In light of the obviously poor preparation for today's game

[thf24]

I've just been wondering, is it normal for teams to give the majority of bowl practice reps to freshman and backups, many of whom won't even play in the game, like we do? Sure it's a great opportunity to plan for the future and give that future some extra practice without wasting any off-season time, but it seems to me you'd want to make sure your first unit isn't going to get embarrassed on a national stage first and foremost. I really don't know anything on the subject though and like I said, I'm just wondering if this is common practice or not.

 

[gravedigger]

I think what we did might have been handled more 'relaxed' than what we are used to hearing about practices in general under Mullen, but I dont think the amount of reps the first team got was any different than a normal game preparation week. f

The advantage of the bowl season is exactly that you get those extra practices and reps to kids that havent gotten them during the season. I dont dissagree with that at all and as a matter of fact, it also gives you another chance to evaluate even better what you need to accomplish on signing day if you need to free up a scholarship at a position.

I think our problem this year is a simple one. It isnt Russell's mistakes, or even our talent level, playcalling, or defensive coordinator. I think we did something offensively that looks good in the stat books but is a false sense of security., What mullen does best is spread option with a mobile qb. That is who he had personnel for. We did not have personnel on the ol OR at the wr spot to be drop back down field passing.

Put another way, our preparation for this game, bama, TAMU, LSU and OM wouldnt have changed a thing. We are not doing what our coach knows best and our players are designed for.