I don't understand the "Mullen gets too conservative" talk..

57stratdawg

Heisman
Dec 1, 2004
148,408
24,182
113
Against Auburn we went for it on our own 25 in the 4th quarter.
Against BG we went for it on their 10 instead of taking the points.
Against UK we were throwing the ball around on that final drive. 3rd and 4th down were incompletions.

Its the the false starts, the holds, the Autry hands to the face that are fvcking us in the second half of games.
 

TBone.sixpack

Redshirt
Feb 2, 2011
9,759
0
0
The players def share the blame. Dumb mistakes, penalties and plays not executed. My biggest thing with Mullen and staff is the absence of second half adjustments. You can see the difference in every second half. He needs to get that fixed and we will win an extra game a year right there.
 

121Josey

Redshirt
Oct 30, 2012
7,503
0
0
You're better than this. Watch the play calls in the 2nd half vs. the 1st half.
Against Auburn we went for it on our own 25 in the 4th quarter.
He knew that they were going to score anyway. It's an all or nothing play. He still punted.
Against BG we went for it on their 10 instead of taking the points.
One of the worst calls of the year. Could that be classified as conservative?
Against UK we were throwing the ball around on that final drive. 3rd and 4th down were incompletions.
You also didn't point out how they didn't play for 4 downs when they got inside the 40. Terrible calls. See for yourself.
Mississippi State at 8:15UKMSST
1st and 10 at MSST 26Josh Robinson rush for 6 yards to the MisSt 32.2228
2nd and 4 at MSST 32Dak Prescott pass complete to Malcolm Johnson for 3 yards to the MisSt 35.
3rd and 1 at MSST 35MISSISSIPPI ST penalty 5 yard False Start on Rufus Warren accepted.
3rd and 6 at MSST 30Dak Prescott pass complete to Malcolm Johnson for 11 yards to the MisSt 41 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at MSST 41Dak Prescott rush for 2 yards to the MisSt 43.
2nd and 8 at MSST 43LaDarius Perkins rush for no gain to the MisSt 43.
3rd and 8 at MSST 43Dak Prescott rush for 10 yards to the Kent 47 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at UK 47Dak Prescott pass complete to Nick Griffin for 1 yard to the Kent 46.
2nd and 9 at UK 46LaDarius Perkins rush for a loss of 2 yards to the Kent 48.
3rd and 11 at UK 48Dak Prescott pass complete to Jameon Lewis for 14 yards to the Kent 34 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at UK 34LaDarius Perkins rush for a loss of 1 yard to the Kent 35.
2nd and 11 at UK 35Timeout KENTUCKY, clock 2:21.
2nd and 11 at UK 35Dak Prescott pass complete to LaDarius Perkins for 2 yards to the Kent 33.
3rd and 9 at UK 33Timeout KENTUCKY, clock 2:15.
3rd and 9 at UK 33Dak Prescott pass incomplete.
4th and 9 at UK 33Timeout MISSISSIPPI ST, clock 2:12.
4th and 9 at UK 33Dak Prescott sacked by Alvin Dupree and Eric Dixon for a loss of 9 yards to the Kent 42.

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Its the the false starts, the holds, the Autry hands to the face that are fvcking us in the second half of games.
You're right about this though.
 

57stratdawg

Heisman
Dec 1, 2004
148,408
24,182
113
I never said they were good calls. I disagree with them all except maybe, MAYBE, the Auburn call.

Isnt the the conservative move to kick the FG and play D against BG? 3 runs and make UK burn their TOs after that last 1down?
 

BigMotherTucker

Sophomore
Aug 20, 2006
6,779
155
63
I think at that point, Mullen didn't trust Bell OR our D. He was trying to score to put the game out of reach. It didn't work, but thats what he was trying to do. BG was a ball off of the receivers shoulder pad away from having a game winning drive against us.
 

coach66

Junior
Mar 5, 2009
12,691
312
83
I saw on another board yesterday a stat that sort of got my attention. Mullen

MSU teams have not come from behind to win a single game in the 4th qtr during his tenure. Is this accurate?
Now I'm pretty sure we have lost some leads in the 4th qtr to lose, don't need any help on that one.
 

vandaldawg

Junior
Feb 23, 2008
2,138
310
83
Against Auburn we went for it on our own 25 in the 4th quarter.
Against BG we went for it on their 10 instead of taking the points.
Against UK we were throwing the ball around on that final drive. 3rd and 4th down were incompletions.

Its the the false starts, the holds, the Autry hands to the face that are fvcking us in the second half of games.

I think it's more nuanced than simply he's conservative or he's aggressive. I think it's more about WHEN he's conservative and WHEN he's aggressive. Several times this year and in years past, I felt like Mullen was aggressive when it was totally unnecessary and even inadvisable, and conservative when it was better to put your foot on the gas.
 

LiterallyPolice

Redshirt
Dec 15, 2011
376
0
0
I think it's more nuanced than simply he's conservative or he's aggressive. I think it's more about WHEN he's conservative and WHEN he's aggressive. Several times this year and in years past, I felt like Mullen was aggressive when it was totally unnecessary and even inadvisable, and conservative when it was better to put your foot on the gas.

I totally agree with this. And I agree with the original post - Mullen can't really be characterized as being too conservative.

My theory is that he tries to be unpredictable at important points in the game, even if going by "the book" is by far the best call. That's why I think he runs Perkins up the middle and J Rob to the outside.

I first noticed this at Auburn in 2011. Remember when Relf got stuffed at the goal line? Well, why are we running the ball in that situation anyway? We had time for two plays if we throw a quick pass. I think Mullen thought "They are expecting a quick pass play, so I'm going to run it." Which, I guess if it works.... it's genius. Problem is, it rarely works.
 

Tds &amp; Beer

Redshirt
Jan 26, 2010
1,082
0
0
Calling Mullen Conservative Has nothing to do with fourth downs or field goals

Against Auburn we went for it on our own 25 in the 4th quarter.
Against BG we went for it on their 10 instead of taking the points.
Against UK we were throwing the ball around on that final drive. 3rd and 4th down were incompletions.

Its the the false starts, the holds, the Autry hands to the face that are fvcking us in the second half of games.

It's comparing the entire offense in the first half with the entire offense in the second half. The first half offense looks like a coach calling plays to win a ball game. The second half is all about not losing.
 

57stratdawg

Heisman
Dec 1, 2004
148,408
24,182
113
I think it's more nuanced than simply he's conservative or he's aggressive. I think it's more about WHEN he's conservative and WHEN he's aggressive. Several times this year and in years past, I felt like Mullen was aggressive when it was totally unnecessary and even inadvisable, and conservative when it was better to put your foot on the gas.

I totally agree with this. And I agree with the original post - Mullen can't really be characterized as being too conservative.

My theory is that he tries to be unpredictable at important points in the game, even if going by "the book" is by far the best call. That's why I think he runs Perkins up the middle and J Rob to the outside.

I first noticed this at Auburn in 2011. Remember when Relf got stuffed at the goal line? Well, why are we running the ball in that situation anyway? We had time for two plays if we throw a quick pass. I think Mullen thought "They are expecting a quick pass play, so I'm going to run it." Which, I guess if it works.... it's genius. Problem is, it rarely works.

I agree with both of you. I think at times Mullen feels like he has a reputation as an offensive guru that he has to live up to which leads to calls like the BG 4th down and the UK drive. Problem is in both situations I think the conservative move is the right call there.

It just comes back to putting us in the best position to win. I don't think Mullen has done that, but I wouldn't call him conservative.