Breaking Down the Cats' 5th Loss
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Pat Towles sprained his ankle after this sack late in the second quarter.[/caption]
-The Cats started the game in typical fashion: very slow. Miss. State scored 2 touchdowns before the Cats and QB Jalen Whitlow could get 5 yards of offense. It was ugly, then Pat Towles stole the show.
- The highly anticipated appearance of the Cats' Blue Chip in-state recruit Pat Towles proved to be a turning point in the game. Pat showed a hunger to make plays, and was fearless enough to hang in there when pressure was coming, taking a big hit on his 32 yard TD throw to La'Rod King. Towles was 5-5 for 71 yards and a TD on that first possession. The Cats were gaining momentum and got the ball back only down 7.
- That's the good news, stop reading now unless you want to pull your hair out. The next possession Randy Sanders elected to run the ball up the middle with Jonathan George for 3 consecutive plays. The following possession Pat sprained his ankle on a 15 yard sack, and that was the last we saw of him.
- The injury list is getting larger and larger. For a second I thought Rick Pitino was on the sidelines. Along with Towles' ankle injury, Tay Neloms pulled a hammy, and Ashley Lowery had to leave the game with concussion-like symptoms. It seems like they are starting to run out of guys to put in, especially in the secondary.
- Speaking of the secondary, MSU was throwing the ball at will against the Cats defense. If I was a MSU fan I would have been mad that they weren't throwing the ball more because it looked too easy. Corners gave the WRs too much room, and it appeared that the only way to slow it down was by putting pressure on Tyler Russell. The few times that players got hands on passes, they couldn't come away with an interception.
- As bad as the play calling was, Joker did pull another trick from up his sleeve and ran an onside kick after cutting the lead to 27-14 with 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. It worked, but the Cats could not convert. The few times they have gone to trickery this year, they have failed to put points on the board.
- The Cats have looked miserable in the second half this year, but did score a touchdown despite Jalen Whitlow not giving his best effort, "I couldn't throw it in the ocean. That's not good." The coaching staff actually made a good adjustment: they turned the no huddle offense up a notch. The snaps were coming so quick that MSU couldn't get lined up and they had some success moving the ball.
- Murphy's Law has been an S.O.B to the Cats this year, and the injuries aren't helping Joker's chances at saving his job. It'll be interesting to see how many freshman will be starting when they visit Arkansas next week.
Pat Towles sprained his ankle after this sack late in the second quarter.[/caption]
-The Cats started the game in typical fashion: very slow. Miss. State scored 2 touchdowns before the Cats and QB Jalen Whitlow could get 5 yards of offense. It was ugly, then Pat Towles stole the show.
- The highly anticipated appearance of the Cats' Blue Chip in-state recruit Pat Towles proved to be a turning point in the game. Pat showed a hunger to make plays, and was fearless enough to hang in there when pressure was coming, taking a big hit on his 32 yard TD throw to La'Rod King. Towles was 5-5 for 71 yards and a TD on that first possession. The Cats were gaining momentum and got the ball back only down 7.
- That's the good news, stop reading now unless you want to pull your hair out. The next possession Randy Sanders elected to run the ball up the middle with Jonathan George for 3 consecutive plays. The following possession Pat sprained his ankle on a 15 yard sack, and that was the last we saw of him.
- The injury list is getting larger and larger. For a second I thought Rick Pitino was on the sidelines. Along with Towles' ankle injury, Tay Neloms pulled a hammy, and Ashley Lowery had to leave the game with concussion-like symptoms. It seems like they are starting to run out of guys to put in, especially in the secondary.
- Speaking of the secondary, MSU was throwing the ball at will against the Cats defense. If I was a MSU fan I would have been mad that they weren't throwing the ball more because it looked too easy. Corners gave the WRs too much room, and it appeared that the only way to slow it down was by putting pressure on Tyler Russell. The few times that players got hands on passes, they couldn't come away with an interception.
- As bad as the play calling was, Joker did pull another trick from up his sleeve and ran an onside kick after cutting the lead to 27-14 with 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. It worked, but the Cats could not convert. The few times they have gone to trickery this year, they have failed to put points on the board.
- The Cats have looked miserable in the second half this year, but did score a touchdown despite Jalen Whitlow not giving his best effort, "I couldn't throw it in the ocean. That's not good." The coaching staff actually made a good adjustment: they turned the no huddle offense up a notch. The snaps were coming so quick that MSU couldn't get lined up and they had some success moving the ball.
- Murphy's Law has been an S.O.B to the Cats this year, and the injuries aren't helping Joker's chances at saving his job. It'll be interesting to see how many freshman will be starting when they visit Arkansas next week.
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