I really don't see how anyone...

[dawgstudent]

can blame Mullen for this game. If Croom was our coach, we wouldn't have been within 20 points.

1. Torbush has completely did a 180 with our defense. The only problem is the lack of talent in our secondary. If you are wide open when running a simple post route like Lafell was, may the Lord help us. I am no secondary coach but turn your hips.

2. It's just amazing to me that some can come here and ***** about Mullen. I thought the play calling was perfectly fine. It took an amazing play by Chad Jones to stop a sure TD. Green was wide *** open. And the 4th down play, even if Lee made the wrong read on the option, all he had to was stretch out and it was TD. I still would have put in Relf because if that was an option and the QB decided to run it, I would much rather a 240 pound guy try to score instead of a 190.

3. I have the same feeling after this loss that I did after LA Tech. Sickness. Just two completely different efforts given.

4. One thing we need to improve on is our 2 minute offense. What Lee was throwing when we got the ball back with 50 seconds was absolutely horrible.

5. LSU is maybe a top 20 team.

 

[dawgstudent]

can blame Mullen for this game. If Croom was our coach, we wouldn't have been within 20 points.

1. Torbush has completely did a 180 with our defense. The only problem is the lack of talent in our secondary. If you are wide open when running a simple post route like Lafell was, may the Lord help us. I am no secondary coach but turn your hips.

2. It's just amazing to me that some can come here and ***** about Mullen. I thought the play calling was perfectly fine. It took an amazing play by Chad Jones to stop a sure TD. Green was wide *** open. And the 4th down play, even if Lee made the wrong read on the option, all he had to was stretch out and it was TD. I still would have put in Relf because if that was an option and the QB decided to run it, I would much rather a 240 pound guy try to score instead of a 190.

3. I have the same feeling after this loss that I did after LA Tech. Sickness. Just two completely different efforts given.

4. One thing we need to improve on is our 2 minute offense. What Lee was throwing when we got the ball back with 50 seconds was absolutely horrible.

5. LSU is maybe a top 20 team.

 

[Indndawg]

"4. One thing we need to improve on is our 2 minute offense. What Lee was throwing when we got the ball back with 50 seconds was absolutely horrible."</p>

</p>

Without the option of running the ball, we're screwed</p>

 

[CdawgNHouston]

but stupidity does exist and no fanbase is exempt from it.

 

[MSUCostanza]

[No message]

 

[gtowndawg]

it almost October and I'm still excited about football season. And with our schedule that's saying something.

I guarantee we beat someone big in Starkville this year. At least one....

 

[downwarddawg]

it almost October and I'm still excited about football season. And with our schedule that's saying something.

I guarantee we beat someone big in Starkville this year. At least one....

Exactly! It's nice to be sitting here still fired up at this point in the season. As sick as I am about this loss, I think my wool grew a little overnight. Baaa

 

[TnDawg76]

We gave them 4 turnovers, including a pick-6, a 97 yard punt return for a touchdown, and a botched 49 yard field goal attempt, and were still in it down to the last couple of minutes. We are simply a quarterback and a few other players away from being a damn good football team.

 

[jcdawgman18]

TnDawg76 wrote:We took a team that was better than us at virtually every position _________________________________________________ We gave them 4 turnovers, including a pick-6, a 97 yard punt return for a touchdown, and a botched 49 yard field goal attempt, and were still in it down to the last couple of minutes. We are simply a quarterback and a few other players away from being a damn good football team.

See, I think yesterday showed that they're not actually better than us at every position.
Defense: They had the better safetey (Jones) and probably better cornerbacks. We had a better front seven.
Offense: They had the better QB (Jefferson), the better tight end in Dixon, though Green is no slouch, and the better number 1 receiver (Lafell). We had the better RB(s) and the better O-line (that sounds so good to be able to say that).
Bascially, we lost because we don't have a good enough quarterback.

 

[CdawgNHouston]

It's still to be seen how good LSU really is this year but this team is definetely getting better.

 

[VinceVega70]

a loss is never good, but the performance and effort demonstrated by this team yesterday is encouraging. We can win a few more this year.

 

[dawgstudent]

John Hevesy has made our OL decent to good and that is saying something.

 

[MSUCostanza]

Think about that for a second.

 

[OneParticularHarbor]

Mullen could build something substantial at MSU and stay a while. Crooms was a PR stunt with a hope that it might work out. If I'm an MSU fan I'm pissed about losing, but very optimistic that Mullen will learn and build on yesterday.

 

[2thdoc44]

And like you said the main problem is the secondary. On the wide open post route replay even our video board was not large enough to find a defender...simply shocking.

 

[beachbumdawg]

2. It's just amazing to me that some can come here and ***** about Mullen. I thought the play calling was perfectly fine. It took an amazing play by Chad Jones to stop a sure TD. Green was wide *** open. And the 4th down play, even if Lee made the wrong read on the option, all he had to was stretch out and it was TD. I still would have put in Relf because if that was an option and the QB decided to run it, I would much rather a 240 pound guy try to score instead of a 190.

Mullen was asked if putting 6-foot-4 and 230-pound quarterback Chris Relf in the game was an option at the time. But Mullen noted he was pleased with the way Lee was directing the offense at the time.</p>

"When we were doing things right there (in the fourth quarter), Chris went in the game and got hit early," said Mullen. <font color="#000000">"He was healthy and was okay but went back the next one and <font color="#3300FF">missed a check</font>.</font> Tyson was getting us in the right place and we were running the football and doing a good job of that stuff.

T</p>

 

[LTblows]

We are a QB and secondary away from being a great team. Too bad we lose AD next year. Mullen's headed in the right direction, and my hat's off to him for coaching the hell out of these guys. This one was tough, but keep your head up dogs. The tide is turning.

 

[msdawg90]

Tyson Lee and two-minute offense do not belong in the same sentence, same paragraph..............

 

[mstate1977]

He didn't tell AD to not stretch out on 2nd down. He didn't tell Lee to throw a bullet instead of a lob on third. And he didn't tell Lee to keep the ball instead of pitching it on 4th. Come to think of it, he also didn't have anything to do with our 4 turnovers or the special teams forgetting how to tackle on the TD return. And I'm not trashing our players either. They played to the best of their abilities, and left everything on the field.

On the other hand, Mullen has everything to do with our players playing inspired football. He has everything to do with putting a team out there that believes they can win and, I think, will be competitive in every game we play this year. So no, I don't blame Mullen for this loss. I'm sure that before long, he'll have them executing better and we'll win more games.

 

[coleman62]

we are definitely looking better this year than last year... mullen is using pretty much the same players as croom had with the exception of a few transfers and bumphis and producing a much better looking and performing team.. give it another year or two when he is able to pull in the guys he's been recruiting and it'll be even better.. relf just seems to stil be a young qb even in his sophmore year.. lee has had much more experience and seems to be able to read the defense even with barely being able to look over the o-line

 

[drunkernhelldawg]

But I do not understand how anybody can like the goal line calls on third and fourth down. I agree that they would have worked with better execution, but I think it was not the best judgement to call a complex play when a simpler play would do. On the 6 inch line, a qb sneak or a quick handoff to either the fullback or tailback with the qb under center works almost every time.

I also have questions about the halfback pass on 3rd and 10 on our field goal series and on the first play of the game, the int, which had Lee throwing across his body to the left on a play that did not develop quickly. The touchdown on third and short was a great call and great individual effort by Lee. The reason I'm okay with that call is that we were close enough to the first down to go for it on fourth. It is like the goal line situation in down and distance i admit, but it is not as incredibly critical so the trick play was a good gamble.

The other thing about your post is this "if Croom" stuff that you throw in there. Last year, we came within 10 of LSU. All season we have been bemoaning the players that Croom left Mullen. Yet those players outgained LSU by 10 first downs and 100 yards. Can we put this ******** speculation to rest?

The other thing is the rankings. With all of the upsets and near upsets, it's obvious that the top 50 teams except for the top one or two can beat each other on any given Saturday. These rankings are important to the BCS situation, but they don't have a lot to do with what is gonna happen on the football field.

 

[dawgstudent]

was in no danger of losing last year.

 

[drunkernhelldawg]

But the year before we won 8 games. Is that an abberation or an accomplishment, not just for Croom, but more importantly for our program and for the players and other coaches on that team? I'm wondering because it seems that many have written off the only winning season that I can clearly remember at this point, since the others happened so long ago. Personally, I had been hoping to enjoy that memory, but if it doesn't count, I guess I'll have to find another thing to enjoy about our football team.

 

[dawgstudent]

we win lose more than we win. It's a fact. But even though we are "negative", I choose to believe we can be consistently at 7 to 8 win team.

That's what makes being a fan fun. If we think we will suck every year, no point in even caring. You hear Arrow?

 

[SnakePlissken]

[No message]

 

[dawgstudent]

so it will kill my insistence on giving him said opportunity to pass the ball.

 

[Phil Wenneck.sixpack]

Just look at the top 10 signing classes they've had the last several years and look at ours. We've had 1 ranked in the top 25 the past 5 years and that was this years and most of what got that ranking is evidently being redshirted. That being said, we still took a heavily more talented, much more experienced in big games, teams to the final horn yesterday and outplayed them in every aspect of the game. We did that because of Mullen's coaching, not in spite of it. There is no reason under the sun why anyone can't be optimistic about the future of MSU football. It can't be measured one way or the other based on 1 game but it's very obvious we're headed in the right direction for once and I'm confident in saying better days are shortly ahead, something we haven't had any reason to think in a long time.

 

[patdog]

I knew as long as Crxxm was coaching our football team we had no hope. I was sick about that game for a completely different reason. It was "here we go again we can't win with this loser coaching us." After this game I'm just pissed off.

 

[Todd4State]

I really don't think we're all that bad. I know LSU has had some great recruiting classes, and we may not have their depth, but we're really not that bad of a team at all. I think LSU has some great athletes, but they're not necessarily great football players. That's part of the reason why I was highly pissed off about yesterday.

QB is the biggest problem. Our o-line was small last year, but Balis has bulked them up and Hevesey has coached them well, and now, they're playing pretty well overall. And we only have one senior, and he's not that great. We have some pretty good skill people like Bumphis, Wilder is a great athlete but has some things to learn, but he is only a Fr., and then we have Berry, Green, AD, Ducre, and Stallworth. All are not bad.

Defensively, our line and our LB's are very good, and Mitchell is a pretty good safety. Our corners are obviously lacking. Then our ST's is pretty solid for the most part. I think yesterday we had the first real breakdowns that I remember this year.

So, basically we get a QB, replace the senior RB's, and get some corners and were going to be in pretty good shape.

 

[Todd4State]

and I would not have had a problem with the play calling if we were behind by two or ahead. But the fact the matter is we needed a TD. I'm all for being aggressive, but there are also times to be conservative. When you need a TD to upset the #7 team in the country, who haven't beaten in 10 years, is not the time to be aggressive, especially when a conservative play will likely do the job for you.

Mullen is the one who made the play calls. And even if Koenning, Hudspeth, Hevesey, or whoever else is calling plays made the call, Mullen consented and approved the call. He knows our players and their abilities. Yes, the plays were executed poorly, but he was asking a guy who was not the best suited to execute those plays to pull them off. It makes even less sense to me since we were plowing over LSU even though, I'm fairly sure that they knew what was coming, and they couldn't stop it. And even worse, we had a guy who could have gotten in the end zone in all likelihood.

That said, if we had run twice and failed to get in, I would still be royally pissed, but I would probably be pissed more at the o-line and AD, depending on what happened- ie AD dancing around in the backfield.

The fact of the matter is, the buck stops with Mullen, and he has taken the blame, so it is what it is.

 

[Stormrider81]

If we had run up the gut on 3rd and 4th down, they would have stopped us. As Mullen said, the entire LSU defense was in the middle of the field and was flying to the run up the gut, that was the whole point of those two playcalls. You see, that's what people don't understand. Mullen wasn't being cute for the sake of being cute. He called those two plays because he saw what LSU was doing and knew that these two plays would create wide open scenarios for the TD. He also knew that, despite the better play of our OL, in that situation there was no way we would have scored on an up the gut play. And he was absolutely right, we had two wide open plays for TDs, our QB just didn't execute.

Had Mullen called for a run up the gut on 3rd and 4th down and they stopped us, you would have been mad at Mullen for running up the gut instead of at least trying something else. I would have too. It's ridiculous to say, "well he's the head coach, the buck stops with him." He takes the blame because he is a good coach, not because he deserves it. In his 4th game as head coach he nearly beat LSU and did a great job yesterday. It's an absolute shame that our fanbase refuses to view the facts and reality of the situation and instead are totally irrational and blame Mullen. He did what a coach is supposed to do, put his players in a position to win.

 

[Griffdawg]

and notice where Dixon lands on his dive. Many on here have said that LSU's defense was totally fooled on the fake and converged on Dixon. Well that obviously wouldn't have stopped Dixon on a dive WITH the football because he landed about 5 feet into the end zone. My point is that LSU wouldn't have stopped a diving Dixon on the 3rd and goal play if we had given him the ball. Now with regard to the 4th down play and the notion that "if the ball is pitched, we walk into the end zone talk". Not so fast my friend. Their DE looked to be in good position to either get a hand on the pitch or trip up the back before he could turn the corner. It's all water under the bridge now, but I can't help thinking that we should be 3-1 overall (2-1 in SEC) with a REAL chance of making a bowl game. With our remaining schedule, it's going to be tough to get there now. Even though it doesn't sound like it, I am thrilled that Mullen is our coach. He just needs a friendly reminder every so often that "Superman" isn't our QB out there.

 

[Todd4State]

I would have been mad that our o-line couldn't move their d-line enough to get an inch. And rightfully so.

The fact that Dixon was in the endzone on third down on the fake is further evidence that the play I wanted to run would have worked, even though LSU was selling out to play the run.

It's funny to me that all of these people are defending Mullen, and yet Mullen himself has taken the blame- which is fine with me, and as far as putting our team in a position to win- I pretty much expect that every week. He needs to figure out how to seal the deal. I'm not worried though- I think he'll figure it out. What happened to Mullen has happened to pretty much every coach in America at some point or the other. I'm not happy with any moral victories or any of that other ********. A loss is a loss. We're not paying him to put us in a postion to win, we're paying him TO win.

 

[Stormrider81]

Good coaches take the blame. Bad coaches blame the players, the elements, bad luck, etc. The blame lies on Lee and everyone knows it. Mullen has enough sense not to say that though, and I'm thankful for that. He called two plays that were wide open, I don't know how anyone can get on him.</p>

 

[Stormrider81]

I've seen this stated several times here, and I just don't get it. Mullen didn't call a QB sneak, he called an option pitch wanting Tyson to pitch. Next time hopefully he'll call a timeout and tell the genius at QB to pitch the ball to Dixon, but really this should have been obvious. Mullen did not want Lee running up the gut. He didn't think he had Tebow out there. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's fully aware these guys aren't Tebow every day at practice, every time he watches film, when he sits down to gameplan, and every time we run out on the playing field.

I hate sounding like a Mullen apologist, but some of you guys are totally ridiculous. He didn't call for a QB sneak, and he didn't want our little QB running. You have two legitimate arguments from my view: 1) put in Relf there and 2) call a timeout and get everybody on the same page. The arguments being made here are the wrong ones.