1. We played hard all night. Yeah, we wound up losing by 20, but the pick-6 at the end made it look worse than it was. The fact is, we jumped out early and took their crowd out of it. Then we did the stupid stuff we do against LSU and the result was our annual L to those coonass bastards. Apparently the law of averages will never apply to this series.
2. I really liked our first offensive drive. We got RoJo & Malcolm involved right off the bat. It had me excited thinking we'd see more of them this week. Wrong.
3. Nick Griffin ran hard. We're starting to see from him what we all thought we'd see over the summer. It appears the light has finally gone off and he's resolved whatever mental issues he was having with his knee. He's earned more PT. Plus, he's also great in pass pro. He made a really nice chip block on the first drive to give TR a little extra time to throw.
4. Our overall offensive gameplan was better. We finally re-introduced the deep shots and it opened up the field for us tremendously. My only complaint is forgetting our Johnsons. We've got to get those guys involved more, because they're real matchup problems.
5. OL was outstanding. I won't fault them for the last drive. LSU knew we had to pass and those elite rush DEs were able to get in a sprinter's stance and take off. Until that point, we handled them about as well as you could've asked.
6. TR was absolutely dialed in last night. He made several big time throws. My only beef is taking the sack on 3rd down on the final drive. He once aGAIN held the ball too long and took the sack instead of getting rid of it. The play-action on 4th down was the second worst call of the night. The worst was the TR sneak on 3rd and 3. That call was the official end of the game.
7. Derek Milton: I hope you run until you puke up a lung. Catching the toss on a sweep should be a given. It was the turning point of the game. We had all the momentum up to that point, then we were fighting uphill the rest of the night. I've said all season I thought this guy was overrated and didn't get the man crush so many had on him. Griffin & JR are better backs right now.
8. We miss LDP in the passing game. Gotta get him involved. Anyone know if "Perkins hip" is the new "Moultrie knee?" First we'd heard of Perk being banged up was last night.
9. Special teams was solid last night. Nice to see Bell hit the bomb on the road. Swedenburg and the punt unit continue to be our most consistent group. However, I'm still of the opinion Mullen needs to give up STs and take over O. That's his real passion and it would improve our team to get a more knowledgeable ST coach while Mullen gets to focus on O and call plays.
10. Chris Wilson: I hope you had to walk back to Starkville and your office was boxed up waiting on you when you got there. He's managed to make our defense soft in less than 2 seasons. We're no longer the physical, aggressive D we're known for. This bend-but-don't-break **** sucks. It's ****** Big 12 schemes with SEC athletes. And it's taken all the aggression and physicality out of our D. If you don't get teams off the field in the SEC, you wear down. Giving up drives to SEC OLs is asking for trouble. And I guarantee that if I had Banks & Slay as my CBs, it would be the rare occasion I played zone, much less dropped 8 into coverage. JLD knew what to do with 2 lockdown CBs. Wilson doesn't.
11. For the second week in a row, an opposing offense made Nickoe their *****. He may be 100% of what he'll be, but he's not 100% of what he was. He's a very average player now. And he takes absolutely terrible angles to the ball.
12. Our DL play was better, but still bad. I know we've beaten the horse to death, then drawn and quartered the horse, but how Cherrington gets to play so much makes no sense. He should be a garbage time guy at most, not starting. Jones, Virges, and Quay should all start and play more than him. I like Ryan Brown as a rush DE. It should also be pointed out that this group is coached directly by Wilson. Can we please bring David Turner back? He's looking for a job now. With the talent of this group, there's really no excuse for how ****** we've been up front.
13. Banks missed 2 picks. You wanna beat an LSU, you gotta have at least one of those. Slay's move to break up the TD was great. 80 killed us all night. But that's on Wilson. Can't let one guy take over like that.
14. Overall, I was pleased with the improvements I saw on offense, despite the loss. Defensively, I won't be happy until we fire Wilson. It's inexcusable how soft he's made our D. This is a big test for Mullen. Changes are needed, but can he see it and will he do it?
15. We're still on track for 9-3. Getting Arkansas at home is big. Need a big crowd to show up, despite the early kickoff.
As usual comments, additions, whatever welcome.
In Mullen We Trust,
WMD
2. I really liked our first offensive drive. We got RoJo & Malcolm involved right off the bat. It had me excited thinking we'd see more of them this week. Wrong.
3. Nick Griffin ran hard. We're starting to see from him what we all thought we'd see over the summer. It appears the light has finally gone off and he's resolved whatever mental issues he was having with his knee. He's earned more PT. Plus, he's also great in pass pro. He made a really nice chip block on the first drive to give TR a little extra time to throw.
4. Our overall offensive gameplan was better. We finally re-introduced the deep shots and it opened up the field for us tremendously. My only complaint is forgetting our Johnsons. We've got to get those guys involved more, because they're real matchup problems.
5. OL was outstanding. I won't fault them for the last drive. LSU knew we had to pass and those elite rush DEs were able to get in a sprinter's stance and take off. Until that point, we handled them about as well as you could've asked.
6. TR was absolutely dialed in last night. He made several big time throws. My only beef is taking the sack on 3rd down on the final drive. He once aGAIN held the ball too long and took the sack instead of getting rid of it. The play-action on 4th down was the second worst call of the night. The worst was the TR sneak on 3rd and 3. That call was the official end of the game.
7. Derek Milton: I hope you run until you puke up a lung. Catching the toss on a sweep should be a given. It was the turning point of the game. We had all the momentum up to that point, then we were fighting uphill the rest of the night. I've said all season I thought this guy was overrated and didn't get the man crush so many had on him. Griffin & JR are better backs right now.
8. We miss LDP in the passing game. Gotta get him involved. Anyone know if "Perkins hip" is the new "Moultrie knee?" First we'd heard of Perk being banged up was last night.
9. Special teams was solid last night. Nice to see Bell hit the bomb on the road. Swedenburg and the punt unit continue to be our most consistent group. However, I'm still of the opinion Mullen needs to give up STs and take over O. That's his real passion and it would improve our team to get a more knowledgeable ST coach while Mullen gets to focus on O and call plays.
10. Chris Wilson: I hope you had to walk back to Starkville and your office was boxed up waiting on you when you got there. He's managed to make our defense soft in less than 2 seasons. We're no longer the physical, aggressive D we're known for. This bend-but-don't-break **** sucks. It's ****** Big 12 schemes with SEC athletes. And it's taken all the aggression and physicality out of our D. If you don't get teams off the field in the SEC, you wear down. Giving up drives to SEC OLs is asking for trouble. And I guarantee that if I had Banks & Slay as my CBs, it would be the rare occasion I played zone, much less dropped 8 into coverage. JLD knew what to do with 2 lockdown CBs. Wilson doesn't.
11. For the second week in a row, an opposing offense made Nickoe their *****. He may be 100% of what he'll be, but he's not 100% of what he was. He's a very average player now. And he takes absolutely terrible angles to the ball.
12. Our DL play was better, but still bad. I know we've beaten the horse to death, then drawn and quartered the horse, but how Cherrington gets to play so much makes no sense. He should be a garbage time guy at most, not starting. Jones, Virges, and Quay should all start and play more than him. I like Ryan Brown as a rush DE. It should also be pointed out that this group is coached directly by Wilson. Can we please bring David Turner back? He's looking for a job now. With the talent of this group, there's really no excuse for how ****** we've been up front.
13. Banks missed 2 picks. You wanna beat an LSU, you gotta have at least one of those. Slay's move to break up the TD was great. 80 killed us all night. But that's on Wilson. Can't let one guy take over like that.
14. Overall, I was pleased with the improvements I saw on offense, despite the loss. Defensively, I won't be happy until we fire Wilson. It's inexcusable how soft he's made our D. This is a big test for Mullen. Changes are needed, but can he see it and will he do it?
15. We're still on track for 9-3. Getting Arkansas at home is big. Need a big crowd to show up, despite the early kickoff.
As usual comments, additions, whatever welcome.
In Mullen We Trust,
WMD