Thoughts

[AzzurriDawg4]

1. Muschamp, Pelini, you name it, could not have done much better with our defensive personnel than we did today. We could have used a couple more stops, but we got the most we could out of our players. You just aren't going to stop Houston with our secondary. I am not saying Torbush has earned his paycheck yet, but it is what it is.

2. Lee just can't get out of his own way. He has a skill set that should be good enough to run our team with our talent at RB and developing talent at WR. We know he is not a gamechanger, but he should be able to (and has shown that he can) move this offense. Problem is, he just has a knack for not getting it done in the biggest situations. We have to ride him out the rest of the year. It is our only option at this point. If he will just stop sniping himself, he can lead us to a couple of wins. Man I hope we get Newton. It will be sick if we do. It will be like Mullen exchanging a Mustang for a Ferrari. And that is what our offense is right now, a Mustang. It runs well and looks cool, but you know that the person driving it (Lee) is a little sketchy. The previous 5 years, our offense was cash for clunkers eligible.

3. That 17ing holding call. Dammit. That was the ballgame. Arnil, whether guilty or not, also has a knack for 17ing something up at least once a game.

4. The gameday experience is 1000 times better than years past, but we don't come close to maximizing the potential of our audio/visual yet. Also the random techno music we played before our kickoffs was terrible. I am not a techno hater, I can get down to some Sandstorm and Zombie Nation, it has its place, but that **** they were playing was just ghey.

5. Wade Bonner is horrible, and I am not talking about the long pass play in the 1st quarter. His coverage on that play might have been his best play of the day. That is sad. If I went back and counted how many missed tackles, opportunities to make a play missed, blocks he didn't get off of...it would be a staggering number.

6. We need to get Berry the ball more. He has tackle-breaking ability and needs to be used more in the short passing game.

7. Dixon was Dixon. Strong game. Great stuff from Ducre too.

8. Just as I agree with 8dog that I never expect us to go 3 and out....unfortunately I now expect us to turn the ball over. Sick feeling to have.

 

[dawgatUSM]

Although I don't expect us to go 3 and out... I'm never comfortable when we're about to punch it in the endzone. I'm always weary of a turnover. That's a SICK feeling to have. But... Hopefully these are just temporary until we get a real quarterback

 

[AzzurriDawg4]

nm

 

[topdawg.sixpack]

He was on their asses all day today. He was not a happy person.

 

[Todd4State]

Wouldn't a Volkswagen Beetle be more appropriate considering the driver?

Croom's offense would be a Pinto. It looked ****** and was ready to blow up at any moment.

 

[AzzurriDawg4]

but I caught your joke. I would have gone with Mini Cooper though...or a Mazda Miata.

 

[Columbus Dawg]

1. While I'm not thrilled with Torbush, I agree with you, the talent is just not there in the secondary. Run through the names, other than Mitchell, there is just not much to work with. What's worse, I don't see this issue being addressed in recruiting. Next year could be more of the same.

2. Our first series of the game really bothered me. 3rd and 2 on our first drive inside Houston territory and we come out in no backs? And then we punt on 4th and 2 after the Chris Smith drop? I don't agree with that strategy against a team like Houston who A) puts up a ton of points and B) can't stop the run.

3. There are so many things to like about Tyson Lee, it's a shame that the goaline series against LSU and his inability to protect the ball are overshadowing what could have been a very nice senior season and maybe even a bowl game. I can't see Newton going to Kansas State anymore. They are much further away from being a good team than we are.

4. Our outside receivers are just not good. McRae, Smith, Wilder, and Bowser simply aren't making any plays. I don't know why we can't get the ball to Berry on the outside. Greg Childs of Arkansas was all but committed to MSU. What a big difference he would have made this year and in the future. Again, this is another area that is not being addressed in recruiting unless we are able to land Vincent Sanders. And I don't think Sanders is on the same level as Patterson or Childs. We are a team full of slot receivers.

5. This was the first game that we did a poor job with timeouts and it cost us at the end of the first half and at the end of the game. I also wasn't thrilled with our clock management at the end of the first half. 1 minute and 1 timeout is plenty of time to score against Houston. We didn't start hurrying up until Ducre broke that run.

6. I can understand the official blowing that call on the illegal forward pass, but what I can't understand is the guy in the booth not reviewing it. It was such an important, game-changing call. I see obvious, irrelevant plays get reviewed time and time again. The holding call just poured salt in the wound. It's rare that you see 2 bad calls against the same team directly resulting in a loss of 14 points.

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[AzzurriDawg4]

We are a team full of slot receivers.

So is Houston...it certainly isn't my greatest concern. Berry just needs to play outside. I agree with you, the others aren't getting it done.

Did they score on that drive after the illegal forward pass? I can't remember. That holding call alone was a 14 point swing and you know we would have scored after Berry's catch. Lot of points wrapped up in those 2 calls. Lot of points.

 

[Columbus Dawg]

James Cleveland is 6'2, 205. Their other outside guy is 6'2, 190. You need at least 1 guy on the outside that has some size and can make plays. Bumphis, Ricco, Heavens, and the Juco commit Bolden are all inside guys. Berry prefers the slot, but maybe has potential to make plays on one side of the field. He just hasn't done it yet.

No, after the illegal forward pass, they drove down to our goaline and kicked a field goal, I think. It was either a field goal or an INT by Chaney.

 

[bulldogbaja]

24 legit points for the Cougs... not bad.
Overall, didn't look like a well-coached team though. Way too many penalties, 2 timeouts in the 3rd quarter, some really weird play calls in crucial situations. I give the staff an overall B- today, and only that high because of the defense.
Look at it objectively, not with Dan-the-man colored glasses. Croom would be being crucified right now.

 

[AzzurriDawg4]

nm

 

[Columbus Dawg]

Outstanding is a stretch. We gave up about 550 yards + over 200 yards after the catch. Frankly, I wasn't that impressed with Houston's offense. Any team with 2 decent corners could really slow them down.

 

[dawgatUSM]

that's all you need to win against them. We, unfortunately, have neither

 

[Todd4State]

of offense made Mullen a lot more conservative on offense. I think Dan and the coaches had the right idea and gameplan, but unfortunately, I think it kind of took them out of their element so to speak.

Again for the third straight week, it would have worked if we hold onto the ball. And assuming that the refs wouldn't have screwed us over had we held on.

 

[FlabLoser]

Is putting down 450 to the rear wheels. I'd put it up against some Ferraris. Even if I lose, I bet I keep up.

 

[mcfly.sixpack]

them he would have had as much success as Keenum bc all he did was simply throw quick passes to the sideline and a few short passes over the middle. Keenum only threw down field 4 or 5 times and with our secondary those passes are completions. I was not impressed by him at all. Unfortunatley Lee tries to press himself instead of taking what the defense gives him (the interception on the goaline and trying to pull the ball out of the tailbacks gut at the last moment and 17ing it up). If we could ever get a 17ing qb worth a damn, which has been our achellies heel for 115 years, we might win some ball games but untill then we will never hoist a trophy or wear any rings. Championship teams and programs with tradition are always defensively strong and have a leader at qb who knows how to win games. We have never had this and until we get a qb that has ice in his veins and dosen't execpt losing we will always be a door mat.

 

[FlabLoser]

Especially all the touch passes he through into a crowd, yet still only where only his guy could get it. That guy is just smooth. McPhee all up in his grill and he can still put touch on the ball and put it right where it needs to be.

 

[AzzurriDawg4]

did I just read that?