Bulldogs4

Utah’s early losses to SD State and BYU (two quality teams) cost them a playoff slot this year. If they were 12-1 right now, they would be in. Plus, that is a team nobody would want to play right now. They have been on a roll since mid season.

This game on the NFL level was about as bad as the 3-2 Auburn-State game in 2008. Can’t believe I wasted 3+ hours watching it. But I did. Probably the last NFL game I will watch until the playoffs and then will only watch Dak and the Cowboys. Looking at the Cowboys tonight, I would agree with Reb that the NEast is terrible and they will make the playoffs by default and then exit after the first round.Unless their offensive line finds a pulse before then which I doubt will happen.

I know this is a college forum but I am trying to watch the Cowboys and Saints. The last two-three years the only NFL games I have watched was Drew’s last game last year and then prior to that I watched Dak some. All that to say it is torture watching this game. It is 4+ minutes to go in the first quarter and there have already been 5 commercial breaks. Ugggghhhh. Thursday Night Commercial brought to you by football.

Congratulations to Matt Corral on winning the Conerly. Well earned and deserved. He is a QB who has developed tremendously over his career. I think he has the potential to have a good NFL career. Rogers has come a long way from middle of 2020 to the end of this year. He really had an outstanding year. He was off a bit in the EB (some of that is a credit to the OM defense) and then his WR/RB let him down with some crucial drops as well. To lead State on a 40-0 run against Auburn at Auburn may be the most amazing thing that happened in the SEC this year. Against the same defense that held A&M out of the end zone and held Bama out of the end zone for 59+ minutes. Mind boggling TBH. With most of the team back next year to the future looks bright for Rogers. Ole Miss will sorely miss Corral. They may have talented QB in the wings but you don’t replace a guy like that very easily.

My prediction is Georgia over Bama, CVG over HOU though that has the potential for an upset. Okie State over Baylor Michigan over Iowa Final Four will be UGA, CVG, Michigan and OK State. 2-4 order could shuffle depending on how teams play this week. If HOU beats CVG then ND could slip in. If chaos happens circa 2007 and all the underdogs win, then I have no idea. That would be fun to see if it did.

I know this sounds crazy but if UGA wins the NC this year, then playing them next year is not the worst thing that could happen. They will be replacing a lot of the team next year and will not be as dominant as they have been this year. They could very well have a year similar to LSU last year where it is a struggle throughout the season and you are getting everybody’s best shot. Plus last year we played a very competitive game against them. So yes it is going to be tough but every year is tough in the SEC.

Absolutely, 8-5 looks much better and yes in this case, winning the Bowl game is very important. Looking back if Moorhead beats Iowa and Louie-Ville in those two bowl games, he is probably still the HC at State. Even last year though it was a very ugly game, winning that bowl game was very important. Some years the bowl game W/L might not be so crucial but this year for State I agree that it would help finish the season in good fashion.

Saban is Catholic. It sounds absurd but it is possibly the only place he would leave Bama for. However, He is 70 years old so I doubt that it happens. I suspect he retires in the next couple of years from Bama, possibly after winning a NC.

Years ago, I would agree that UF, LSU or Auburn would be above State in the pecking order regardless of the record. Today, I don’t see that being as much of an issue. All three of those schools are down in the dumps and will sell a minimal number tickets to a bowl game. State fans OTOH, despite the EB loss are excited about the direction of the program and will have a good crowd wherever they are sent. And yes I know that the bowl games are more about TV ratings these days but ticket sales do still make a difference especially coming after the COVID losses they all endured from last year.

Ugggghhhh, that would be fugly. The Camilla Bowl….whoopie Lot of politics in the bowl selection though it is generally better today than it was years ago. So you never know….

Liberty Bowl crowd wise would be the best option. Texas Tech would be a good opponent as well. Obviously some intrigue there but Leach has been gone 10 years so that part of it has probably settled down a good bit. We would probably have 30K + at the Liberty Bowl plus vanquish some of the ill effects of the game there earlier in the year. Or at least I hope we would. Texas Bowl is good too. We have a huge number of alumni in HOU so I think we would draw well there too. Just hope we don’t play Kansas State. Would like to play someone we have not played in while.

The playoff could be bizarre. Georgia should be in regardless but they still need to beat Bama. If that happens then the other slots could be interesting. Cincinnati is in with a win. Michigan is in with a win. But the fourth slot could be interesting. If Oklahoma State beats Baylor , I think they are in. But if Cincinnati and/or Michigan lose then it could be bedlam with the playoff.

Hopefully Georgia beats Bama like a drum because they should not be in the playoff.

WOW Down goes Ohio State. Probably won’t happen but if Auburn beats Bama then the top four could really see a shake up.

NCSTATE wins a thriller. That was a good win for State as they have had a good year to this point.

Williams was a MAN last night. In fairness, Lashley has played pretty well this year but Williams is going to be earning a nice NFL check next year. One other thing last night. Don’t understand the on side kick with 7+ minutes remaining and down 11. Kick it deep. Hopefully Ole Miss is backed up into the student section. I think we would have a better chance of stopping them. Instead we gave their offense a short field and they took full advantage of it.

D83, you called it a few weeks ago. State would finish 7-5 but you did not know where the wins would come from. Ole Miss was healthy tonight and it showed. An excellent season. For State, the losses to MEM, LSU and Arky could have easily been wins. Of course the LA Tech game could have been an loss too. But that game with the comeback was very significant to the confidence of this team. Some very good wins as well-NC State, UK, A&M and Auburn. Tonight’s game plan was fine. Leach did his part. Failure to execute was the culprit, especially in the first half. During the week I had a sinking thought that I tried to suppress. What if our WR/RB’s drop some passes in this game? They have been catching everything over the last 6 weeks. Those things do happen and in a rivalry game it can be magnified more than in a regular game. Also we have been spoiled by Rogers recently as he has been virtually perfect at times and tonight he was off just a tad. Overthrowing Polk in the end zone early was a huge play as well as the drops. Ole Miss’ defense played well too. So while it is disappointing to lose the EB again this year, the overall trajectory of the team is very good. The air raid can work in the SEC. Year two and the conference record is 4-4 which is solid. Certainly a big improvement over a 3-7 record last year.

Ole Miss gets the Oscar for acting on defense though. Great acting job by those guys. Some of them have a career in Hollywood ahead of them.

Well Ole Miss was the better team this year and credit is due to them. We had our opportunities in the first half but failed to take advantage of our opportunities. Our guys had more drops in this game than we had all year combined.

You can make the case that he was a good HC. 13 years with an overall record of 103-61. Averaged 8 wins a year. As I said above, had this season been his first year, and years 2-4 parallel to 1-3, he would still be the coach. Timing is huge as a HC and perception dominates reality into today’s microwave society. He keeps getting called a lousy recruiter yet at State he recruited pretty well. Obviously lost a few that should have had but signed a lot of players who are now earning NFL checks. So he was doing something right here. Florida fans are very spoiled and I have a good friend who lives in Gainesville (he is not a UF grad) who says they are some of the most insufferable people around. He was not happy when Mullen left State to go to UF (he is not a State grad either) because he thought this very thing would probably happen. In the end, though Mullen brought this on himself. The shoe incident last year seems to be the start of this quick decline. He definitely lost control of the team and they have fallen off a cliff the last 10 - 12 games. This will be their 5th coach in 12 years. Instability at the HC position can really hurt a program. They are in a Tennessee type danger zone right now.

I think the defenses are good enough that the score is not going to be too high. The play of the game last year was the Williams fumble in the first quarter at the goal line that turned a 7-7 game into a 14-0 lead for Ole Miss. State battled back but never really recovered from that play. I don’t necessarily see this game having such an impactful single play like that one. Looking at common opponents does not really help us whole lot either. Both beat decent to good ACC schools very slight edge to State. Ole Miss defeated LSU while State lost edge to OM Ole Miss and State were both blown out by Bama but OM scored three TD’s to State’s three FG’s. edge to OM. Ole Miss edged Arky and State lost a close game. Either game could have gone the other way. Advantage-Even Both beat a good A&M team Advantage-Even Both beat two East teams. Advantage - even State with a huge comeback against Auburn for the win while OM did not play well in their loss to Auburn. OM handled their other NC’s games while State did not. Advantage-Ole Miss. Ole Miss overall is the better team with a 9-2 record versus State’s 7-4. Ole Miss has been consistently good all year. State was up and down the first half of the season but has played well and improved considerably since the Bama game. It comes down to turnovers, special teams and the will to win. Look for both teams to play at a high level. I do agree that State has to limit OM’s big scoring plays and for OM, their defense will have to do something to disrupt the rhythm of State’s offense. Bama’s defense has been the only team that has successfully done that over the last 6 weeks. All that to say OM should be favored but with State at home then it is basically a pickem game. Rain is in the forecast which would probably favor Ole Miss if it is a monsoon. If it is a light rain then I think the weather may not play a huge factor overall. We will see what happens in what should be one heck of a good game Thursday night.

Agree with you there. If they wanted him to coach against Free Shoes U, then don’t fire him until after that game. I predicted them to lose to FSU but with Greg Knox coaching as the interim, I think that might win that game now. He did a nice job for State in the bowl win over Louie-Ville after Mullen left State. Maybe he can do it again. We will see.

I don’t find any joy in what has happened to CDM. I actually predicted this would happen after he left State but for different reasons. Back then I said he would struggle his first couple of years at UF but would see gradual improvement in years three and four. But Florida would fire him before the fruits of his work would be realized. Instead it happened backwards, he was very successful his first three years creating unrealistic expectations. Then this year the wheels came off and he is gone. I think he is a good coach and he did a good job at State and he left the program vastly improved from when he started. This year at Florida kind of reminds me of Moorhead at State in 2019. Team was very underwhelming during the season, had no discipline, no physicality and just did not perform well. Florida State is going to beat Florida Saturday.

Okay sorry for the misstatement. Since Drew retired I have not even watched a moment of a Saints game , I could not tell you what their record is this year. Actually I did not watch them any last year except for his final game when they lost in the playoffs. Is that better? No need for two TV’s Thursday night. I still blame the greedy NFL. For decades, you had the pitiful Lions hosting the early game and then the Cowboys hosting the afternoon game with a college game in the evening (Texas-A&M game for many years along with the Egg Bowl in there sporadically as well). It was a great setup that worked perfectly until they decided to fix something that was not broken. Now as to why they decided to muscle in on Thanksgiving Thursday Night we know it is always about money and power.

Vandy played a tough game against an Ole Miss team that was clearly looking ahead to the next game. Not surprising either. Thursday night is going to be one heck of a good game. I don’t understand the NFL scheduling the Saints against the Egg Bowl. Each game eats into the other’s ratings. Dumb and dumb on the NFL’s part. Of course I don’t watch the NFL anymore with exception of watching Dak occasionally. Since Drew retired I could care less about the Saints .