Bulldogs4

Sometimes we are guilty of nick picking our own teams. So after day of reflecting on Tuesday night, I think Ole Miss just deserves credit for a tough win. The State guys played with great effort and that is really all you can ask of your team. They are going to make mistakes but I think the other night they were mostly made at full blast. I do agree with the analysis that the end of the first half is where Ole Miss won the game.

Game basically went the way we thought. Ole Miss was better defensively creating turnovers, State won the rebounding battle. State actually shot FT’s well until the two crucial misses by Matthews. So while the teams are built differently, they are pretty evenly matched. Credit to Ole Miss for protecting the home court and making a couple of more plays than State to win the game. Agree with 83, SC and Ole Miss are the surprise teams this year. Although we knew each would be improved but nobody saw those being 18-3 and at the top league. Huge game for State @ Bama. We have still not won a road game although last night was an improvement. This one is an opportunity to finally win one.

Great win by the State women over LSU 77-73. Really the first signature win by Purcell. Team has had some success but have not been able to win a game against one of the top teams. Great crowd definitely helped carry the team through this one. Go Dawgs!!!

Still a long way to go. It is not an exaggeration to say this basketball season has been and is going to continue to be a grind. It is an old cliche but this year it is truly “one game at a time” You better be ready to play each and every game.

Ugggghhhh is all I can say about that if it is in fact true.

You are up 24-10. Kicking the FG puts you up 17 points. That makes more sense. Yes the momentum of the game had swung to SF. But at that juncture, you would have matched their three and kept the lead at 17. It also did not help that a WR dropped two catchable passes in the third quarter which hurt Detroit badly. Detroit moved the ball well most of the night so in this particular game on the road, when you have the lead, take the points and keep the pressure on the other team.

It was if Campbell was identifying as Kiffin last night.

Ravens have self destructed with penalties and turnovers and then Mahomes is just so tough in the playoffs. Baltimore has only themselves to blame today. Kansas City has just kind of allowed Baltimore to beat Baltimore.

Looking at this game, I see most of the metrics favoring Ole Miss. 1. Being at home. 2. Ole Miss has won a lot of close games. 3. Ole Miss is much the better FT shooting team. 4. State does not handle the press well. 5. Ole Miss is undefeated at home and State is winless on the road. On paper it really should be an Ole Miss rout but it is a rivalry game so some of the above can be thrown out the window. As 83 noted, until State wins a road it is hard to see us winning Tuesday night. We will see what happens. Should be a great atmosphere in the Pavilion.

Ole Miss with a big win on the road coming from seven down late to win it. Plus made some clutch FT’s at the end to seal it. And State came up with a must win today, no ifs, ands and buts about it. Should be a good game in Oxford. Obviously give OM the edge as they are home but I can see this being a battle that could be close at the end.

I have zero confidence today in this game because Auburn is very good. However, Auburn is coming off a very emotional game against Bama that they lost. That can cut two ways. They could bounce back in a big way and play a great game. OTOH, they could have a hangover from that game that carries over to this game and play flat. For us to win, simply put we have to make shots and shoot 75%+ from the FT line. Both of which have done only a few times this year and seemingly very rarely in conference play. At this juncture, this is a must win. A 3-4 record is not bad (given the schedule we have played) but a 2-5 conference record really puts you up against the 8 ball. And I know 83 mentioned our road woes. I fault our coach, AD for that. Playing neutral site games are fine but you need to play 2-3 tough road games in the pre conference schedule. We played one this year (@Ga. Tech) and that is not enough prep for playing in the difficult environments. And that is a scheduling problem that needs to be addressed in the future seasons.

It is dumbfounding that we are so bad at shooting the basketball. After last year you would have thought there is no way they won’t be better next year shooting the basketball. But we seem to be worse this year. Hubbard is very good but he is just a freshman and there are always growing pains there. We will see how it goes going forward.

Slick, this whole thing with Boyles going back to Petal does smell like a three day old fish. Second go arounds rarely if ever go well on any level (and yes I know there a few rare exceptions). I agree that Petal is a high floor but a low ceiling job. He was just there for nine years. Quite frankly money had to be the only reason he went back to Petal. And he was making a boat load of it in Meridian. Leaves me shaking my head. Obviously, Meridian is not the job it was 10 years ago or for the previous 90 years. But he did a nice job last year. Daniel Hill was a generational talent but the team had some talent spread around as well. The middle schools are well stocked with talent so I think he could have had a good run at Meridian going forward. It does leave most of us with a raw feeling that this was not right. Yes, he had every right to do what he did but just because you can do something does not make it the right thing to do.

That creates opportunities though and out of those six games we need to win at least two of them. Preferably three. If we are going to become a very good team we have to win some of these games. Simple as that. Wednesday @ Florida is a huge opportunity for payback from last year when they beat us in the Hump. And it is another game that we need to win if we want to make a deep run in March. We will see what happens.

I like KC since a couple of our State guys are there (Jones & Gay) and I hope Gay’s injury is not too bad. He will be an important part of stopping Jackson Sunday. And though Jones did not do much he saved the game on the play where he overpowered the OL and knocked Allen off balance and caused the incomplete pass when the receiver was wide open in the end zone for the go ahead Touchdown. Baltimore is favored but KC will probably find a way to win Sunday. Mahomes just has a knack of finding a way to win the big games. We will see what happens.

Heck of a game between KC and Buffalo. Easily the best playoff game so far. Looks like the last team to have the ball with some semblance of time left is going to win this game. Unless one of the teams comes up with a turnover. Going to be a great finish!!!

Certainly glad for the win but agree it was ugly. USM comes from 18 down to beat Troy at the end. Good win for the Eagles.

I know his name but not much more. But knowing Cheyenne, he is going to be a good hire for the Wildcats. I am sure our Wayne County friends can fill us in on Coach Gandy from his time as a player coach down there. Welcome Coach Gandy to the Wildcat Nation and all the best to you. Go Cats!!!

Commitment means nada in the current state of college football. Even enrolling in school does not mean anything. A player can just change schools on a whim. It doesn’t even seem like anyone even needs to be academically eligible anymore. Just say I am committed and I can play a position and Bingo you are on the team.

Harbaugh would be a great fit at Dallas. I am not sure if Belichick has the fire left at his age but if he does I could see him going to Dallas and getting them over the hump. Either would be a tremendous upgrade. I like McCarthy but they have seemed to hit a plateau with him and are not able to do any better. Yesterday, it appeared that Dallas played like they were entitled to the win whereas the Packers played aggressively and with a swagger. In the playoffs you have to play every play like it is life or death. The Packers did that early and often but by the time Dallas did, the game was over. I don’t think the Dallas D ever stopped GB. Both sides of the ball were horrific but the defense got completely shredded.

and State missing FT’s against Bama.

The only highlight of the weekend is State beating Ole Miss 69-57 in lady hoops. Otherwise it has been a dismal weekend.

Disappointing finish. Miss 6 consecutive free throws to lose the game. Shades of last year against Bama. Gotta make your FT’s. Ugggggghhh.

Basketball will hopefully be fun again in Starkvegas and Oxford with Jans & Beard. We have two excellent coaches and with the recent Hump renovation and the Pavilion at OM, we have two great arenas. Fan support should be good and I think recruiting should be good as well. We will see. I know this is off topic but that is okay….

Would you want to work under Hugh Freeze?