College Football Opening Week(s) Thread

[BrickCity]

1 minute ago, Dawg83 said:

State got a grad transfer DB from Purdue TODAY. Like he just got here. Was apparently a starter last year that got recruited over with portal guys.

 

Interesting to add experience and depth at a spot that’s questionable for State, but with the season starting in 9 days, hard to picture this guy making an impact anytime soon. Maybe he can give you something in the second half of the season.

I was thinking the same thing. Is it not too late to be adjusting the roster around like that?

[Dawg83]

1 hour ago, BrickCity said:

I was thinking the same thing. Is it not too late to be adjusting the roster around like that?

I think as long as they meet university enrollment deadlines it’s fair game. I seem to remember Jeremiah Masoli being a late addition at Ole Miss under Nutt. Maybe not this late, but late.

Edited August 24, 2023 by Dawg83

[Bulldogs4]

On 8/22/2023 at 7:47 AM, maroontide06 said:

Have you had a chance to meet Coach Twig Branch?  He played QB (wore #0) for Slick Morton back in the early 50's and was the smallest starting college QB in the country at that time.  He coached Picayune from 1957-62 and still lives here.  He was at our spring game and he attends pretty much all of our home games as well.  When Joe Fortunato gives you your nickname, it definitely makes for an interesting story to tell.  You would enjoy talking to him if you haven't had a chance to.

No. I have not but he seems like great person and would be very interesting to listen to with all of his stories from the 40’s and 50’s. 

I wonder if he was the QB in 1950 when State beat Tennessee 7-0 in Starkville. Whiny General Neyland vowed to never bring a UT team back to Starkvegas. It was Tennessee’s only loss and cost them the National Championship that year. 
And it was almost 40 years before UT played on campus at State after that 1950 game. They played a few games over the years in between but they were all in Memphis. Slick Morton was the HC at State 1949-1951. 

[maroontide06]

24 minutes ago, Bulldogs4 said:

No. I have not but he seems like great person and would be very interesting to listen to with all of his stories from the 40’s and 50’s. 

I wonder if he was the QB in 1950 when State beat Tennessee 7-0 in Starkville. Whiny General Neyland vowed to never bring a UT team back to Starkvegas. It was Tennessee’s only loss and cost them the National Championship that year. 
And it was almost 40 years before UT played on campus at State after that 1950 game. They played a few games over the years in between but they were all in Memphis. Slick Morton was the HC at State 1949-1951. 

It's very possible.  The only reason Coach Branch got the starting job was because he knew the T-formation.  He knew it from high school at Pascagoula under Dobie Holden and then he followed Coach Holden to The River and played in it two years there.  There were QB's on State's roster at the time who were bigger and more athletic, but they didn't get the starting job because they didn't know the T-formation offense.  Coach Branch told me that at that time only the QB's could call plays.  The head coach couldn't do it for some reason or another, so the QB needed to know the offense very well.  

[MSTSatchmo]

Glad to see a ball game on, even if it’s kinda boring.   
 

During halftime though, I saw an actual commercial for the Notre Damn NIL fan club you could join for $29.99 by visiting NBC Sports website.  Damn.   

[rebmus]

Navy probably isn't very good, but Notre Dame sure looked impressive today. #13 looks fair enough, they'll probably move up after this blowout and I wouldn't argue it. We'll see.

Southern Cal started slow (normal for 1st game) but is blowing out San Jose State now... as a #6  team should. I'm not sold on USC either but we'll see. 

 

 

Vandy leads Hawaii 28-14 late in the 3rd quarter, best game I've watched today so far.  Vandy is certainly no threat to win the SEC, but will beat some SEC teams this season if they try to just "go through the motions" against them. 

 

Predictions on OM/MSU... I see both teams somewhere around 6-8 wins so 7-5 for both teams I guess. 

 

I have no idea on USM, but I'm sure rooting for Will Hall to do well. 

 

[Dawg83]

Vandy hangs on to beat Hawaii but they didn’t look good. 39 rushing yards on 26 attempts. Keep in mind that Hawaii won 3 games last year and Vandy won this game 63-10 a year ago.

 

Nothing too interesting today, but looking forward to Florida-Utah on Thursday.

[Dawg83]

Looking at State’s projected depth chart for Saturday, it’s an interesting mix. A ton of seniors on the two deep but also a blend of several true freshmen. Seth Davis was expected by many to redshirt this year but he had a huge training camp and has shot up to the #2 RB spot. He is an interesting player, only 5-7 & 185, but was a big time player in Texas 6A ball. Probably under recruited because of his size. All indications are he will make an immediate impact for State though.

 

Also of note, State will have a freshman punter (an Aussie) and a freshman kicker this year. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, lol.

[maroontide06]

17 minutes ago, Dawg83 said:

Looking at State’s projected depth chart for Saturday, it’s an interesting mix. A ton of seniors on the two deep but also a blend of several true freshmen. Seth Davis was expected by many to redshirt this year but he had a huge training camp and has shot up to the #2 RB spot. He is an interesting player, only 5-7 & 185, but was a big time player in Texas 6A ball. Probably under recruited because of his size. All indications are he will make an immediate impact for State though.

 

Also of note, State will have a freshman punter (an Aussie) and a freshman kicker this year. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, lol.

Can't be any worse than the Saints LOL!

[maroontide06]

I may be beating a dead horse here, but for whatever reason it seems like State's offense isn't going to be the big issue or unknown that the national pundits think it's going to be.  Yes, it's a different offense than the Air Raid, but it's got way more balance and I don't think the transition is a difficult one.  This type of offense is what fits Mississippi State and I think we've got a head coach and an offensive coordinator that fit Mississippi State as well.  Will there be some hiccups?  Probably so, but it's not going to be detrimental and I don't think it's going to be this anemic thing that costs State a ball game.

[Dawg83]

1 hour ago, maroontide06 said:

I may be beating a dead horse here, but for whatever reason it seems like State's offense isn't going to be the big issue or unknown that the national pundits think it's going to be.  Yes, it's a different offense than the Air Raid, but it's got way more balance and I don't think the transition is a difficult one.  This type of offense is what fits Mississippi State and I think we've got a head coach and an offensive coordinator that fit Mississippi State as well.  Will there be some hiccups?  Probably so, but it's not going to be detrimental and I don't think it's going to be this anemic thing that costs State a ball game.

The hope is it’s more difficult to move to the Air Raid (see 2020 MSU) than move away from it.

 

I am fascinated to see what Will Rogers looks like when he doesn’t have three safeties playing deep against him at all times. He kinda has this knock as a QB without a deep ball, well I honestly don’t know if that’s true or not because State wasn’t able to do it often with how the Air Raid was defended.

 

I’ve said it before but I’d be more worried if State didn’t have a super experienced OL. But that should help with the transition.

[Bulldogs4]

Overall, State’s offense should be more productive. We will not be as streaky as LaTech or Auburn games a couple of years ago. But I agree that more balance should give Rogers a chance to play a bit more stress free. 
We will see how it plays out this season. 

[Dawg83]

Typical NCAA, State just had its starting TE ruled ineligible two days before the season on a technicality. Really dumb and easily fixable situation if the reports of what happened are correct. But it looks like the appeal has already been denied.

 

Don’t know what State’s TE usage in this new offense was going to be, but I do know that their TE room now consists of a Georgia transfer that never caught a pass in 4 years at UGA, a converted WR, and a converted OT. I do think Harmon (the converted WR) has the potential to be a solid h-back but you worry about blocking. The Georgia transfer is the opposite, I think he can block OK but who knows if he can catch or get open.

Edited August 31, 2023 by Dawg83

[maroontide06]

Hopefully they can get that situation fixed.  Spivey deserves to play and not have his eligibility taken away from him.

[Dawg83]

45 minutes ago, maroontide06 said:

Hopefully they can get that situation fixed.  Spivey deserves to play and not have his eligibility taken away from him.

I’m afraid the ship has sailed with them already appealing and it getting denied. Logic and the NCAA don’t mesh.

[hasbeen67]

Florida not looking great early. I know many here are not Mullen fans, but if he couldn't win bigger there, I'm skeptical if anyone else can. May be something beyond coaching?

[MSTSatchmo]

2 minutes ago, hasbeen67 said:

Florida not looking great early. I know many here are not Mullen fans, but if he couldn't win bigger there, I'm skeptical if anyone else can. May be something beyond coaching?

I think they fired him too soon.   They probably expected to be able to hire a more profile coach.  
Three years of either 1st or 2nd in the SECE, then the one bad year.  

[MSTSatchmo]

4 hours ago, Dawg83 said:

I’m afraid the ship has sailed with them already appealing and it getting denied. Logic and the NCAA don’t mesh.

What was the reason he was ruled ineligible?  
 

I know Colorado had a player on their 2nd transfer that got denied trying to use the “mental health” reason.  

[Bulldogs4]

Florida definitely fired Mullen to soon but emotions tend to run college football these days. Had he had his bad year in 2018 and if thrown shoe had not happened, it would still be the coach. But we know about ifs and buts.

Florida has become what Tennessee is. Impatience from the top to the bottom and firing a coach every three or four years. It is a recipe for disaster. 
 

 

[Dawg83]

2 hours ago, MSTSatchmo said:

What was the reason he was ruled ineligible?  
 

I know Colorado had a player on their 2nd transfer that got denied trying to use the “mental health” reason.  

Apparently he was given bad info by an advisor at TCU. Told he had to enroll for the spring even if he was transferring so that he could be eligible to play in the national championship. Apparently him enrolling at TCU for the spring messed him up based on whatever the rule is. Which I think is silly given that he got his degree in December so he’s a grad student at this point regardless.

[Dawg83]

Florida looked brutal. I did not think highly of them coming into the year and they proved exactly why.

 

Napier, and frankly Scott Stricklin too, are in serious trouble. And their schedule is rough. I have a difficult time finding 6 wins for them.

[Dawg83]

1 hour ago, Bulldogs4 said:

Florida definitely fired Mullen to soon but emotions tend to run college football these days. Had he had his bad year in 2018 and if thrown shoe had not happened, it would still be the coach. But we know about ifs and buts.

Florida has become what Tennessee is. Impatience from the top to the bottom and firing a coach every three or four years. It is a recipe for disaster. 
 

 

Here’s the weird thing about Florida. Yes they are the lone SEC team in a talent rich state. Yes they have won big in the modern era. But it was all Spurrier and Meyer. In the history of the football program, those are the only two coaches to really win big there. Their facilities and aren’t anything to write home about either.

[Bulldogs4]

Tennessee is favored by 27 over Virginia. That is a big spread over another P5 team. Maybe the folks in LAS know something I do not know. 

[rebmus]

20 hours ago, Dawg83 said:

Here’s the weird thing about Florida. Yes they are the lone SEC team in a talent rich state. Yes they have won big in the modern era. But it was all Spurrier and Meyer. In the history of the football program, those are the only two coaches to really win big there. Their facilities and aren’t anything to write home about either.

Very true, I figure only us older folks realize that. Florida wasn't good at all annually until Spurrier came along. 

 

It's only the first game for both, and vs very different opponents... but I'm really unsure who looked better(worse) in game 1- Florida or Vandy? 

 

 

[Dawg83]

4 hours ago, Bulldogs4 said:

Tennessee is favored by 27 over Virginia. That is a big spread over another P5 team. Maybe the folks in LAS know something I do not know. 

Virginia was really bad last year. I expect UT to roll.