I don't know about you, but that wasn't quite what I was expecting. Casey Dick throws for 4 TDs? Who saw that coming? 501 yards of offense from Mississippi State? Where has that been all year? Bizarre. Seeing as I didn't see the game, I am deferring to someone who did. Agentdog of sixpackspeak wrote a good summary of his thoughts, and so without further ado.
1st qrt, we come out mixing things up, throwing the ball and moving the chains. We get a TD lead in the first damn quarter and the play calling goes conservative. HOLE E SHIT! Who tries to sit on a lead with 3 quarters to play? Arkansas' first possesion they were extremely conservative. After that they opened up things much more with the "Wildhog" formation with misdirections and end arounds and we struggled to contain them. They were very fast and we were keying on McFaggon and let everyone else go. It cost us the big plays.
Our secondary........14-17 199 yards 4TDs for Dick.....that says it all. They sucked...BAD. Their WRs were getting alot of seperation and we never came close to picking a ball. The two TDs to Johnson, he was w i d e o p e n. Monk's TD.....two of our guys where there. Monk out jumped them for the ball. It was a real punch in the gut to have two guys there and see them still covert a 3rd and long into a TD. The long TD to McFaggon.....play action to him...he holds a count along the line as if to block...Douglas was on him then released to cover someone else. Dick dumped it off to him and he was gone.
Offense, like I said. The opening drive looked similar to UK. THen go conservative. We get behind. We open it back up and start moving it. Dixon was still running sideways but Ark DL was blowing up our line. He didn't really have any interior holes to run through. Ducre was ineffective as their LBs were fast.
Two of Carrol's ints were bad. Two were not. The first int was thrown to the middle of the field. The route was ran right into the safety and the safety doesn't take three steps to catch it. The int late to the DL was coming the whole game. They blew up an attempted screen earlier in the game that was completed but could have been just as easily picked off. Carrol drops back is looking in one direction. Then just wheels around and throws the ball in the other direction and the DL is standing there but he lets it fly anyway. But he threw balls into coverage all day. On numerous completions the DBs were on top of the WRs. Carrol is entirely to mechanical and needs to learn how to improvise and check down when needed.
Which leads me to the bright spot of the game. Husband, Butler, Burks, and JSmith had great games. They made catches all day with DBs on their heals with the pass delivered high or behind them or both. There is no way to expalin without video that would do justice to the way they played. They made some very good catches today while covered closely in heavy traffic. I don't remember which one it was but one caught a pass that was thrown high and behind with one hand as he was falling backwards. Amazing catch.
With all that said though, you could analize it a million different ways but it boiled down to the fact that Arkansas was just alittle bit more talented than us. McFaggon, Hillis, and Monk were the difference as well as some of their DL. They had speed just about everywhere on offense and controled the LOS on defense. We really need a burner in the backfield and on special teams as well.
There ya go. I'm moving on to Ole Miss. A win is essential as it will guarantee a bowl game. A loss may very well keep MSU out.
Romero Osby and Dee Bost signed their letters of intent as expected. Apparently I spoke to soon in regards to Scotty Hopson. Buckle up, because the following story is absolutely ridiculous. He had said that he was going to sign on Friday. Then just a few hours later Hopson said he would not sign on Friday after all, but may sign later on in the early signing period. He would just have to see how things went. Oooooooookay. What exactly happened in a matter of a few hours to make you suddenly change your mind? Odd to say the least, but it gets better. The next day, Thursday, this was reported from Kentucky New Era:
Although the 6-foot-7 guard/forward told several media outlets including the Kentucky New Era today that he was not going to sign with Mississippi State Friday, his mother, Jeanette Hopson, said early today that her son would sign with the Bulldogs Friday night.
“We are signing Friday,” his mother said. “At first, we were going to wait, but then we decided to just go ahead and get it over with.”
Jeanette Hopson said that a final decision was made late Wednesday between other family members and Hopson had yet to be made aware of it.
“He didn’t know because I haven’t told him yet,” she said.
All bolding is my own: Inappropriate language upcoming, take this opportunity to look away if that offends you. Actually you should probably just skip this rest of this post. Dont say I didn't warn you. .....................WHAT THE FUCK. The final decision was made by his family, apparently with zero input from the guy WHO IS ACTUALLY GOING TO BE GOING TO THAT UNIVERSITY. In what screwed up world does that make sense? "He didn't know because I haven't told him yet". What the hell woman. This is his life, his future. He's the one going to college, NOT YOU. Don't you think maybe, just maybe, he should have some say in what direction he will be taking in his life? Apparently not in this family. Apparently in this family Scotty Hopson is the last person to know where he will be going to college. Unbelievable. Personally I'd give this lady a hearty fuck you, but that's just me. The fun doesn't end here though. Believe it or not there is more. Just a recap: he was going to sign, then he wasn't, now he is again but he doesn't know it yet. Caught up? Okay. Then, on Friday, Kentucky New Era had this printed:
"I will tell you that we are not signing and that we have no comment as far as anything else is concerned," Hopson's mother, Jeanette Hopson, said in a telephone interview late Friday afternoon. "It was a decision I made for my son - we just decided we wanted to wait."
It was a decision you made for your son? He isn't 5 years old. You aren't picking out his clothes for kindergarten. Good grief. By the way, what is all this we and I crap spewing out of your mouth. I didn't know you were being recruited Mrs. Hopson. Hows your jumpshot look? Sounds like the mother is an overbearing pain in the ass to me. If this is the crap MSU will have to deal with from this mentally unstable mother, then I would be just fine if Stansbury gave her the one finger salute and walked away from this whole mess. If Hopson comes, terrific. If not, terrific. I couldn't care less. This all sounds like more trouble than its worth to be completely honest. Let someone else have fun with it. I'm more than happy to have Romero Osby and Dee Bost join the team.
Well, this was a tough loss to take. I know it is November, I know it is just the second game of the season, but this could be one of those games that we look back in March and say "Darn, if we had just won that Clemson game, we probably would have gotten in the tournament." Go ahead, laugh while you can. Remember last year? Remember we lost the Clemson game by 3? What if we had won? Would we have gotten in? I don't know, I think not, but it would have been much closer than it already was at the very least. So lets get down to it, some observations:
-I don't know why it took so long, but I had a revelation during this game. If Gordon were to get injured, the season is over. That isn't an exaggeration. Any games he can't play in, MSU might as well forfeit and save their energy. I mean it, if Gordon gets injured, especially seriously, the season is over. Period. He single handedly carries the team. He had 23 points and 12 rebounds by the way. He did have 6 TO too, which I thought had been corrected last year. Still, I don't know what Mississippi State is going to do next year when he is gone.
-I hate the new emphasis on coaches staying in the coaches box. If the pinky toe strays over the line they get hit with a technical, or at least a warning. Don't the refs have a game to be officiating? Maybe that is why they look like a bunch of ignorant fools, they're too busy staring at the coaches feet.
-While watching the game I thought Mississippi State was getting dominated on the boards. Then I took a look at the box score and what do you know, MSU had a 51-42 rebounding edge. So, I don't know why it felt like Clemson was winning the rebounding battle. Anyway, good to see the improvement in that category from the first game.
-The overall play of Mississippi State in the first half was embarrassing. They looked like they just didn't want to be there. Lazy passes, people just standing around, no blocking out, lazy defense, I could go on and on. The second half was much better and more what I would expect. I don't know what was going on that first 20 minutes.
-Actual attendance of 7,483. I suppose that is pretty good for a November game, but I was hoping, against my better judgement, for closer to a sellout. This wasn't Loyola-Marymount people. Even so, it sounded like a good atmosphere on T.V. Also, I very much approved of the "Ref You Suck" chant. Thumbs up from me.
-Well, I said yesterday this team needed to find a bench. I think they've got one good bench player in Brian Johnson. I loved what I saw from him. He had 10 points and 3 rebounds in 19 minutes. He looked like he might have been a step slower than the rest of the team, but was still moving plenty well enough to be effective. If he can give this level of play consistently I will be thrilled.
-So now we have 6 guys who can play, we still need 2 more. I thought 1 would be Phil Turner but he didn't do anything this game. There is still time, but 2 more guys will need to be found who can contribute some good minutes.
-Mississippi State did a poor job early on of handling the press. As the game progressed, I'd say they moved into the average category. That surprised me, you have 3 ball handlers in Stewart, Hansbrough and Gordon, and you can't beat a press?
-If you just look at his numbers, Varnado looks like he had a good game. 7 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 blocks. He is going to be a blocking machine all year, that much is apparent. Otherwise, despite the numbers, it looks like he still isn't quite strong enough to be a force down low. That is my fear, but again, similar to the rebounding, the numbers look good, so maybe I am completely off base. He's also going to foul out of several games if he doesn't learn not to pick up the cheap ones.
-MSU put Barry Stewart at the point alot in the 1st half, and that was while Gordon was in the game. I don't understand that at all. Plus it wasn't even slightly effective, in fact it was borderline disaster. Stewart is much more effective off the ball. I hope that was just an experiment. If you want to put Stewart at the point when Gordon is out of the game, alright go for it. I prefer Hansbrough, but whatever, go with Stewart if you want. To have him at point guard with Gordon in though, just doesn't make sense. Surely the coaches saw it didn't work though.
-Hansbrough was pretty bad this game. The old saying "if you can't say something good about someone then don't say anything at all" applies perfectly in this situation. So... I won't say anything.....except that it was bad. Lets hope that it was just an off night.
-Rhodes played well overall, 17 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks, but it looks like he is going to be taking more midrange shots (which I don't mind so much) and trying to beat people off the dribble from as far out as the three point line (which I think will be a complete disaster). So yeah, there will be many times over the season where you will find yourself saying "YEAH!!!! RHODES IS EFFIN AWSOME!!!" followed by "WHAT THE HELL ARE DOING RHODES!!!" no more than 2 or 3 minutes later. You've been warned.
-Free throws and turnovers killed MSU, as they seem to do every year. 19 turnovers to 10 assists. Not going to cut it. 19-31, 61.3% from the line. Pathetic. Bottom line, if they hit their free throws, they win the game. I just don't understand. Do you guys EVER practice shooting free throws? Do you not see that if you weren't so pathetic in this area you would have won the game? It just boggles my mind.
There are some good things going on, but the lack of a bench at the moment is the biggest problem in my mind right now. It felt like Stansbury is still trying to find a substitution pattern that works. I hope he gets it figured out. It was a loss, which sucks, but I don't think the team played up to their potential. We'll see how things play out.
Lost in all the excitement of the football teams win over Alabama, was the fact that the basketball team won their season opener over Louisiana Tech, 75-45. Now I didn't get to see the game, so any and all observations are from looking at the box score. Mississippi State Basketball has a report card of the game if you go here.
Things I liked: -13 assists and only 4 turnovers. If this could be the type of production we get all year I would be ecstatic. I can't even remember the last time MSU had only 4 turnovers. Neither can Rick, because the 4 turnovers were the fewest by a Stansbury coached team.
-13 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 assists from Barry Stewart. Only 3 of those points came from a 3-pointer. Looks like he has expanded his game to include some mid-range shots and maybe some driving to the basket. Also, 11 rebounds? He led the team in rebounds. I never would have expected that out of Stewart.
-Gordon is still Gordon. 21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists.
Things I disliked: -Mississippi State got outrebounded 52-46. Louisiana Tech isn't all that big of a team, so this is an embarrassment. There is no sugar coating to be done. We know Stansbury is big on defense and rebounding, so I'm sure he has been drilling them hard this week. I'm hoping this was just a first game thing, because this team will have big problems come SEC play if this is the norm.
-I was disappointed in Varnado. He was a monster in the exhibitions, but had just 4 points and 5 rebounds against Tech. He did have 6 blocks though, so he is still swatting away everyone who comes at him. The blocks were good, but this team will need more production from him in the other areas.
-Depth/Freshman. The starters (Gordon, Hansbrough, Stewart, Rhodes, and Varnado) played pretty good. The problem is they basically did everything. The bench was essentially non-existent. Again, maybe just a first game thing and they still haven't quite got the rotation worked out. At the very least though Phil Turner and Brian Johnson will need to be able to give something to the team coming off the bench.
So, it was nice to get an easy win to start things off, but there is most definitely room for improvement. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, we should find out right away what we have with in this team. Mississippi State will play Clemson tonight on FSN South at 7pm central. This is a very big early season matchup with both teams lurking just outside of the top 25. Gary Parrish says it is the nights best game, so thats nice I guess. Come 9pm we should have a better grasp on what kind of year we're going to be looking at.
Anthony Johnson was named the SEC defensive player of the week. Thats the 4th Mississippi State player to win the award this year. His 100+ yard interception return for a touchdown was a new school record and tied the NCAA record.
Scout has just released their rankings. Mississippi State is ranked #10 with their 3 commits. Great to see. MSU is probably already done though while other teams will still be adding players. I'm guessing this class will end up in the low teens.
The early signing period starts tomorrow and Kyle Veazey is reporting that Romero Osby will indeed be signing with Mississippi State tomorrow. Scotty Hopson will be signing with MSU as well but not until Friday. Sorry bout your luck UK fan, he is going to be coming to lowly MSU after all. I'm sure you never wanted him anyway. As far as Dee Bost, no word but there is no reason to believe he'll end up anywhere else.
It was far from an ideal start for Mississippi State on Saturday. Their first possession began with a fumble by Christian Ducre on an option play, eventually recovered by Mississippi State. This was followed by a 2 yard run setting up 3rd and 8 and obviously Wesley Carroll's first pass of the day. If you may remember, this would have been the record tying attempt, but unfortunately for Carroll and MSU, it was not to be. His first pass of the day was picked off and set up Alabama in Bulldog territory. Like I said not an ideal start.
Mississippi State would hold Alabama to a field goal and thus the tone was set for much of the first half. The offense looked out of sync, even for a MSU offense. Carroll looked flustered early and the Oline was letting Alabama through too easily. The defense was bending, but would never break, allowing three drives that ended in field goals. Staring at a 9-0 deficit, Carroll and the offense got on track and were able to drive 52 yards for a field goal to make it 9-3 with 4 minutes left in the half. Alabama got the ball back and promptly drove 78 yard down to the Bulldog 2 with around a minute left. Momentum was all on Alabama's side, quite frankly they had been dominating the first half, but you felt if MSU could get a goal line stand and hold for the 12-3 deficit, the game would still be in reach. A TD would have been devastating. The Tide attempted 2 runs up the middle and were rewarded with 0 yards. It was eerily reminiscent of the goal line stand just a year ago at Alabama. Reminiscent and yet oh so much better, because on 3rd down, everything changed:
Listen to that. That is six years of frustration being released at once, from a school record crowd of 51,688. From all the reports I have heard it is pretty much unanimous, that was the loudest Scott Field has ever been. You could feel the stadium shaking.
You will be hard pressed to find a single play that turns around a game in the way that school record, 103 yard int. return by Anthony Johnson did in that game. A momentum shift that massive, a 10 point swing in a single play, cannot even be described. One play changed the entire game. One play may very well have changed the fortunes of the entire program. What's that? I'm getting a little crazy now? Maybe so, but I don't care.
The second half was the polar opposite of the first. MSU was utterly dominant. Alabama fans would like you to believe that their team gave the game away on that Anthony Johnson pick 6. Alabama fans are also by and large delusional fools. Make no mistake Mississippi State whipped them in that second half. The defense shut them down, allowing only 3 points. The offense while not spectacular, stood up when it mattered most. With 6:38 to go in the game, up 17-12 the offense needed to get a few first downs and eat up the clock. That is exactly what happened, taking 6:00 off the clock in an 11 play 38 yard drive.
That of course left Alabama 38 seconds to put something together, but Titus Brown would have none of it:
And so they've just beaten Alabama for the second year in a row. Alabama hasn't scored an offensive TD on Mississippi State in 3 years. 3 years!!!! Let that sink in. Most importantly though, with 2 games to go, Coach Croom has this team bowl eligible at 6-4. Astounding. Outstanding job coach. Outstanding job team. My apologies for all the crap I've given you. All I wanted was for you to show me some wins, and you have. Congratulations, to you and congratulations to this team. They deserve it, the fans deserve it...this is how football season is supposed to feel.
If I get a chance to watch the game I'll put up some thoughts on who stood out. I'll dive into the first game of the basketball season before Thursday as well.
Isn't it amazing what just a little winning can do? The last two years, I have heard nothing but attacks on the MSU fanbase. Its just too small, they can't even sell out a stadium of under 60,000. They're too fickle, they only support the team when they're winning. Blah blah blah. To the latter point, it was 6 years of 3 or fewer wins. 6 YEARS. I'd like to see how full your stadium is after that long of being a bottomfeeder. To the first point, MSU gets a few wins, gets a little momentum going, and look what we have, Alabama vs. MSU is sold out. Shocking.
Anyway just had to get that off my chest. Biggest home game in 6 or 7 years. Bowl eligibility on the line. Sold out. This is huge. Rollbamaroll has a preview if you would like to have a look. They think Alabama should win, which I can't necessarily blame them for, but the preview isn't filled with the stereotypical Alabama arrogance we've all come to know a love. Its a good read.
Also here's a short video preview if you want to take a look.
Get to the game early, don't leave until the clock hits 0:00. Scream until you lose your voice. If you aren't hoarse tonight, you didn't do your job and should be ashamed.
NOTE: Not to be forgotten is the basketball team, who starts their season this afternoon at 4:30 against Louisiana Tech. I've decided not to do a preview of the basketball team after all. The Mississippi State Basketball blog has done an outstanding job of reporting on the two exhibition games and how all the players looked. To be honest a lot of my thoughts would probably have come after reading his own thoughts, so why make you read the same thing twice? Definitely check him out if you haven't already. After you leave Scott Field, go grab a bite to eat, and then head on over to the Hump to support the Bball team. Should be a fun day.
[UPDATE: I know for a fact I pushed Publish on Thursday when I wrote this. Yet here I come to give some thoughts on the 2 Basketball scrimmages, and I find it remains unpublished. This is the second time this has happened. I am not happy with you Blogger. Basketball thoughts will come tomorrow.....I hope.]
Does the decisive victory over Kentucky mark the turning point for MSU football? Well, unfortunately that is one of those questions that can only be answered with any certainty in hindsight. However it feels like it just might be, to me at least. I can't really say why, probably because I'm just so desperate for some measure of success from this program. Whatever the reason, that single game completely changed my feelings on the season thus far, as well as the remaining games. The Auburn win was nice, but there was always the possibility that it was simply Croom's annual one big win and nothing significant would come of it. After the Kentucky win though, there is just a feeling of excitement and new life being breathed into this dormant program. The Alabama game is all of a sudden sold out. Suddenly I'm thinking of bowl possibilities. I'm looking back and realizing how much fun this season has been (for the most part, LSU still sucked). It has been a thrill to watch a competitive and capable team emerge from the shambles of MSU football 2000-2006.
Always one to throw a bucket of cold water on a situation, it should be noted that the two big wins this year both saw the opponent turn the ball over 6 times. Some were of course forced by the defense, but some were simply gifts from the opposing team. If MSU is to take the next step, they have to be able to win games regardless of whether the other team shoots itself in the foot or not.
With that said I like the direction things are going right now. I like the young, future players on the team, and for the most part I like the way recruiting is going. It still needs to improve significantly, but it appears to be getting there. I like the development I see of players at most of the positions, with WR and possibly QB being the exception. I'm starting to think Henig didn't get better because he is simply that bad and nothing could change that. WR is a different story, I haven't noticed a single player improve significantly year to year. All in all though, things appear to be looking up.
Now we move on to some observations of the Kentucky game.
-Wesley Carroll, I think I may love you. Finally, FINALLY, a QB who can make a few plays and won't turn the ball over every game. I hate to pile on Henig, but after 2 1/2 years or so of him at QB, Carroll is a breath of fresh air. You want a major reason for the turnaround this year? You don't have to look any further than Carroll. I truly believe that we would be sitting at 2-7 or maybe 3-6 with Henig leading the team. As bad as this sounds, Henig's injury was probably the best thing that could have happened to this team.
Against UK he was 17-28 with 152 yards, 2 TD and 0 Int. His performance earned him SEC freshman of the week honors. His numbers don't blow you away, but the number to look at is 0, as in 0 interceptions, both in the game and on the year. How refreshing to finally have a QB who knows how to take care of the ball. With just two more pass attempts, Carroll will hold the NCAA record for most attempts without an interception to start a career as a freshman. He would be passing Mike "I'M A MAN!!!" Gundy. A rather obscure record but nevertheless impressive.
In addition to his performance on the field, I love what I am seeing as far as the little things go. On every big play he was the first one in the face of his teammate congratulating him and patting him on the helmet. When it looked like Blackledge was going to get into an altercation with a UK player, it was Carroll getting if front of Blackledge and moving him away.
On the sidelines he was always talking to his lineman. All these little things which don't show up in the stat sheet but are so important to being the leader of a team, and to see it from a freshman is very exciting. I like how the future is looking with Carroll running things.
-Anthony Dixon was extremely unimpressive. The numbers look okay, 25 carries for 82 yards and 2TD, one rushing and one receiving, but they don't tell the whole story. He put the ball on the ground 3 times, fortunately losing only one. On top of that he continued to dance in the backfield and try to make people miss. You're 240, just hit the hole and go. Also I can't count the number of times he missed a lane and would consequently gain a yard, if that. He has loads of talent, but he isn't playing up to his potential right now.
-On the flipside, Christian Ducre had a stellar game. 5 receptions for 30 yards to go along with 19 carries for 119 yards and the TD which sealed the win.
I don't know where he was hiding the last 3 weeks, but this was a good time to see him reemerge. I love his decisiveness, he finds a hole and he goes for it, no dancing, no second guessing. He has the running style I wish we would see from Dixon. I don't know what will happen in practices over these next two weeks, but Croom will probably be thinking of starting Ducre against Alabama. Not that it matters all that much. As much as MSU runs the ball, both Dixon and Ducre will be looking at 15+ carries.
-It's good to see how walk-on Eric Hoskins has stabilized the fullback position. He is a good run blocker and is a threat to catch the ball coming out of the backfield. He has been impressive enough that Croom has said he will be put on scholarship next year. Good for him. He deserves it. Unsurprisingly Jeremy Jones didn't see the field. Like I've said before, 275 pound guys aren't all that useful except on the O-line.
-The play calling in the 1st half was fantastic. It kept the defense guessing, which is the whole point. Passes on first down, triple option, zone read plays, and this
Where has this playbook been the last 3 years? Please, I am on my knees begging, keep this going McCorvey.
-The tight ends actually made a play? Really?!
-Hats off to the O-line, another big reason for the improvement this year. They were pretty dominant, opening running lanes and giving Carroll ample time. Also I noticed Croom would mass substitute Brignone, Gates, and Sherrod in for Strauder, Jenkins, and Hamilton. As far as I could see there was little if any dropoff in production, though admittedly I am anything but an expert on offensive line play. I would assume keeping the line fresh has probably been helping, especially late in the game. It is also encouraging that we have enough depth at this point to be able to pull this off.
-Avery Hannibal, welcome to the party. He earned SEC defensive player of the week honors with his 5 tackle, 2 sack performance. Hannibal has always been stout in the run game but has been missing in the pass rush. He'll be needed in these last 3 games. Titus Brown returned to form as he was in the backfield much of the day. You think Hannibal's play forced the Oline to take some of their focus off of Brown? Yeah, me too.
-Surprisingly enough, Kyle Love looked very good at DT. I don't know if he had any tackles, but he was clogging the run lanes, getting penetration and disrupting plays. I didn't think we'd ever see much from him, but he was the best DT on this day.
-I truly believe Anthony Johnson has a good chance to be playing on Sundays in the future. Teams avoid throwing at him, and when they finally do he can make them pay. He's no slouch in run support either.
-Big day for Fitzhugh, 6 tackles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 interception. He was all over the field. Nice to have the luxury of putting him in for Pegues or Glanton and not lose anything at safety. Same goes for Bobo.
