Concerns heading into this season:
Safety. Let's face it, Nickoe Whitley wasn't the same player this year. But you can't blame a guy who is coming off a ruptured achilles injury which forced him to miss most of the offseason. Before his injury, he was projected to be a top safety in next year's draft & we got a preview of how awful our secondary can be without him in last year's Music City Bowl (Wake Forest torched us, if you don't remember). And ohhh, how we forget how important Charles Mitchell was to our run defense last season. Mitchell & Whitley were the glue to our secondary & we didn't get near the production from the Safety spot that we needed. It showed all season long, as time after time teams had WIDE OPEN receivers down the field. Moving Broomfield to safety wasn't the quick fix we needed.
Big Play WR. Bumphis had an outstanding season. Arguably the best ever in a M&W uniform. He seemed to always come through with a big catch when we needed it. But in order for this team to make a step forward, we must find a big, physical receiver who can go up & make a catch in traffic. We don't have a single WR that can get separation from a good DB. I'm hoping that the Johnsons can step up next year and be the weapons this team needs in the passing game. Losing Bumphis & not getting Rumph hurts. On the bright side, next year's WR corps have more potential with ROJO, Morrow, & Lewis stepping in for CSmith & AClark.
Offensive Line. All things considered, I thought this group held up fairly well with the talent we have. They had their share of ups & downs, just like any young OLine would. Our awful offensive game-planning against Bama, A&M, & OM would get any QB killed. You can't drop back 4 or 5 wide nearly every play against those teams & expect your OLine to keep TR upright for 4 quarters. (where was the screen pass to Perk this year?! MISS YOU HUDSPETH!). With almost every O linemen returning, there's plenty of reason to be optimistic about this group heading into next season.
I'm still scratching my head:
Defensive Line. Underachieved all season. I think we over-hyped Boyd, unfortunately. Playing alongside Fletcher Cox will do that to you. It's still a mystery why Cherrington ever saw the field, let alone start SEC games. I heard he "graded out" worst ever for DL since Mullen has been here against A&M. We just couldn't get any kind of pressure on the QB with a 4 man rush, although I like what see out of Autry the last few games. Has Eulls ever recorded a sack?? Blown up a play?? It just seems like he stands around & takes up space(Didn't he get a Bama offer?). Everything being said, this group has to drastically improve next fall. DL that are 4* recruits or better: Autry, Eulls, Quay, Nick James, AJ Jefferson, PJ Jones, Chris Jones. There's no reason for this DL to not be a strong-point on this football team. This falls on Chris Wilson. Make some improvements or leave.
The Identity of This Football Team. The last 3 seasons, this team was built on defense & running the football. I understand we have an outstanding QB in TR. But why change? Quit trying to force passing the ball. I'm not against a 50/50 split of run/pass. RUN TO SET UP THE PASS. RUN TO SET UP THE PASS. RUN TO SET UP THE PASS. Mullen forced an offense on a group of players instead of playing to his strengths like he did with the Relf-Coast offense. It goes without saying that the defense needs to improve. It's a must if we want to be a competitive football team. Croom fielded better defenses than this. We never formed an identity during our 7-0 run to start the year, we were just better than the teams we played. And once we got knocked down against Bama, we couldnt get back up because we had no identity/toughness to fall back on. This is on Dan Mullen.
Final Thoughts:
In SEC play, it's clear that Nick Griffin needs to be our main back. I love Perkins, but he can't run between the tackles against SEC DL's. Use him more in the passing game.
I trust Mullen will make the adjustments needed this offseason to have a successful 2013 season. He's a good coach, we are lucky to have him.
We are 8-4, about to head to our 3rd straight bowl game.
Hail State.
Is it baseball season yet?
Safety. Let's face it, Nickoe Whitley wasn't the same player this year. But you can't blame a guy who is coming off a ruptured achilles injury which forced him to miss most of the offseason. Before his injury, he was projected to be a top safety in next year's draft & we got a preview of how awful our secondary can be without him in last year's Music City Bowl (Wake Forest torched us, if you don't remember). And ohhh, how we forget how important Charles Mitchell was to our run defense last season. Mitchell & Whitley were the glue to our secondary & we didn't get near the production from the Safety spot that we needed. It showed all season long, as time after time teams had WIDE OPEN receivers down the field. Moving Broomfield to safety wasn't the quick fix we needed.
Big Play WR. Bumphis had an outstanding season. Arguably the best ever in a M&W uniform. He seemed to always come through with a big catch when we needed it. But in order for this team to make a step forward, we must find a big, physical receiver who can go up & make a catch in traffic. We don't have a single WR that can get separation from a good DB. I'm hoping that the Johnsons can step up next year and be the weapons this team needs in the passing game. Losing Bumphis & not getting Rumph hurts. On the bright side, next year's WR corps have more potential with ROJO, Morrow, & Lewis stepping in for CSmith & AClark.
Offensive Line. All things considered, I thought this group held up fairly well with the talent we have. They had their share of ups & downs, just like any young OLine would. Our awful offensive game-planning against Bama, A&M, & OM would get any QB killed. You can't drop back 4 or 5 wide nearly every play against those teams & expect your OLine to keep TR upright for 4 quarters. (where was the screen pass to Perk this year?! MISS YOU HUDSPETH!). With almost every O linemen returning, there's plenty of reason to be optimistic about this group heading into next season.
I'm still scratching my head:
Defensive Line. Underachieved all season. I think we over-hyped Boyd, unfortunately. Playing alongside Fletcher Cox will do that to you. It's still a mystery why Cherrington ever saw the field, let alone start SEC games. I heard he "graded out" worst ever for DL since Mullen has been here against A&M. We just couldn't get any kind of pressure on the QB with a 4 man rush, although I like what see out of Autry the last few games. Has Eulls ever recorded a sack?? Blown up a play?? It just seems like he stands around & takes up space(Didn't he get a Bama offer?). Everything being said, this group has to drastically improve next fall. DL that are 4* recruits or better: Autry, Eulls, Quay, Nick James, AJ Jefferson, PJ Jones, Chris Jones. There's no reason for this DL to not be a strong-point on this football team. This falls on Chris Wilson. Make some improvements or leave.
The Identity of This Football Team. The last 3 seasons, this team was built on defense & running the football. I understand we have an outstanding QB in TR. But why change? Quit trying to force passing the ball. I'm not against a 50/50 split of run/pass. RUN TO SET UP THE PASS. RUN TO SET UP THE PASS. RUN TO SET UP THE PASS. Mullen forced an offense on a group of players instead of playing to his strengths like he did with the Relf-Coast offense. It goes without saying that the defense needs to improve. It's a must if we want to be a competitive football team. Croom fielded better defenses than this. We never formed an identity during our 7-0 run to start the year, we were just better than the teams we played. And once we got knocked down against Bama, we couldnt get back up because we had no identity/toughness to fall back on. This is on Dan Mullen.
Final Thoughts:
In SEC play, it's clear that Nick Griffin needs to be our main back. I love Perkins, but he can't run between the tackles against SEC DL's. Use him more in the passing game.
I trust Mullen will make the adjustments needed this offseason to have a successful 2013 season. He's a good coach, we are lucky to have him.
We are 8-4, about to head to our 3rd straight bowl game.
Hail State.
Is it baseball season yet?