Here's why I'm not worried

[tenureplan]

1. First and foremost, the offensive line did a pretty good job. Dak only got sacked once, and had plenty of time for the most part. We averaged over 7 yards per play running the ball.

2. The defensive line looked pretty good as well and that may have been our second question mark. We were applying pressure all night.

3. Dak had an off night but still looked good. We know what he can do.

4. Other than the Holloway return, I don't know if our special teams could play worse.

5. Our TOP was 6 freaking minutes in the first half due to a fumbled TD, A kickoff return, an onside kick, a bungled kickoff reception, overthrows and dropped balls, a bungled punt return. All of that happened and we were still winning. Calm down guys,

 

[57stratdawg]

I didn't have much faith in this teams running abilities this spring. I didn't see anything to change my mind tonight.

 

[Hump4Hoops]

Here's why I'm not worried:

View attachment 2279


You're list is actually pretty accurate, and I think we'll be much much better on Sat against LSU. At least, I hope so. My big concerns are pass defense (yeesh) and ability to run the ball. If we see Holloway up the middle and Shumpert on the edge in another game, yuck.

 

[The Fatboy]

1. First and foremost, the offensive line did a pretty good job. Dak only got sacked once, and had plenty of time for the most part. We averaged over 7 yards per play running the ball.

2. The defensive line looked pretty good as well and that may have been our second question mark. We were applying pressure all night.

3. Dak had an off night but still looked good. We know what he can do.

4. Other than the Holloway return, I don't know if our special teams could play worse.

5. Our TOP was 6 freaking minutes in the first half due to a fumbled TD, A kickoff return, an onside kick, a bungled kickoff reception, overthrows and dropped balls, a bungled punt return. All of that happened and we were still winning. Calm down guys,

And don't forget about all the trick plays. They played desperate early and it paid off for them.

It was ugly but I'm not ready to jump off the ledge just yet.

 

[Shamoan]

sorry bro, we should be worried, but daks running ability can make any game a 30 point swing, so really, its all about the defense...which i am admittedly concerned about.

 

[mcdawg22]

Special Teams were bad, but that's the best kicking I have seen in 8 years.

 

[Sutterkane]

Special Teams was a wash. We had a muffed punt and lost an onsides kick but we also recovered and onsides and blocked a punt. We kicked 2 field goals that looked really damn good. We returned a KO for a TD and also muffed a KO but still got the ball. Our punting was alright. The placement of our KOs were good, the coverage could've been better though.

 

[o_Dawg007]

1. First and foremost, the offensive line did a pretty good job. Dak only got sacked once, and had plenty of time for the most part. We averaged over 7 yards per play running the ball.

2. The defensive line looked pretty good as well and that may have been our second question mark. We were applying pressure all night.

3. Dak had an off night but still looked good. We know what he can do.

4. Other than the Holloway return, I don't know if our special teams could play worse.

5. Our TOP was 6 freaking minutes in the first half due to a fumbled TD, A kickoff return, an onside kick, a bungled kickoff reception, overthrows and dropped balls, a bungled punt return. All of that happened and we were still winning. Calm down guys,

Westin Graves went 2-2 on field goals (36, 38 yards) and 4-4 on extra points. I think that is definitely a positive on the special teams front.

 

[MSUDC11]

As many yards as we gave up, at the end of the day we only allowed one touchdown.

We were very "bend but don't break" with Diaz in 2010, and I think we might have a similar defense this year.

The two craziest plays of the game were Ross's muff and the trick play. We gave up 3 combined points as a result of those two plays. Defense really buckled down in a few situations. Don't think we are in terrible shape on that side of the ball.

Did we play great? No. But we were a Shumphert fumble and a Fred Brown drop away from 48-16. We just made some silly mistakes that I don't expect us to make very often.

Beat LSU and nobody will remember tonight. And I still think we have a really good chance to do just that.

 

[121Josey]

The team was either vanilla or something that looks - but doesn't smell - like chocolate. I wouldn't be worried if they played USM next week. But they don't. The only solid positive to take away is that it was a road game and a good test before next week.

 

[Dawgzilla]

When your team forces its opponent to punt, you shouldn't have to immediately worry about turning the ball over on the return.

 

[Grove Sh*tter]

Everyone thought the sky was falling after we had a lackluster win over uab last year. We then destroyed 3 top ten teams. Go read the panicked posts from last year. I think tonight was a wake-up call (as if the egg/orange bowls weren't still lingering enough). Plenty of tools to sharpen and wrinkles to iron out...but Saturday will be fun, boys.

 

[Dawg1976]

Westin Graves went 2-2 on field goals (36, 38 yards) and 4-4 on extra points. I think that is definitely a positive on the special teams front.

That's about the only positive I took away from the game.

The DL played pretty decent at times, but USM had receivers open all night long. I'm sure Dak will get more involved in the running game because he basically is our running game. Shumpert is a good player, but not a go to back. I hope Mullen gets Lee and Williams in the game more. If he doesn't, I guess we can only assume they are not very good.

We have a lot of improving to do to state the obvious. If we don't, we are looking at 6-6 at best.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

I saw plenty of reason for concern like our linebacker play and pass coverage. We play like that against aTm and Auburn and they will light us up.

I was very happy with the way our OL played.

I'm not sure what Dak's issue was last night. I hope it was because they were letting him run so little. He seems to calm down after he runs the ball a few times.

One thing is for sure, our coaches have plenty to work on this week and LSU is coming in green.