be better test for this team.
Game 3. We have a swiss cheese secondary. South Alabama is pumped, plus they have a legit QB that will give us a real test.
Game 4. We haven't beaten LSU since prohibition, let alone at their place at night. The real test will be how they handle the loss.
Game 5. LSU win was a fluke... they're down this year. We won't know if this team is for real until they play Texas A&M.
Game 6. Texas A&M isn't as good as we thought. Arkansas exposed them. Auburn will be our real test.
Game 7. ????

Pretty much what Mullen said....to paraphrase, the reward for winning a big game in the SEC is an even BIGGER game the next week.