WMD's Armchair QB - Pulled Pork Edition:

[War Machine Dawg]

Sorry about the delay getting this out, gents. My ancient laptop finally gave up the ghost last Sunday, so I had to borrow a computer to write this. And I had a party last night, so this morning was the best I could do.

1. Students: You 17ing suck. I know it was an early game. But if I can drag my *** out of bed at 5am and drive 2 hours to get to the game, you can wake your asses up from 15 minutes away and make it. It was Senior Day for one of the greatest senior classes in school history, and you couldn't bother to show up for your fellow peers. Pathetic. You're a 17ing embarrassment to the University. 17 all of you.

2. I'm excited about what I've seen from our OL the last 2 weeks. We've really rediscovered some of our physical identity up front. We're pushing guys around, creating holes, and being physical up there aGAIN. Don't know what changed, but it's damn good to see.

3. I knew we'd win early in the 3rd Quarter. As the game progressed, the realization slowly hit me that lines were dominating theirs. Much like Mullen's first Egg Bowl, once I saw that and realized it, I knew it was over.

4. Chris Wilson: Hopefully you only have 1 game remaining as DC. Pretty sure you falsified your resume when you said you have previous experience coaching D. Your gameplan was 17ing awful and tried to make Tyler Wilson look like Johnny 17ing Football.

5. The turnovers the D created were awesome. But that doesn't mean we played great D. It just allows us to cover up how soft we play. If I see another 3-man front and watch us drop 8 in a non-Hail Mary situation, my head is going to explode. Our first 2 drives were beyond terrible. The body language from the D was absolutely awful. You could tell they didn't think they could stop the Piglets. Thankfully, we got a stop, then a turnover, and the body language changed. We played with our old confidence aGAIN. But we're still a soft D and will be until Wilson is gone.

6. Nick Griffin: Give this man the damn ball! 1 run for 8 yards in the first half.....doesn't touch it aGAIN until the late 4th Quarter. Inexcusable. He's earned a bigger role the last few weeks. Don't know if anyone else noticed it, but on TR's draw, Griffin was the lead blocker and he murdered some poor Piglet LB with a block. And his big TD run was a thing of beauty. Showed he has some serious wheels for a big guy. He finally looks like he's 100% and gotten over whatever mental hurdle was holding him back. I firmly believe we've seen the real 7 the last few weeks. He's got to get more PT. Period.

7.Congrats to Bump for breaking the single season TD record. He's had a big year.

8. I was pleased to see our Johnsons more involved in the passing game this week. Need to keep it up.

9. If you can pick up a guy by his shoulder pads & helmet, literally turn him upside down, and bodyslam him, why do we even have a flag for personal foul or horsecollar? And Clark's elbow was STILL down before the ball came out. I hate SEC officiating. It almost makes WWE officiating look credible.

10. I love Tubby, but the guy has serious butterfingers in the return game. It sucks, because he's probably our best return guy in terms of what he can do after the catch. But if you can't catch it, you can't play special teams. Period. Gotta find a way to fix this before next season.

11. Our STs were a strength on Saturday. Nice to see for a change. Still doesn't change my opinion of what needs to happen after the season.

12. Nice to see Jamerson Love bait Wilson into a bad pass and make a nice move to pick it. He's caught hell the last few weeks, but he's going to be a good CB for us. He hasn't been nearly as bad as some make him out to be. Kinda like QB, when you make mistakes at that position, there's no hiding it and you catch more hell than you probably should. Nature of the beast.

13. TR had a big day. But as I've said 18 million times, STOP HOLDING THE DAMN BALL! He makes our OL look way worse than they are by not getting rid of it and taking ridiculous hits and sacks. Wish he'd gotten to 300, but 275 & 4 TDs is a good day by any standard.

14. Loved the jet option with Perk. New wrinkle we haven't seen and it worked beautifully. Would love to see us try it with Tubby.....if I thought he wouldn't drop it.

15. Josh Boyd came to play. He had a huge day. He was in the backfield and chasing down their RBs all day. Great to see him step up.

16. Where the hell has Jay Hughes been all season? He looked really good Saturday. Made a ton of plays and was great busting up the bubble screen that's given us fits all season. Play this guy more.

17. Our personnel decisions on D continue to be questionable at best. I don't think Christian Holmes has played all season, but he got a ton of snaps Saturday. Devin Jones hasn't played since September, unless I've missed it. And he was out there a ton this week. We've talked about Cherrington ad nauseum.

18. Preston Smith and Ryan Brown need more snaps at DE. They've quietly had really good seasons. Smith in particular looked very good Saturday.

19. Cam continues to be Cam. Always in the right place at the right time. Had 10 tackles in the first half, finished with 11 and the fumble recovery. I'm going to miss him like hell next season.

20. We've GOT to beat the Bears on Saturday. I can't take anymore of their delusional ********. They've been drinking their own kool-aid for too long. My Facebook news feed was full of **** like "Our losses are better than some team's wins" and "Bring on State. They're battle hardened against the likes of JSU, Troy, etc." Note to Mullen: If you have a chance to run up the score Saturday night, DO IT! Put the accelerator on the floor and hang 75 on that *** if you can.


As always, fire away.

In Mullen We Trust,

WMD

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

17 - about our dline personnel. it still blows my 17ing mind how cherrington starts and plays the majority of the game. i've never in my life seen someone get drove back 2-3 yards of the los on every snap like he does and he outweighs every guard or center by 50lbs. there's obviously something going on with quay or i'd say let him play but there's no reason why the coaches don't give his snaps to pj, james or virges.

 

[War Machine Dawg]

It's ridiculous and inexcusable. Everyone keeps talking about Nick James, but I'm not that impressed yet. And how long will it take our fans to realize James IS NOT in game shape? He'd be done after 1 series at most in terms of being effective if he played right now. We're using him exactly as we should be, given his conditioning - a spot play here and there as needed, but mostly garbage time minutes for conditioning purposes.

You're absolutely right about PJ & Virges, those. There's no reason they shouldn't be playing more. Wasn't PJ Freshman All-SEC last season? I'm too lazy to look it up. Regardless, he and Virges both looked like big time players last year, now they can't get Cherrington off the field? I call ********. Something isn't right there.

 

[FISHDAWG]

he played several series against Arky... and early series @ that

nm

 

[boatsandhoes]

I like it all.

-I was depressed by our defense in the 1st quarter too. TO's make up for a lot but it only hides the facts. We have a lot of talent so you (collectively) figure it out.
-I love big griffin too. Man, I would love to pound the **** outta the rebs with Dak, Griffin, Milton, then robinson. option spread game some and then back between the tackles.
-I do not understand our DL but I saw some flashes by Autry and Boyd. When boyd makes up his mind to implode a play....it gets imploded.
-Really like the way Christian holmes contributed.
-we still tackle poorly, lots of missed tackles.
-Tyler.....best quarterback we have ever had not even close. The kid makes throws, stands in there till the last second and takes the shot to complete the ball. he is accurate while getting hit.
-Dak is going to be a bad *** when it is his time. he can slowly navigate to being ready...no rush which is a plus.
-Just imagine if we had one or two 6'5" guys on the outside for tyler. Got Rumph? We really could have used that committment from Jason Croom. Thanks mama croom how's that big orange taste now?
-I too wish quay was playing.
-Jay Hughes is making some plays, Dee Arrington (third down and short stop) is sticking his nose in there, Christian holmes flying around, Chris hughes getting a lot of pt...he was in there on that important 3rd and short stop.
-Ro Jo can play. barring injury or other problems his is going to be some kind of weapon. Take a look at his little hitch route he caught later in the game. he got tackled for a short gain but it was shoestring. He has good moves inside his routes that make a difference...big time SEC receiver potential. He could be as good as moncreif given the chance.
-Go back and look at the second half kick off and watch matt wells blow up the pig on the wedge. Laid the dude out. I think he likes contact.

Beat omu silly!

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

i agree about something being up. i may have missed him but i don't remember seeing virges and recently. i didn't see pj playing some saturday but not nearly as much as cherrington. something is definitely going on to not have quay and virges playing over cherrington.

 

[kired]

Bohanna did not play Saturday according to part. report. I assume Holmes was backup MLB. He's a decent looking LB. Some of the young guys have looked good lately - Jay Hughes, Arrington, Preston Smith. Kendrick Market made some nice tackles on kickoff coverage.

I'm worried about punt returns next year. I'm afraid Lewis is not the answer. Maybe Holloway, Market, or Kalio Moore will have a chance to take over. Takes a special player to stand back there & catch a punt with guys coming at you full speed.

 

[War Machine Dawg]

If Bohanna was out, then that makes sense. And to be fair, after struggling early, Holmes made some nice plays later in the game.

Can't believe I forgot to mention Market. He's a damn headhunter on kickoff coverage. 3 straight tackles. And he wrapped up and drove through his guy on all of them. It was nice to see a guy out there not trying to lay the huge shot or arm tackle. And surprise, surprise he actually managed to bring the lumber on a couple of those tackles while wrapping up. I'm really excited about him.

We'll find a guy to return punts. Hadn't thought of Market as an option, but I could see that. He's got good speed and always looked good with the ball in his hands at SP, although that doesn't mean it will translate to the SEC. I'm still a big Tubby fan, but he's got a lot of work to do. That's another reason I think Dan needs to hire a real ST coach. I'm not sure he's capable of doing what we need to do to get Tubby fixed. I wonder if RoJo is an option? I really like what I've seen from him on KOR.

 

[War Machine Dawg]

-I love big griffin too. Man, I would love to pound the **** outta the rebs with Dak, Griffin, Milton, then robinson. option spread game some and then back between the tackles.
-I do not understand our DL but I saw some flashes by Autry and Boyd. When boyd makes up his mind to implode a play....it gets imploded.
-we still tackle poorly, lots of missed tackles.
-Tyler.....best quarterback we have ever had not even close. The kid makes throws, stands in there till the last second and takes the shot to complete the ball. he is accurate while getting hit.
-Dak is going to be a bad *** when it is his time. he can slowly navigate to being ready...no rush which is a plus.
-I too wish quay was playing.
-Jay Hughes is making some plays, Dee Arrington (third down and short stop) is sticking his nose in there, Christian holmes flying around, Chris hughes getting a lot of pt...he was in there on that important 3rd and short stop.
-Ro Jo can play. barring injury or other problems his is going to be some kind of weapon. Take a look at his little hitch route he caught later in the game. he got tackled for a short gain but it was shoestring. He has good moves inside his routes that make a difference...big time SEC receiver potential. He could be as good as moncreif given the chance.

Beat omu silly!

You make some valid points. I'll start with the first one. You need to flip JR & Milton. JR is clearly the better RB right now. He runs hard, breaks tackles, and always falls forward. And he hasn't dropped a pitch. We heard all spring Milton had fumblitis. Can't trust a guy who can't hold onto the ball. Honestly, I'm just not that impressed with Milton so far.

Boyd has always had potential. He's a solid player, but he's no Fletcher Cox. He'd look better if PJ, Virges, and Quay were beside him.

I don't think I've ever been so excited about the future of the QB position. TR is definitely big time. But here's the rub: He shouldn't have to take so many shots to make a throw. He takes those shots because he's holding the ball too damn long. If it isn't there, get rid of it and live to play another down. Don't take a ridiculous sack and put us in even worse position, forcing the WRs to run deeper routes and forcing him to hold the ball longer for the routes to develop. Dak is Lex Luger - The Total Package (even though in actuality Luger sucked). He's what we've been wanting at QB for Mullen's entire tenure thus far - a true dual threat that's equally dangerous running and throwing. He looks composed back there and has a very quick release. His pass to Tubby on the move was sick. I'm super excited to see the offense when it's Dak's show. We should finally have the entire playbook available.

We've definitely seen a lot of contribution from some of the younger guys lately. As I've said, I really like the depth we've shown. It's a positive sign for the future.

RoJo is another guy I've beaten the horse to death about for weeks now. You're right, he's a big matchup problem. I won't go so far as to say he could be as good as Moncrief, because Moncrief has more speed and is a real deep threat. But RoJo is way underutilized right now. He and Malcolm are the hybrid guys that can create some big plays for us in the pass game, especially in the middle of the field.

 

[War Machine Dawg]

I haven't seen Virges in weeks either, Ruckus. Something just doesn't pass the smell test with our DLine right now. To repeat ourselves for the 18 millionth time, PJ, Virges, and Quay should all be playing ahead of Cherrington. Hell, even Devin Jones should play ahead of Cherrington. You can't tell me 2 guys as battle tested and proven as PJ & Virges were last season suddenly can't beat out a JUCO walkon. And I don't buy that they aren't showing it in practice, either. Piss on practice. When you put them in the actual game, those bastards make plays and disrupt opposing OLs.

Our DE situation hasn't gotten as much discussion as it deserves, primarily because the DT situation has been that bad. I like Eulls, but he really has been a non-factor at DE so far. He probably needs to move inside. I'd love to see Preston Smith & Ryan Brown get more snaps at DE. They've both looked really good in the limited PT they've gotten so far. Brown might be the best pure rush DE of the group. And Smith leads the team in sacks, I believe, with much less PT than Eulls & Autry. Autry looks like the light has finally come on the last couple of weeks, so I'm not worried as much about him anymore.

It should also be pointed out that Wilson is directly responsible for coaching the DLine. So this mess is directly traceable to him. Our DC is in charge of the position that's the biggest cluster17 on the entire team. Talent isn't the issue. Our DLine should be one of the strengths of the team, not the glaring weakness. If you'd told me before the season our DL would be a disaster, I'd have had you fitted for a hug-me jacket. The whole thing just reeks. Period.

 

[DAWG61]

Defense gave up 14 points and caused 4 turnovers. Can't get mad at Wilson for that. Just like in the other 7 wins. Wilson's D creates turnovers we win. When they don't we lose. Wilson's D is #4 in the nation in turnover margin still. With only one game left. After 3 losses to 3 top 10 teams in which MSU had 6 turnovers and only caused 2 his defense is still #4 in the nation in turnover margin.

 

[boatsandhoes]

On defense, yah but they look completely lost in the 1st quarter. Then, I am not sure Wilson made adjustments or arky just lost all momentum turning the ball over. I know arky and tyler wilson are a great offense and have weapons but I was *facepalming* the entire 1st qtr. NO PASS RUSH AT ALL.

I honestly think Tubby runs the wrong route or poor routes 60% of the time. Like a 5'8" Dez Bryant. He is rarely in the right place it seems to me. His flag/corner route in the 3rd or 4th is an example.

Rojo just has a lot of "jive" inside his route running. because of his body moves the cover guys has trouble deciding what route he is actually running. Not many of our guys have that. They are NFL type routes from him. He can go up and get the ball in traffic like Mounds used to....see that catch and big hit from their safety....1st down. He has that swag that mounds did with a better qb.

 

[War Machine Dawg]

You're damn right I can get mad at Wilson.....

Once aGAIN, causing turnovers does NOT make you a good defense. It simply masks the deficiencies you have. Our gameplan was awful, aGAIN. That's on Wilson. We're physically soft. That's on Wilson. His position group is the biggest cluster17 on the entire team, with some of the most talent. That's on Wilson. We suck at tackling. That's on Wilson.

And like we said about Crxxms in '07, you can't count on getting turnovers in order to win. While we have the type of talent that I'm never surprised we get them, it isn't something you can "expect." There's a big difference. And the fact that we're relying on turnovers for success on D is ridiculous. We have too much talent on that side of the ball for turnovers to be our key to a successful defensive day. Our DL should be deep and getting consistent pressure. Our LBs matchup with almost anyone in the SEC. And our secondary is among the elite in the nation.

We've GOT to stop dropping 8 on every 3rd & 5 or longer. We play physically soft now. Our coverage is damn soft. We rarely blitz. "Bend but don't break" has turned into "bend then break" in just 2 seasons under Wilson. Teams, and individual units, take on the personality of their coach. Regardless of his stint at TX, Manny had a swagger and the D fed off that. Wilson has no swagger whatsoever. His scheme is not aggressive and doesn't take advantage of our personnel. We don't play downhill anymore, the way successful defenses do and the way we have in the past. We're constantly in "read and react" mode like we were under Torbush. And as I've said for nearly a month now, playing "bend but don't break" in the SEC is suicide. Giving SEC OLinemen extra plays to lean on your DLinemen and LBs is a recipe for disaster. Get the other team off the field and let YOUR OL lean on the other team for extra plays. Pretty much everything that is currently wrong with our D is in one way or another directly traceable to Wilson. Big 12 D doesn't work in the SEC. Ask Mizzou.

 

[DAWG61]

I get it that you don't like Wilson's style of D. When the other team scores 14 and gives up 5 turnovers it makes the argument mute for that game. It's like saying "I hate that our basketball team shoots so many 3's" on a night they go 15-30 from 3's. I'm not a huge fan of bend don't break but I am a serious fan of turnovers. I absolutely love causing turnovers. It kills the other teams spirit. So on a team that is #4 in the nation in causing these turnovers I love so much Chris Wilson is alright in my eyes. The players seem to like him too. He needs to have a 2nd or 3rd option though to switch into against tougher opponents. I don't want to see strictly bend don't break. The first two drives Arkansas had were bad. But they didn't score again so...

 

[Seinfeld]

Question: Is Tyler Wilson deceptively fast or are our LBs that damn slow? On three separate occasions, the pocket collapsed and Wilson started to "run" while I was just certain that we were about to kill him. However, in spite of him seeming to move in slow motion, he actually outran one of our LBs each time and picked up 5-8 yards. And it's not like he just had a good angle. He flat out outran a LB.

 

[War Machine Dawg]

He got so much yardage because virtually every time that happened, we were in that damn 3-man front and had dropped 8 guys into coverage. It gave him large alleys to run through. And our LBs were dropped so deep in their zone responsibilities, they had a long way to run to come up to him.

 

[War Machine Dawg]

You still aren't addressing the core issues. I'm actually agreeing with you about the turnovers. I love them and they are certainly will-breakers. But you keep avoiding the issue that we've become physically soft, don't play downhill, and suck at tackling. Those are all symptoms of poor coaching, period.

You also won't address the fact that our DL is one of the most talented positions on the team, but happens to be the biggest cluster17 on the team this season. And Wilson is the position coach for the DL. So explain to me how he's some great defensive coach, because everything I see - with the exception of turnovers - points to some very, very ****** coaching on that side of the ball.