what were your expectations for this year at the beginning of the season as regards to USM?
Because to me, Fedora has vastly underachieved.
Because to me, Fedora has vastly underachieved.
For the resident USM fans or anyone else...
- Thread starter dawgstudent
- Start date
I expected 5 - 7 or 4 - 8 or thereabouts.
I hold no hard feelings against Bower, but he did leave the cupboard bare as can be. Our defensive line is entirely freshmen and sophomores (excepting Barrigan), our DBs are young (excepting 1 or 2), and our OL is young, as well. Our biggest producers on offense are a RS Freshman QB, a true freshman WR, a Jr. RB, and a Sr. TE that drops more passes than he gets thrown (wrap your head around that).
I know that putting up 70 on UAB is, well, 70 on UAB - but it was the first time the O and D were clicking on all cylinders, and no one made a mistake. I took that as a sign of things to come in the next couple of years.
When we hired Fedora, many OK St people came to our forum telling us not to get down on Fedora the first year - give him time and good things will happen. I do expect much better next season, and I think we'll see him do better at USM than Bower ever did. I could be wrong, but time will tell.
No one who really knows/follows/understands USM football expected more than 6-6 this season.
I hold no hard feelings against Bower, but he did leave the cupboard bare as can be. Our defensive line is entirely freshmen and sophomores (excepting Barrigan), our DBs are young (excepting 1 or 2), and our OL is young, as well. Our biggest producers on offense are a RS Freshman QB, a true freshman WR, a Jr. RB, and a Sr. TE that drops more passes than he gets thrown (wrap your head around that).
I know that putting up 70 on UAB is, well, 70 on UAB - but it was the first time the O and D were clicking on all cylinders, and no one made a mistake. I took that as a sign of things to come in the next couple of years.
When we hired Fedora, many OK St people came to our forum telling us not to get down on Fedora the first year - give him time and good things will happen. I do expect much better next season, and I think we'll see him do better at USM than Bower ever did. I could be wrong, but time will tell.
No one who really knows/follows/understands USM football expected more than 6-6 this season.
...USM's defense wasn't great last year, and to no surprise, it's not great this year. Since Fedora has an offensive background, I expected more emphasis to be placed on offense, and the offense is a lot better this year than it was last year.
If the offense continues to do well, Fedora and his staff recruit hard, and the defense shows a little improvement, I expect USM to have a better record in 2009.</p>
If the offense continues to do well, Fedora and his staff recruit hard, and the defense shows a little improvement, I expect USM to have a better record in 2009.</p>
I actualy expected a little more b/c while I didn't expect the defense to be great, I didn't expect them to lose several games where they dropped 40+ points.
I thought the UTEP games should have been a win and maybe Marshall as well since it was at Home. They should have beaten one of Rice or Memphis on the road. Probably that Memphis game since they had QB issues.
He's actually done a little more than I expected offensively and the defense has been much worse than I realized. Not sure if that's more a scheme or talent problem. I'd lean a little toward talent b/c in the games I've watched I just haven't seen much there. But I think anytime a defense is that bad there are some coching flaws as well.
I thought the UTEP games should have been a win and maybe Marshall as well since it was at Home. They should have beaten one of Rice or Memphis on the road. Probably that Memphis game since they had QB issues.
He's actually done a little more than I expected offensively and the defense has been much worse than I realized. Not sure if that's more a scheme or talent problem. I'd lean a little toward talent b/c in the games I've watched I just haven't seen much there. But I think anytime a defense is that bad there are some coching flaws as well.
I expected maybe six wins, mainly because Bower's poor defensive recruiting left next to nothing on defense, as has been borne out. There were two DL on the entire roster who had dressed for a game coming into the season.
The offense has been spectacular at times. You may say with Fletcher, Nelson and Brown, it should, but keep in mind that Fedora recruited Austin Davis off the baseball team after coming to town and seeing the QB talent on hand. Had Bower stayed, there would be no Davis (five TDs rusing against UAB) or Brown (4 receiving TDs against Rice) on the roster, with the same defensive gaps. I'd argue the results would be no better. It's a top-20 offense. Bower struggled to crack the top 60 in his best years.
All the "sound the attack" and "flagship of Mississippi" was and is goofy. But such goofiness ("Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime" and "Nitchampsburg") predates Fedora with USM's athletic marketing. The shots on all that are deserved. But if he can keep up the recruiting improvement (supposedly two of the better lineman he signed last fall from Franklin County and South Panola are enrolling in December as grayshirts) and build a defense. If we're 3-6 in November next year, it's time to push the panic button. I don't think it's underachievement, it's reflective of how bad things got after last year's senior class departed.
The offense has been spectacular at times. You may say with Fletcher, Nelson and Brown, it should, but keep in mind that Fedora recruited Austin Davis off the baseball team after coming to town and seeing the QB talent on hand. Had Bower stayed, there would be no Davis (five TDs rusing against UAB) or Brown (4 receiving TDs against Rice) on the roster, with the same defensive gaps. I'd argue the results would be no better. It's a top-20 offense. Bower struggled to crack the top 60 in his best years.
All the "sound the attack" and "flagship of Mississippi" was and is goofy. But such goofiness ("Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime" and "Nitchampsburg") predates Fedora with USM's athletic marketing. The shots on all that are deserved. But if he can keep up the recruiting improvement (supposedly two of the better lineman he signed last fall from Franklin County and South Panola are enrolling in December as grayshirts) and build a defense. If we're 3-6 in November next year, it's time to push the panic button. I don't think it's underachievement, it's reflective of how bad things got after last year's senior class departed.
I expected Fedora to do about what Bower has done the past 5 years. He's done worse than I expected so far, but Bower apparently did leave them a little depleted on defense. I doubt Bower left them so depleted that they should be giving up the yards and points they have given up though.
2007 Total Offense, Total Defense, Scoring Offense and Scoring Defense.
2008 Total Offense, Total Defense, Scoring Offense, and Scoring Defense
Nearly 70 yards better offensively and 46 yards worse defensively-- scoring nearly 6 points a game more while giving up a little more than 5. Figures in red are per game averages.
D
DeepInTheDistrict
Guest
Look at these stats: 463 yards rushing for USM and another 147 passing on only 9 attempts. And as far as the offense is concerned, Davis is a redshirt freshman, DeAndre Brown's a true freshman. Fletcher's been the workhorse, but he's questionable to play against Central Florida.