Cole Cubelic on State...

[dawgstudent]

MISSISSIPPI STATE: Slow start but nice win in dangerous opener. QB showed you why they are different with him in. Calm, patient. That got him a few explosives. Very close on a few others. I like moving the pocket with him. Protection looked better. Snaps need to get there. 6 made good cuts in the run game. Extension of run game through the air helped. WRs blocked downfield! Defense solid. Like big 92 inside. Gets after it. 40 reacted well. They had a few contain mishaps. Effort was absolutley there though. 28 playing down to LOS will help. 43 super active. Still moved a ton. May have to. But have better capability to play straight up now. 1 gives them great length on back end. Good 1st win. Needed it.

 

[HailStout]

Are we really so snake-bit as fans that we refuse to see improvement? Or are we realistic? I include myself in this, because lord knows I’m expecting to get blown out next week

 

[Seinfeld]

Are we really so snake-bit as fans that we refuse to see improvement? Or are we realistic? I include myself in this, because lord knows I’m expecting to get blown out next week

Possibly. I think I'm just stuck in "we may be better, yet still an awful SEC team" mode, and unfortunately, Lebby's currently pitiful '26 recruiting class isn't shining a very bright light at end of the tunnel for us.

The team earned a chance to show us what they can do this weekend, though, and if they really do show out against ASU, I think general optimism about the program will improve quickly.

 

[dawgstudent]

Possibly. I think I'm just stuck in "we may be better, yet still an awful SEC team" mode, and unfortunately, Lebby's currently pitiful '26 recruiting class isn't shining a very bright light at end of the tunnel for us.

The team earned a chance to show us what they can do this weekend, though, and if they really do show out against ASU, I think general optimism about the program will improve quickly.

I really don't care about recruiting rankings. It's a feather in the cap when you are doing well but the portal is what matters.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Arnett basically left us with a middle of the pack Sunbelt Roster and we were a year behind getting NIL going thanks to Cohen.

 

[22yardpunt]

Enjoyed the post. Good information. Thanks for sharing. Do it again next week. Lots of good insight. Really needed. Thanks.

 

[msstatelp1]

Are we really so snake-bit as fans that we refuse to see improvement? Or are we realistic? I include myself in this, because lord knows I’m expecting to get blown out next

We could see improvement but I don’t think we could tell how good we may be. The only thing USM could have told was if we really stunk. This next game will give us a better idea.

 

[NWADawg]

Are we really so snake-bit as fans that we refuse to see improvement? Or are we realistic? I include myself in this, because lord knows I’m expecting to get blown out next week

Before the season, I thought we were better. At this point I know we're better.

Still unknown is how much better and what does the hyped up ASU team have?

I won't be surprised if we win or lose by 2 touchdowns.

 

[FrontRangeDawg]

We won a game that we should have won, and we did it convincingly in the 2nd half. It's a positive.

I was legitimately concerned that we'd struggle with USM and show regression, but here we are and it's a good thing.

We have the problems that we knew we had; o-line primarily. I liked the effort.

 

[aTotal360]

Are we really so snake-bit as fans that we refuse to see improvement? Or are we realistic? I include myself in this, because lord knows I’m expecting to get blown out next week

I have to see it against SEC competition first.

 

[HotMop]

I have to see it against SEC competition first.

I have to see it against Big12(13,14,15,16) competition first.

 

[Msubulldogfan1]

We won a game that we should have won, and we did it convincingly in the 2nd half. It's a positive.

I was legitimately concerned that we'd struggle with USM and show regression, but here we are and it's a good thing.

We have the problems that we knew we had; o-line primarily. I liked the effort.

Really not even the whole 2nd half, just the 3rd quarter.

not trying to be nit picky…but I’m not gonna lie to myself and say I feel great after that game. Hope we beat ASU next week.

 

[dawgstudent]

Really not even the whole 2nd half, just the 3rd quarter.

not trying to be nit picky…but I’m not gonna lie to myself and say I feel great after that game. Hope we beat ASU next week.

We played pretty solid in the first half defensively outside of that one drive. Offensively, we had 2 really good drives and 3 not so good drives. Outgained them 220 yds to 160 yds. It wasn't great by any means but it was serviceable against a team who was probably amped up to play an in-state SEC opponent. Then talent and size kicked in for the 2nd half. In reality, we could have won 48-10 if we play the 4th quarter.

 

[Seinfeld]

I really don't care about recruiting rankings. It's a feather in the cap when you are doing well but the portal is what matters.

That's fine, but then don't sign 30 HS kids. He's burning scholarships, NIL money, and roster spots on kids that aren't SEC material and that have very little chance of still being around in a couple years

 

[dawgstudent]

That's fine, but then don't sign 30 HS kids. He's burning scholarships, NIL money, and roster spots on kids that aren't SEC material and that have very little chance of still being around in a couple years

As far as I understand it, there's no reason not to sign them. Cut the ones you don't want. We've got a pro model - might as well use it efficiently.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

I am hesitant to use the improved label until I've had a chance to try the product a bit more. This week will be an excellent test. Arizona State is not SEC caliber, but they are better than the average team that we could face.

 

[Msubulldogfan1]

We played pretty solid in the first half defensively outside of that one drive. Offensively, we had 2 really good drives and 3 not so good drives. Outgained them 220 yds to 160 yds. It wasn't great by any means but it was serviceable against a team who was probably amped up to play an in-state SEC opponent. Then talent and size kicked in for the 2nd half. In reality, we could have won 48-10 if we play the 4th quarter.

Yea I mean that’s all fair. The defense giving up over 50% 3rd down conversions is a red flag.

It’s just hard to really know in this scenario considering USM sucked balls last year and got a new coach who brought all his players from a good team. Hard to know if they’re any good or not. We’ll see this weekend.

 

[anon1768925248]

Yea I mean that’s all fair. The defense giving up over 50% 3rd down conversions is a red flag.

It’s just hard to really know in this scenario considering USM sucked balls last year and got a new coach who brought all his players from a good team. Hard to know if they’re any good or not. We’ll see this weekend.

The defense gave up under 200 yards until the third team came in during the 4th quarter. We didn’t have any red flags that were shown on defense. At all. Now there may be some this week against better players but our starting defense was really really good Saturday. Hopefully that continues.

 

[patdog]

Yea I mean that’s all fair. The defense giving up over 50% 3rd down conversions is a red flag.

It’s just hard to really know in this scenario considering USM sucked balls last year and got a new coach who brought all his players from a good team. Hard to know if they’re any good or not. We’ll see this weekend.

USM sucks ball's this year too. Not as bad as they did last year , but physically on both lines of scrimmage, that team is closer to Alcorn than the worst P5 team we will play. I don’t think there’s any doubt we’ve improved some defensively though. Still a huge question will it be enough to compete with teams like Arkansas, Missouri or Arizona State

 

[The Cooterpoot]

Are we really so snake-bit as fans that we refuse to see improvement? Or are we realistic? I include myself in this, because lord knows I’m expecting to get blown out next week

Improvement means 4-6 wins and that's still the reality. We will be better, but how much? And I absolutely don't believe we get blown out this week.

 

[Seinfeld]

As far as I understand it, there's no reason not to sign them. Cut the ones you don't want. We've got a pro model - might as well use it efficiently.

When I look at this conference’s HS recruiting, it’s pretty clear that there are two camps.

1) UGA, Texas, Bama, LSU, etc - Load up on high caliber prospects. After all, why not sign 25-30 when they’re almost all 4-5*?

2) SC, Auburn, OM, etc - Only taking 15-20. Get the high level kids where you can, but spend more time and NiL on the portal

And then there’s us…. 28 HS commitments, yet the only team in the conference with zero 4-5* kids. Not a single one

I mean, I guess there’s a chance that Lebby spent nothing on most on these commits, but it sure seems like a lot of wasted time and energy at best, and he’s the only coach in the conference doing things this way

 

[Msubulldogfan1]

USM sucks ball's this year too. Not as bad as they did last year , but physically on both lines of scrimmage, that team is closer to Alcorn than the worst P5 team we will play. I don’t think there’s any doubt we’ve improved some defensively though. Still a huge question will it be enough to compete with teams like Arkansas, Missouri or Arizona State

That’s basically my perspective on the matter.

 

[She Mate Me]

I am hesitant to use the improved label until I've had a chance to try the product a bit more. This week will be an excellent test. Arizona State is not SEC caliber, but they are better than the average team that we could face.

Sure they're SEC caliber. Not top of the league, but likely as good as most mid tier SEC teams.

 

[FrontRangeDawg]

When I look at this conference’s HS recruiting, it’s pretty clear that there are two camps.

1) UGA, Texas, Bama, LSU, etc - Load up on high caliber prospects. After all, why not sign 25-30 when they’re almost all 4-5*?

2) SC, Auburn, OM, etc - Only taking 15-20. Get the high level kids where you can, but spend more time and NiL on the portal

And then there’s us…. 28 HS commitments, yet the only team in the conference with zero 4-5* kids. Not a single one

I mean, I guess there’s a chance that Lebby spent nothing on most on these commits, but it sure seems like a lot of wasted time and energy at best, and he’s the only coach in the conference doing things this way

There might be an element of rebuilding trust with HS programs since that was something that got damaged pretty badly over the last few years. Sign the kids, give the schools a sign that we're involved, and strengthen those recruiting classes based on that work.