College Football Week 1 Thread

[Bulldogs4]

“I'm fascinated by the fact that Dan Mullen went 9-4 and routed Michigan inthe Gator Bowl in 2010 52-14 in only his 2nd season afterinheriting the mess left over from the Croom admin andthat in year two under Leach that Miss St. is this dreadful considering Leach inherited a far superior program incomparison to Mullen.”
 

 

 

Croom actually left Mullen in very good shape in 2009. Yes the 2008 Egg Bowl was a disaster but the roster was in better shape in 2009 than it was in 2004. Plus he left him an excellent recruiting class that to Mullen’s credit he was able to retain and sign. Mullen came into a good situation and to his credit he built on the foundation left by Croom who had also cleaned up the program. That 2010 was basically recruited by Croom and had a loaded defense (and number of them went on to the NFL) 
 

So this is totally different situations with Mullen and Leach.

Moorhead is the one that failed to capitalize on what was left by Mullen and he underachieved.
 

Leach is having to rebuild the culture and implement a completely new system. Last years purge or guys that quit because they would not buy in have hurt the State program in the short term. Long term things look good. Leach keeps a calm demeanor on the sideline. That can be good or bad. I think he has a quiet faith in his players but he is not a “rah rah” type either. I get the sense that his sense of humor keeps the players loose and helped particularly on Saturday spur the comeback win. 
 

I have no idea what happens Saturday with NC State. They should be handily favored to beat us but apparently they are not. South Florida was 1-8 last year and seem to be even worse this year. Hard to conclude much from NCSTATE’s obliteration of them. Will be an interesting week to say the least.

[MSUBulldog2010]

13 hours ago, Bulldogs4 said:

“I'm fascinated by the fact that Dan Mullen went 9-4 and routed Michigan inthe Gator Bowl in 2010 52-14 in only his 2nd season afterinheriting the mess left over from the Croom admin andthat in year two under Leach that Miss St. is this dreadful considering Leach inherited a far superior program incomparison to Mullen.”
 

Morehead made a better showing in his first two seasons than Leach has so far. 

 

 

Croom actually left Mullen in very good shape in 2009. Yes the 2008 Egg Bowl was a disaster but the roster was in better shape in 2009 than it was in 2004. Plus he left him an excellent recruiting class that to Mullen’s credit he was able to retain and sign. Mullen came into a good situation and to his credit he built on the foundation left by Croom who had also cleaned up the program. That 2010 was basically recruited by Croom and had a loaded defense (and number of them went on to the NFL) 
 

So this is totally different situations with Mullen and Leach.

Moorhead is the one that failed to capitalize on what was left by Mullen and he underachieved.
 

Leach is having to rebuild the culture and implement a completely new system. Last years purge or guys that quit because they would not buy in have hurt the State program in the short term. Long term things look good. Leach keeps a calm demeanor on the sideline. That can be good or bad. I think he has a quiet faith in his players but he is not a “rah rah” type either. I get the sense that his sense of humor keeps the players loose and helped particularly on Saturday spur the comeback win. 
 

I have no idea what happens Saturday with NC State. They should be handily favored to beat us but apparently they are not. South Florida was 1-8 last year and seem to be even worse this year. Hard to conclude much from NCSTATE’s obliteration of them. Will be an interesting week to say the least.

 

[Dawg83]

Cannot tell if the OM defense is improved or if the Louisville offense is absolutely terrible. Probably a bit of both.

[s1nglewing]

5 minutes ago, Dawg83 said:

Cannot tell if the OM defense is improved or if the Louisville offense is absolutely terrible. Probably a bit of both.

Rebel defense looks hella better than last year. Louisville is not as bad as Ole Miss is making them look

[Wcchaingang]

16 minutes ago, Dawg83 said:

Cannot tell if the OM defense is improved or if the Louisville offense is absolutely terrible. Probably a bit of both.

Well last year we made medicore offenses look good so any kind of life is an improvement.

[MSTSatchmo]

Louisville always has such athletic teams.  They look really good just standing around.  

[Dawg83]

No doubt that OM’s defense appears improved from last year… This also looks like a BAD Louisville team. I think both things can be true.

 

Kudos to OM for stopping the run, because Cunningham has been a disaster when he’s had to pass. And their skill position players look like some of the worst in the P5.

 

You’re talking about a team that went 4-8 last year and lost several guys to the NFL from that team. I would not pick this team to beat anyone on OM’s schedule outside of Austin Peay and Vandy.

 

But OM is whipping them like they should, and certainly deserve credit for that.

Edited September 7, 2021 by Dawg83

[Wcchaingang]

Defense has been great so far but I’m really impressed with the patience that Corral

has shown. When they drop 8 he is taking what is given. They cost us 2 games last year.

[Dawg83]

I picked both State and Ole Miss to go 8-4 and let’s just say right now I feel much more confident in one of those happening than the other. LOL.

Edited September 7, 2021 by Dawg83

[Dawg83]

Not blown away by the athleticism on OM’s defense but you can tell they have been coached up and the talent level does seem improved from prior years. I don’t recall OM having a linebacker in several years that looks as good as this Campbell kid has tonight.

 

Certainly lots to be optimistic about based on tonight’s performance. I think Tulane could be an interesting challenge in a couple of weeks but odds are you’re looking at OM being a Top 15-20 team going to Tuscaloosa in a few weeks.

[rebmus]

43-24 final- OM over UL. 

The Offense took a step back but the Defense took a step forward. 

 

 

 

[J-Trill88]

12 hours ago, Dawg83 said:

Not blown away by the athleticism on OM’s defense but you can tell they have been coached up and the talent level does seem improved from prior years. I don’t recall OM having a linebacker in several years that looks as good as this Campbell kid has tonight.

 

Certainly lots to be optimistic about based on tonight’s performance. I think Tulane could be an interesting challenge in a couple of weeks but odds are you’re looking at OM being a Top 15-20 team going to Tuscaloosa in a few weeks.

I agree. Watching last night's only proved to me that the defense for OM is well-coached, I didn't care what team they played. They were on a national stage in the ATL and it was mandatory that this team showed to the college football world that it has a defense that will fly to the ball, and that is what they did. They didn't have this showing for the past 3 years and to see them putting a hat on a ball carrier (minus the targeting fiasco). I am sure there are a few mishaps they had in the secondary but thats why they brought in the new D-coord in to fix it. OM will be a problem in the West if they can keep it up. Tulane and Alabama will really tell us what they have. 

[J-Trill88]

For MSU, I am still, not sold on Leech, but I will give him a chance just like each coach should get. What I seen from MSU in the first game, first and foremost, was too many penalties and TOs. I am sure this will be addressed in practice this week and i hope to see an improvement for this weekend against NC State. The O-line looks atrocious. Bottomline. I don't know who is the O-line coach but my God. Now in some plays, they did give Rogers enough time to throw, but to pick up blitzes when LA Tech were sending the stunt packages, they def need work. We have some talented playmakers on the offensive side of the ball with speed, something I haven't seen a long time. I love Quint Marks as a back, he will be a problem this year in the backfield. Leech's play calling with 5 min towards the half baffled the hell out of me. When you are back into your own 5 or less yard line. You got to run the ball to give you some cushion. And with the style of offense that called in the situation shouldve been audibled to runs, Marks has the speed to get the first down, but what do I know. He turned it up and improved in the second half with the comeback. But LA tech had no business marching down the field to get the potential win for the FG. Arnett's defense better clean it up, because the 3-5-3 defense has its pros and cons. All in all, they got the win. NC State, Memphis , and LSU are must winnable games which we should get. This is the year with no excuses. Plus Malik Heath and De'monte Russell is returning this weekend. It's go time. 

[Dawg83]

The shovel pass out State ran out of their own end zone… holy crap that was ugly.

 

It’s frustrating because I think this a good group of skill position players and you have enough at QB and on defense to be a good team. But the OL was a total disaster on Saturday. Against a not great C-USA defense.

 

I certainly hope many of the issues are fixable, because if not, these next 5 games are going to be brutal to watch for State. Like most things I think the truth is somewhere in the middle with things, and State is worse than they hoped but maybe better than they looked Saturday. But that’s still gotta translate to you somehow winning a couple of these next few games. If not, going to be really tough to keep the fan base engaged. Especially if the rival up the road is having a good year.

Edited September 7, 2021 by Dawg83

[J-Trill88]

1 hour ago, Dawg83 said:

The shovel pass out State ran out of their own end zone… holy crap that was ugly.

 

It’s frustrating because I think this a good group of skill position players and you have enough at QB and on defense to be a good team. But the OL was a total disaster on Saturday. Against a not great C-USA defense.

 

I certainly hope many of the issues are fixable, because if not, these next 5 games are going to be brutal to watch for State. Like most things I think the truth is somewhere in the middle with things, and State is worse than they hoped but maybe better than they looked Saturday. But that’s still gotta translate to you somehow winning a couple of these next few games. If not, going to be really tough to keep the fan base engaged. Especially if the rival up the road is having a good year.

I agree. That possession was horrid and it don’t need to happen again. Leech should’ve known better for that. The WR Corp we have will get us down the field with ease if only we just block better at the line and give Rogers more time to look at his progression and let it fly. MSU has to fix the little things because each game is vital now. Especially after  Labor Day weekend. The pass blocking to me is the most important. Leech has more eyes on him than ever before. Everyone now knows that Ole miss has a defense and how it showed. MSU can’t look like boo boo the fool around the country and if we do, the fan base will once again go rouge and there will be a division. Half of the fans ain’t sold on him anyways. 

[rebmus]

Like I said after the MSU game, I wouldn't put too much into one game. 

With that said:

OM's defense looked much better. Keep in mind, the bar was set VERY low so "much better" is far from saying very good. Ha

The D showed a pulse, which was a nice change. IF the D can be close to middle of the pack in the SEC, OM should win 8 or 9 games... again, IF the D can be close to middle of the pack in the SEC. 

Corral played better than last year- he didn't try to force the ball into very tight coverage like he did last year. If he continues that, the turnovers will be much better than last year. On the flipside, Matt tucked the ball and ran too often for my liking. I love his guts, but he can only take so many hits before one of them hurts him badly. 

Drummond- good grief did he have a day. 177 receiving yards and averaged 19.7 yards per catch. 

Snoop had 60 yards on 8 carries and 2 TDs. It was brought up about him being "4th string" and I felt he would get opportunities and take advantage of them... he sure did in this game. 

 

I picked OM to be 6-6 preseason, I'm leaning 7-5 now. 

[Wcchaingang]

1 hour ago, rebmus said:

Like I said after the MSU game, I wouldn't put too much into one game. 

With that said:

OM's defense looked much better. Keep in mind, the bar was set VERY low so "much better" is far from saying very good. Ha

The D showed a pulse, which was a nice change. IF the D can be close to middle of the pack in the SEC, OM should win 8 or 9 games... again, IF the D can be close to middle of the pack in the SEC. 

Corral played better than last year- he didn't try to force the ball into very tight coverage like he did last year. If he continues that, the turnovers will be much better than last year. On the flipside, Matt tucked the ball and ran too often for my liking. I love his guts, but he can only take so many hits before one of them hurts him badly. 

Drummond- good grief did he have a day. 177 receiving yards and averaged 19.7 yards per catch. 

Snoop had 60 yards on 8 carries and 2 TDs. It was brought up about him being "4th string" and I felt he would get opportunities and take advantage of them... he sure did in this game. 

 

I picked OM to be 6-6 preseason, I'm leaning 7-5 now. 

IMO Snoop is kinda like the closer of the backs. The carries will be spread around so we will always have fresh legs and I think we will see Ealy out on more pass routes.

[rebmus]

Just now, Wcchaingang said:

IMO Snoop is kinda like the closer of the backs. The carries will be spread around so we will always have fresh legs and I think we will see Ealy out on more pass routes.

Obviously I agree.

[Dawg83]

I pegged OM as an 8-4 team but could see them topping that if there are no major injuries.

[pancho]

I agree

[msaisbandkid]

7 hours ago, Dawg83 said:

I pegged OM as an 8-4 team but could see them topping that if there are no major injuries.

I don't know how good Ole Miss' defense is just because it looked like Louisville played atrociously on offense to begin with, but I am cautiously optimistic. Ole Miss will be pretty good this year.

[hasbeen67]

I think OM defense is some better, but hard to tell how much in that game.  I wonder how that scheme will do if someone pounds the run at them.  They look much more eager to tackle at least.  As for MSU offense, I'm not sure but they may have had 3 completions on some possessions and didn't get a first down.  I think at least some of the o-line trouble is the opponent not having to defend the run at all.  They seemed to go all out to QB.  

[MSTSatchmo]

There’s no doubt that OM’s defense is much improved.  They have a little more talent and this is the second year under Durkin who is good coach.  However, Louisville’s OL may only have been better that State’s last weekend.  They are the definition of “looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane”.   

[rebmus]

1 hour ago, MSTSatchmo said:

There’s no doubt that OM’s defense is much improved.  They have a little more talent and this is the second year under Durkin who is good coach.  However, Louisville’s OL may only have been better that State’s last weekend.  They are the definition of “looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane”.   

I don't think there should be any doubt OM's defense is improved, I'll hold judgement on "much improved" until I see more.