SBNation Big Preview on Mississippi State...
- Thread starter Maroon Eagle
- Start date
Very good preview, I honestly couldn't find a single thing that I disagreed with. If we play like a slightly better team than last year we will probably be 8-4. If Dak is truly special, stays healthy and our special teams quits stabbing us in the back we have a chance at an amazing year. It all comes down to Auburn, Bama and aTm.
Don't you have to include LSU and Ole Miss in there, since he says we will finish 4-2, which would almost have to include losses to Bama and Ole Miss? I would think if you ranked the likelihood of winning those five games, most State fans would have TAMU first, AU and Ole Miss in some order second and third, in Baton Rouge fourth but still very, very doable, and the road trip to Bama last. If there's no stubbing of the toe in the other seven games, then the story will be written in the other five. It's not hard to imagine going 3-2 in those three games. We could also go 0-5, but on August 4, I think we stand a better chance of 4-1 than 0-5.
My thoughts: Everyone is bullish on the defense, and rightfully so. We've been debating for a while the potential for this to be one of, if not the best defense we've ever fielded. If that is the case, the offense doesn't have to be a juggernaut, and given Mullen's conservative nature, I don't think that it will be. But I just don't see that game this year where somebody puts 30+ points on this defense. Last year, you knew A&M was going to score a lot of points. You knew that LSU and Alabama were capable of it. I just don't see it this year. Alabama has weapons but not like last year. A&M lost almost all of their offense and while Sumlin will do a fine job with that team, they aren't as scary as they were. LSU is breaking in a new QB and we get them early. This may sound foolish, but Auburn doesn't scare me at all. I fully expect us to beat Ole Miss; I just don't think they have the depth and I see them becoming less dangerous as the season progresses.
We could finish in the lower half of the conference offensively and still win ten games because of this defense. That is the biggest reason for my wooliness. It all comes down to Dak and the O-line staying healthy, and our kicking game making some reasonable level of improvement. The latter can't get any worse, that's for sure.
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That was really good. Just one thing that annoys me...
This is the third or fourth piece that I've read lately where the author keeps pointing out the "drubbings" that MSU experiences against Top 25 teams, and the tone seems to clearly imply that we just got our asses kicked anytime that we played someone decent. Well, those teams weren't just decent Top 25 teams. They were #2, #3, #9, #13, #16, and #21 in the final BCS. They were the sport's juggernauts, so you'll have to excuse us if we didn't put on a better showing
That said, this is the year to take one or two of them down
This is the third or fourth piece that I've read lately where the author keeps pointing out the "drubbings" that MSU experiences against Top 25 teams, and the tone seems to clearly imply that we just got our asses kicked anytime that we played someone decent. Well, those teams weren't just decent Top 25 teams. They were #2, #3, #9, #13, #16, and #21 in the final BCS. They were the sport's juggernauts, so you'll have to excuse us if we didn't put on a better showing
That said, this is the year to take one or two of them down
We aren't likely to win either, but I think we're slightly more likely to upset Bama than LSU. Both offenses play into the strength of our defense but for some reason we just play better against Bama (both home and away) than we do against LSU. I think we've beaten Bama twice as many times as we've beaten LSU in my lifetime. If I had to put odds on it I'd say 1-4 in those five is the favorite, 0-5 the next favorite, 2-3 third and everything else much, much longer odds.
The bottom line is if A&M doesn't regress, we've got a tough row to hoe. It will be tough to win in Oxford this year. It always is.
The bottom line is if A&M doesn't regress, we've got a tough row to hoe. It will be tough to win in Oxford this year. It always is.