Failure Thy Name Is Croom

Another week and like clockwork another embarrassing loss. Its over folks, the results are in. Croom is a complete failure as a head coach and he has nobody but himself to blame. He is more loyal to his buddy, McCorvey, than he is to the school that took a chance on him and is paying him $1.7 million. He is too stubborn and prideful to admit that his offense is the worst in the country and doesn't have the humility to make the necessary changes. He refuses to admit his mistakes preferring to throw the players under the bus week after week. He would rather lose than admit that he may be wrong.

For all of these reasons I feel no remorse in calling him a failure. If he did his best and just came up short that would be one thing, that didn't happen here. His flaws are easily correctable, hire a innovative offensive coordinator and give him complete control of the offense, but his arrogance won't allow it. This thing isn't getting better until this man gone, I can promise you that. Today this team is only marginally better than it was five years ago, and that is due only to the fact that the players give more effort. No foundation has been laid, no improvements made, and the "right way" has been revealed to be a empty phrase that serves as nothing more than a red herring for his glaring shortcomings as a coach. The offense is far far worse than it was five years ago, players are poorly coached, QBs regress at an alarming rate due to being coached by a RB coach, a man that had never coached a single QB in his decades of experience (McCorvey), playcalling is predictable and never uses misdirection or formation to fool opponents, overall game management would make a 6th grade coach shake his head, and the list goes on and on.

Please put an end to the suffering Greg Byrne. Croom is a monumental failure and a monumental waste of money. Next year will be yet another embarrassment under this man so why wait any longer. I understand that there may be some pressure from certain organizations, but his record speaks for itself: 19-35, 35.1%, 107th, 113th, 103rd, and 113th in total offense which somehow leads to a raise for the offensive coordinator, followed up by 103rd in total offense this year (and dropping). He has won 35.1% of his games and gave a raise to the man in charge of one of the worst offenses in the country four years in a row. The evidence is overwhelming, Croom is out of touch with modern college football and should not be anywhere near a head coaching position.

I'm tired of holding my tongue and I'm tired of being civil. I hope there is a For Sale sign in his front yard and I hope he gets so mad or so discouraged that he resigns. If Croom had so much character he would resign tomorrow AND give back the 1.7 million that he has stolen from this university, because he sure as heck hasn't earned a single penny. My only comfort is that the clock is ticking for you Croom. I know that it is only a matter of time until you are fired and I never have to watch you piss away another game with your shockingly bad coaching.

This is harsh and I don't care. He may, and I emphasize may, be a good man but he isn't paid to be a good man. He is paid to win games, and he is incapable of doing so. I don't know when the day will come Croom but it is coming, and all I have to say is good riddance.

Mississippi State 17 Vanderbilt 14

Mississippi State got a win over #13 Vanderbilt this past weekend to keep slim bowl hopes alive. MSU played like they did last year: running the ball the vast majority of the time, not turning it over, and putting the rest of the game on the defense.

The win along with the solid performance against LSU has given some of us hope that this team is finally playing at the level we expected 2 months ago. If thats the case then their should be hope of getting to 6 wins against a weak remainder of the schedule. Unfortunately the win raised even more questions in my mind.

- MSU got back to running the ball down people's throats, in particular getting the ball to Dixon. Anthony Dixon had 27 carries for 107 yards, his first 100 yard game of the year. The fact this was his first 100 yard game is more than a little disturbing. Not only did the coaches finally decide to feed him the football, Anthony Dixon finally ran like we've all said he needed. The dancing behind the line of scrimmage was nearly non-existent. He ran north-south, and if there wasn't a hole he put his head down and made 3 yards moving the pile. When you are 240 pounds, you can get 3 or 4 yards whether there is a hole or not, and that is what Dixon should have been doing the last 2 1/2 years.

- Tyson Lee was impressive, but not because of his passing. He had only 81 yards passing, though that was partly play calling. Where he impressed was his running ability. There were a number of times when the play broke down and he got the first down on his own. I can remember three 3rd and longs that were converted solely because of his ability to escape the pocket and run for the 1st.

- The defense was great, though that is partly due to the fact that Vanderbilt is about as inept on offense as Mississippi State. Even so, the defense held them to 107 yards and thats outstanding.

-Now comes the questions. The team gets one win and all of a sudden Croom has this to say about the offense.

"Not any different at all," Sylvester Croom, the Mississippi State coach, said Wednesday of his offensive approach. "We're just executing better. When I said earlier in the season we weren't executing and missing assignments, I wasn't joking. We're executing better now."

MSU only had 247 yards of offense. That is terrible, and he says this is executing the offense? See this is the problem with Croom. If this was a loss with all the same stats, he would have inevitably said the offense just didn't execute. MSU only scored 17 points, and they needed an interception returned to the 7 yard line just to get that, otherwise it is 10 points. This is Croom's idea of executing? Mind boggling.

-Secondly, Vanderbilt had 107 yards of offense and was -2 in the turnover battle. MSU won by 3. Think about that folks. 107 yards and 2 turnovers, any team with that kind of production loses by 20 points minimum 99% of the time. That 1% of the time is when they play MSU. Why could MSU only win by 3 you ask? Because the offense is terrible. Even with this 107 yard effort, this still would have been a loss had the defense not won the game again, returning an interception to the 7, virtually guaranteeing a TD. Yet this is the offense that is executing according to Croom?

-Can we get a punter? Please.



Bottomline folks, the offense is almost completely incapable of winning a game, save for the occasional fluke. The defense has to get every win from here on out either by scoring points themselves or putting the offense in such great field position they can't help but score. Thats all their is to it.


You know what though? They just may be able to do it. The next 6 games are littered with one inept offense after another. It starts with Tennessee. This is the definition of a must win game. If MSU wins, they still have a chance at a bowl, maybe even a decent chance. If they lose the season is almost certainly over. Make no mistake, this game is very winnable. Tennessee is downright bad. They have a good defense, but their offense may be even worse than ours.

Schedule Changes and Facilities

Jackson St. has replaced La Tech. as the first game of 2009. The home game against La Tech has been moved to 2012. Brilliant move as far as I'm concerned. You keep 7 home games in 2009, you are now playing a I-AA in '09 where you weren't before (and as far as I'm concerned MSU should be playing a I-AA every year), and presumably you are set up to have 7 home games in 2012. I wonder if LT would have had the foresight to do something like this? LT always made it sound like scheduling was the most difficult job on Earth and cobbling together 12 games was a minor miracle. Man I'm glad that guy is gone.

If you look you can find some fluff pieces about how this is a "historic day" what with Jackson St. being a HBS. I'm not linking it because all I see is "blah blah blah". Its a game against a I-AA, not a big deal. If you want to hear about how historic it is, google is your friend.


The second thing I want to mention is according to Veazy, its only a matter of time before there is a practice infield for baseball and a practice facility for basketball. They're still a ways off but the first step has been taken.

An Absolute Must Read

This article comes from ESPN affiliated BulldawgJunction.com. Its a Mississippi State site in the mold of the Rivals or Scout affiliates with the major difference being Bulldawg Junction is far better. They tell it like it is, a welcome sight to those sick of the constant sunshine peddled by other sites, regardless if a MSU team is 5-0 or a putrid 1-4.

Enough of that though. On to the real reason for this post, to direct you to an article from Bulldawg Junction, "What's The Difference?". Follow the link, read it now.

Done? Good. I think it hits the proverbial nail on the head and it is about time somebody mainstream had the guts to publish something like this. My hats off to you guys at the junction.

If you enjoyed this article, I highly recommend you subscribe to the site. Yes, a large part of it is recruiting, but even if recruiting isn't your thing the articles alone might be worth it. This is the sort of article you get. Enough promotion from me though.

I've been writing a post detailing the dismal failure that has been Croom's tenure here at MSU. The post is essentially complete but is being delayed in the off chance that Croom is able to salvage a bowl game out of this season. I haven't decided yet if I'll put it up when/if MSU is officially eliminated from bowl contention or at the conclusion of the Egg Bowl. If Croom gets to a bowl the post will obviously be scrapped. Otherwise, stay tuned.

Basketball Schedule Released

You can check it out over in the sidebar or follow the link.

Thoughts on the First Two Games and AU

This isn't organized in any way, just a stream of thoughts. It might tend to be negatives, but that is just because one has a tendency to remember the bad longer. Just the way it is so keep that in mind.


-The offensive line desperately needs Derek Sherrod back. They've been above average in their pass protection but run blocking is another matter. The holes just aren't there as consistently as you would like. While they aren't terrible in run blocking, I'd like to see better. Sherrod is supposed to be getting back to 100% and should start against Auburn. That'll help.

-Dixon is hitting the hole harder, but still tries to bounce too much to the outside. At this point I don't think he is going to change. Ducre is the same Ducre of last year. Same type of back as Dixon, not as talented, but is good at picking a hole and hitting it full speed. I think the coaching staff outsmarted themselves against Tech and got away from what the team is good at, riding Dixon and Ducre to a win. Hindsight is 20/20 though.

-I've mentioned it briefly before, but Carroll is the QB. Tyson Lee is a nice little backup and seems to be careful with the ball, but he struggles to move the team down the field. Yes Carroll turned it over too much against Tech but he clearly doesn't get rattled as easily and can move the football down the field. This shouldn't be surprising considering the experience edge. He bounced back nicely last week going 15/23 for 158 yards and 2Tds.

-Carroll's arm is significantly better than last year, but he still struggles with the deep ball. You keep the throw around 15 yards or less and Carroll is fairly accurate and makes good decisions. Where he gets into trouble is when you start asking him to connect on 25+ yard passes. Carroll is more of a playmaker this year though, its just the deep ball isn't his strength. Probably never will be.

-This WR group has surprised me. They're actually a pretty decent bunch. Brandon McRae has been the biggest surprise, catching 12 passes for 132 yards and 2Tds in the first two games. Color me impressed. Aubrey Bell did have a key drop against Tech but has been more than adequate overall. Co-Eric Riley only has 4 catches so far but both of his catches against SLU were in traffic and he got punished but held onto the ball. A little bit of toughness is great to see. True freshman Delmon Robinson looked like the best WR on the field against La Tech 5 passes for 63 yards. He showed good hands and the ability to pick up yards after the catch with his quickness.

-While the wide receivers have impressed me as a whole, Jamayel Smith has not. He used to be reliable but has been anything but in the first two games. He is dropping passes, fumbling the football, and is plummeting down the depth chart. I don't know if his confidence is just shaken or what, but its a disappointing start when he was supposed to take over the #1 receiver role. Hopefully he bounces back.

-That special teams performance against La Tech is one of the worst you will ever see. Every single phase of special teams was pathetic. The return of Derek Pegues means Mississippi State now has a returner that actually knows how to field a punt. Great, but that's only one area. The fact is McAdams is average on a good day and those don't happen often. Carlson is good on short to midrange field goals but doesn't have the leg to be consistent on longer ones. Where this really shows up even more is on kickoffs. He struggles to get the ball to the ten yard line, and you can forget about touchbacks. That just won't happen. Now don't get me wrong, I don't blame Carlson or McAdams. Both Carlson and McAdams practice as much as you'd want and give it everything they've got come gametime. They're just not that good at what they do and that isn't their fault.

No, this is all on Croom. How Croom is stuck with McAdams as the punter and Carlson on kickoffs is beyond me. These guys are 4th and 5th year seniors too. Croom has seen them every day since he has been here and has not done a thing to improve this glaring weakness. On top of that, out of 83 scholarship players, there is apparently only one on the entire team that can field a kick, Pegues. That is pathetic and is entirely on the coaching staff. This isn't anything new: 2004: Special teams were pathetic, 2005: Sucked, 2006: Even worse than the previous two, 2007: Average, 2008: its early, but it looks like terrible yet again. One decent year in five. Obviously Croom just doesn't put any emphasis on special teams. This is even more boneheaded when it seems Croom wants this team's identity to be that of a running team that slows the game down and plays a game of field position. You can't play field position when your punter averages 35 yards. I really hope La Tech opened his eyes. Special teams is a crucial part of the game, even more so to a team like Mississippi State. Until Croom figures this out and starts treating it as such instead of sweeping it under the rug, Mississippi State will lose games every year because special teams kills them.

-The defensive backs are a strong group just as expected. Rewatching the Tech game, Zach Smith was all over the place. While the group is good overall, Washington still has a tendency to get burned deep. He bit on a double move 10 yards out on a 3rd and 21, allowing the receiver to blow by him. Come on Washington, don't jump on a 10 yard route when they need 20 yards.

-The defensive line has very little pass rush. This forces Harbison to bring linebackers regularly to get any kind of pressure on the QB. I'm afraid this is going to bite this defense in the butt against tougher competition. While I'm on the DLine, Sean Ferguson doesn't need to be starting. I don't know what they saw from the true freshman in practices, but he isn't doing anything in the games. Rotate him in as a backup.

-The defense allowed just 148 yards against SLU, 70 of them coming on one play. Even against SLU that is impressive.


This game against Auburn is huge. DWS will be rocking: SEC opener, night game, nationally televised, and the #9 team in the country. I'm already seeing people gather in the Junction on the gameday cam.

Its not a must win, but it needs to be a close game at least. No, I don't believe in moral victories, at least not in year 5. What I mean is if this is a blowout, Mississippi State is no good and will be 1-4 after LSU. Take it to the bank. 1-4 and the season is virtually over.

Be there, scream your heads off, and ring those cowbells. I really do expect a better performance than we saw against La Tech, I just think Mississippi State is better than what they showed that game. Even so, I don't know if that will be enough against Auburn.

MSU 34 SLU 10

Yay? Mississippi State did what it was supposed to, namely crush a terrible opponent. However, this doesn't really tell us anything more about the team or alleviate any concerns that arose after losing to La. Tech. All that comes next week against Auburn. With that said, I'll take it.

From Bad To Worse

- Jamar Chaney fractured his leg in the loss to La Tech. He has already had surgery and is done for the year. Chaney led the team with 12 tackles Saturday. Saying that this is a huge loss is an understatement, Chaney was clearly the second best player on the defense. Coaches were impressed with his backup, Jamie Jones, and said he was good enough to start. They better be right or Mississippi State is in trouble.

- There was going to be a long post about the stupidity of Croom trying to run a 2 QB system. Make no mistake, in the situation we have this year it is a monumentally dumb decision. Luckily Croom has put the 2 QB experiment to an end:

"Wesley’s our quarterback. We’re gonna sink or swim with him." He later added, “Right now we’ve got one guy I feel totally confident in."

Thank you. Personally I think he picked the right guy too, but even if he had chosen Lee that would have been fine. Pick one and go with it.

- As far as Lee playing over Carrol in the 4th quarter:

"No, it wasn’t a mistake to have Tyson out there. It may be your opinion, or the opinion of the fans, but all my decisions are based on practices going into the games."

Yes it was a mistake Croom. You are dead wrong but are too stubborn or blind to admit it. I think the fact that Lee couldn't get a single 1st down in the 4th quarter against a presumably bad defense is evidence enough that he shouldn't have been in there. I don't give a crap what you saw in practice. Lee has played well in practice and Carroll has led multiple last minute game winning drives. I wonder who should play when the game is on the line? Doing well in practice and doing well in games are two totally different things Croom and if you don't know that by now you shouldn't be a head coach anywhere. As I've already said though, he has scrapped the 2 QB deal and gone with Carrol, so even if he doesn't want to admit it, clearly he knows he messed up. Tip of the hat for that.

-Mississippi State held an unscheduled practice at 7am this morning in which they worked solely on special teams. I'm glad Croom sees what a disaster they were and knows he has to get them fixed, but shouldn't he have worked on ST once or twice in the month leading up to the season?
The team will practice again at 3.


I'm forcing myself to rewatch the game and will have thoughts up later on, probably Wednesday. Its probably best to cool down before talking about it anyway.

1.7 Million Just Doesn't Buy What It Used To: La Tech 22 MSU 14

New year, same embarrassment. All that momentum from last year is gone now. This team might as well be starting over. Yet again MSU is completely unprepared on opening day and yet again MSU gets their butts handed to them by a clearly inferior team, both staples of Croom coached teams. I wanted to believe, I really did, but this is year 5 . . . and Croom still doesn't seem to know what he is doing.

More later.

Preview '08: Special Teams

Special Teams Depth Chart
K	P	KR	PR
Adam Carlson RSr.	Blake McAdams Sr.	Wade Bonner RFr.	Derek Pegues Sr.
Eric Richards RFr.	Eric Richards RFr.	Robert Elliot RFr.	Jamayel Smith RSr.

2007 Stats
Name	FGM	Att	%	Punt Yds	Avg
Adam Carlson	10	13	76.9	48	24
Blake McAdams	-	-	-	3024	39.2

What a difference a year makes. At the start of last year I thought Carlson had to be one of the worst kickers in Div IA. Then he went 10/13 on field goals and kicked a career long game winner against Ole Miss. Clearly I was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I still can't say Carlson is entirely reliable outside of about 35-40 yards, but he is very good inside that range.

McAdams needs to get better. He wasn't terrible last year, but wasn't a world beater either. The problem with McAdams was his consistency. He'd kick a 50 yarder and immediately follow it up with a 24 yard shank. Hopefully he has corrected that problem.

Bonner and Elliot take over kick return duties. They should bring some speed and elusiveness that was missing wit the likes of Justin Williams returning kicks last year.

Pegues will again be the punt returner and in case you didn't know, he is pretty good in that role. His touchdown return against Ole Miss last year probably kept that game from being a loss.

Grade: 6.5/10

Carlson is certainly improved and has to have a boatload more confidence after winning the Ole Miss. You have to hope McAdams sees similar improvement but for now he is just average. The kick returners last year were downright bad. It should be better this year but its hard to say for sure. We already know what Pegues can do.