What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

[bonedaddy401]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

Enough sunshine pumping, what are two players or things we have to improve this year in your opinion?<div>
</div><div>You can only pick two. Mine -</div><div>
</div><div>1. Kick off coverage. We got away with letting teams start beyond the thirty way to much last year. With our defense being more suspect we have to cover kick offs better so offenses have to work harder to get into scoring range.</div><div>
</div><div>2. Bumphis has to become a more clutch player. Enough with the dropped passes already. Show up in a big time moment in a big time game already. Become the player some people on here said you would be. (Remember the "Better than Moulds" crowd?)</div>

 

[bonedaddy401]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

Enough sunshine pumping, what are two players or things we have to improve this year in your opinion?<div>
</div><div>You can only pick two. Mine -</div><div>
</div><div>1. Kick off coverage. We got away with letting teams start beyond the thirty way to much last year. With our defense being more suspect we have to cover kick offs better so offenses have to work harder to get into scoring range.</div><div>
</div><div>2. Bumphis has to become a more clutch player. Enough with the dropped passes already. Show up in a big time moment in a big time game already. Become the player some people on here said you would be. (Remember the "Better than Moulds" crowd?)</div>

 

[missouridawg]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

If we get average to above average play from them, we'll have a great season.

/Ronny - is this ok to comment on?

 

[weblow]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

We HAVE TO have better coverage. We gave up a lot of free yards last year and were fortunate enough to have our D bail us out.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

We have to get some better recruiting classes.

 

[drt7891]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

But I am worried about our O-line, particularly when it comes to depth. The argument I ALWAYS get is, "well, Salsbury is moving to LT or center and we have Carmon," but my worry is we lost our two strongest leaders out of that corps in Sherrod and Brignone (the two best players on that unit last year). They were the foundation and if someone doesn't step up this year, it doesn't matter what Ralph or Bumphis can do because they won't be able to do anything at all. If our line shows vulnerability or shows they can't communicate with one another, teams are gonna blitz the hell out of us and KNOW they can get pressure on Ralph. A lot of people tend to forget that for years, that was the biggest reason we struggled because we, not only didn't have depth at o-line, our starters were even bad... and that is a bad combination and can make the difference between a really good season and a really bad season.

Second, I also agree with kick-off coverage, but we need a deep ball kicker. We need a kicker to step up and put the ball on at least goal line EVERY TIME and not the 12 or 15.

 

[mstatefan88]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

Bumphis has to have a big year for us to put pressure on teams.We need to jump out of the gate early this year, and Bumphis catching balls and being the leader of a young WR core is the way to do that.

Secondly, I think ourplay at corner has to improve. We had a lot of bendbut don't break scenarios last year, and to me our corner play was the main reason for that. Whether it be better tackling or betterone on one coverage, we need the corners to be shut down and give ourselves some shorter fields to work with on offense.

 

[RonnyAtmosphere]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

nm

 

[Columbus Dawg]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

we dropped 52 on Michigan and Bumphis didn't even play. Bumphis is a solid slot receiver and he will have a good year.

We don't have a DE on the roster that has shown he can rush the passer. We really need McCardell or Harrison-Gay to make a big leapand give us a pass rush off the edge.

Obviously LT is a gaping hole so Carmon or Clausell must step.

Other concerns: OL Depth, Punter, andcan Wilson adequately replace Diaz.

One player who could make a big impact is Darius Slay. If he is a lockdown corner (big if), Banks could move back to safety and really solidify our secondary.

 

[clydefrazier]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

1. I think Relf has to continue to get better and "win" a game or two with a fourth qtr drive. Most defenses know what Ballard and Perkins can do and I think most def co's this year will make Relf beat them.

2. The TE position whether it be Green or someone else has to give us some type of short to medium passing option. Would be a huge help to Relf.

No one asked but I think 8-4 is solid, 9-3 would be above expectations,possible losses to Ga at Ga, SC at home, Al at home, Ar at Ark, and LSU in home opener.Need to beat twoor three.... if you can get Al or Lsu or miracale andget both.

 

[SectionG]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

1a) o-line
1b) o-line depth

2) special teams as a whole. Not only were we poor at covering kickoffs, but we also didn't make very many plays on kick and punt returns. I'm not talking scoring TD's every time, but some good field position would be nice.

 

[studentdawg87]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

I am worried as **** about this upcoming season. I have the feeling there are going to be a lot of disappointed fans next year. Will will make a bowl game? Yes. Will we win nine or ten games? Hell no. We have no LT, no depth at DT, and no DEs who have proven they can rush the passer. And our WRs still haven't proven they can get separation against an elite defense. Not to mention an inexperienced LB corp ( I like the LBs, though) and a secondary that still needs to get much better against the pass. We also lost Diaz. I think we go 7-5 with 6-6 a possibility.

1) We have to get better at rushing the passer. Cox and Boyd will get a good push up the middle, but Ferguson or McCardell is going to have to be able to get pressure off of the edge. Our DL scares the **** out of me. If Cox or Boyd were to get injured, we would be in deep ****. Losing Howie is a serious blow to a DL that already lacked depth.

2) Although this doesn't qualify as getting better, we have to find a competent LT. We have no proven depth at any OL spot, and we don't have a LT who has ever taken a snap. Carmon/Clausell, Day and Robinson are going to have to step up. Everyone knows Tobias Smith can't play an entire game and will get injured at some point. Unlike last year, we don't have a guy like Saulsberry who can step in and play almost any position.

Also, it seems that everyone is forgetting that we lost our two best OL off of a team that was second-to-last in the SEC in total offense during conference play. Ralph will be improved along with the RBs and WRs, but it won't matter if the OL takes a big step back. We still haven't proven we can move the ball against an above average SEC defense, and I'm not sure we will be able to do it this year either.

And go ahead and blast me. With the majority of our fanbase expecting to have an even better year than last year, I am sure that this post will be considered overly bleak.

 

[drt7891]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

Bumphis and Ralph can step up all they want to, but if we don't have strong play in the trenches, you can forget having a good season. No depth at any position on either line (offense or defense) isa HUGE concern. Our lines are the foundation of our team and if we give up sacks and Ralph doesn't have time to step up and make a pass or we let d-lines crash gaps, we can have Donald Driver and Aaron Rogers on our team, we couldn't produce worth a ****. Your skill players can step up all they want, but if a quarterback doesn't have time to do anything, or we struggle to run the ball,particularly between the tackles,all they are doing is wasting energy.

The same can be said with giving quarterbacks too much time. I don't think we are going to see as much blitzing this year with Wilson stepping up as d-coordinator (I thought we blitzed too much last year...we leftour secondary very vulnerable a lotagainst the pass bringing our linebackers inside), but the problem is, we have to have a d-line that can crash gaps and get to the quarterback. I don't care if we lead the league in sacks, but I want to know we can get pressure on quarterbacks, make them rush throws, and mess up. Give them plenty oftime, and you could make someone likeme look good at quarterback. </p>

 

[bonedaddy401]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

Unlike last year, we don't have a guy like Saulsberry who can step in and play almost any position.

You do know Saulsberry is a Senior this year right? <div>
</div><div>I wont blast you for beingpessimisticabout this season, you have no reason not to be your a Miss State fan. I do think your outlook is to bleak. To say "hell no" to out our chances of winning 8 games this season is pretty out there. To say we have no proven depth at any O-Line position is an incorrect blanket statement.</div><div>
</div><div>Idon'tget the people who are freaking out over LT. Wedon'trun atraditionaldrop back offense. Left tackle is not as crucial when you run the spread option. We will not be able to replace a first round draft pick but with the option runs and as many play action roll out passing plays as we use you can mask that weakness pretty well.</div><div>
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[drt7891]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

but it takes at least 5 guys to make a good offensive line, and we lost our two leaders. It is a completely valid concern and this is the reaction I have been getting from all kinds of people. To me, it isn't just LT (because we can't just run play action or option right the whole game), it is the line as a unit. If we don't communicate well or if we don't have anyone step up and take leadership, we can't do ANYTHING on offense (ask Henig, Conner, Carrol, or Lee how well that worked for them... and yes, there was a talent issue, but don't forget, Ralph sat behind Tyson Lee for two years). Although we have gotten a lot better on offense since Mullen got here, I think ourdepth at O-Line is going to make the difference in at LEAST 3 or 4 games this year.

 

[Columbus Dawg]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

that our starting OL will be the same OL that started in our win against UF down in the Swamp minus only Sherrod. So really it isall about LT and finding a swing guy that can back up both guard spots-that's probably why we signed Joey Trapp.

 

[studentdawg87]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

It will be either Day or Robinson filling that role this year. That concerns me. Saulsberry will be fine at center.

I never said we couldn't win eight during the regular season. I just think the people thinking we are going to win nine or ten games are going to be disappointed. Granted many of those people reside on Swan Lake.

Not running a pro-style offense will certainly help us mask the fact that Sherrod is gone, but his departure is still worrisome. Carmon has the ability and Clausell will be solid down the road, but there are huge question marks at LT. I'm sure some guys will step up and surprise us this year, but as of right now I am predicting 7-5, which I don't think is too pessimistic. The Auburn and UGA games are going to make or break the season. If we beat Auburn I will feel much better.

We will be much better at every position on offense with the exception of LT and depth at OG. Hopefully we are fine at both spots and the offense will continue to improve. Ralph should be much better this year and so should the WRs.

However, there are some legitimate concerns when it comes to our depth on the OL and DL.

 

[drt7891]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

We scored 10 points and never passed the ball once in the second half of the game (nor scored for that matter). We may have beaten Florida, but we certainly didn't have an outstanding offensive performance. We won't beat many SEC teams scoring 10 points a game.

 

[KurtRambis4]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

people are vastly underrating Hevesy. The guy, to me, is one of the top OL coaches in the nation. While a few of the guys will be new starters, they have been together and working under his guidance and this system for a while. I think people don't think about this sometimes.

 

[hullabaloodog]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

1) Relf - Is he improved enough to lead us to big wins against LSU, USC, Georgia, Auburn, and Arkansas. We don't have to beat all of them (and we won't), but the key to having a better record than last year's team is going 3-2 in those games.
2) DE - We have to find a consistent playmaker at that spot. Eulls? McCardell? Stigers? We'll see.

 

[patdog]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

At the time, Mullen had no confidence in Relf as a passer, and with us not passing at all, UF stacked 9 in the box. If we'd played UF at the end of the season, we'd have scored a lotmore than 10 points.

 

[beyourowndawg]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

asdf

 

[EAVdog]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

He might not have produced a break out year last year but it was easy for teams to pick him, put a double team on him, then blitz with the safety. Our passing game really was not very strong until late in the season. This year defenses will have to pay attention to other receivers and watch out for the RB screens we employed late last season. I think he'll get more big plays this year just because some of the heat will be taken off him.<div>
</div><div>We have to get pass rush from the edges, and have to not give up as many big plays on defense.</div>

 

[gravedigger]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

1. Offense must morph into being primary run to primary pass. I'm not talking about a huge swing, but one that causes teams to have to move back off the line of scrimage to prevent getting burned.
2.Defensive backfield must come up big and win games either by scoring or locking down other teams passing games and forcing opponents to run the ball.

Recipe for losses for us are if we have to play from behind early on. We must control the speed of the game.

Behind that, I think that special teams play, primarily kick coverage has to get better and we also need some better field position on Kick returns ourselves.

 

[00Dawg]

What are two things or players that have to improve this year on our football team?

drt7891]but it takes at least 5 guys to make a good offensive line, and we lost our two leaders. It is a completely valid concern and this is the reaction I have been getting from all kinds of people.

The number of teams that return all 5 starters on the o-line from one year to the next is minimal at best. We returned 3 starters in 2009, 4 last year. This year we have 3 and another who started some games. Next year will likely be about the same unless Carmon really solidifies the LT job. Most coaches would gladly take having 3 returning o-line starters year in and year out.