So we played Autry vs USM, where do we go from here?

philduckworth

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Feb 20, 2015
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Do you try and beat KSU without him? They are a power running team. I think you have to play him.

UK is must win. And you need him vs AU to have any kind of chance.

At this point, I think I let him play these next 3 games and call it a season until the bowl game. Damn, what were we thinking?!
 
Jan 29, 2019
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I don't know what to tell you man. He's a part of tutorgate.
Reasonable people can infer he was suspended for other reasons, and got lumped in to Tutorgate, well, because that's what happens with rumors.

Rosebowl said, in regards to DL, some names that some said were involved, actually weren't.

At some point, we have to make peace with the idea that some of you were just wrong. Either that, or the coaches are stupid.

I know which one I would choose. I guess we will find out Saturday.
 
Feb 15, 2007
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Yep, even Paul suggested he's part of it. This new speculation that he isn't only started after a graphic showing him as a graduate.

Play him Kansas State, Auburn or Tennessee, and Ole Miss.
 

philduckworth

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Feb 20, 2015
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Yep, even Paul suggested he's part of it. This new speculation that he isn't only started after a graphic showing him as a graduate.

Play him Kansas State, Auburn or Tennessee, and Ole Miss.

I think it would be tough to play vs KSU and AU and then sit all season and play again in the Egg Bowl. At this point, I think you just have to play him these next 3 games.
 
Jan 29, 2019
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Yep, even Paul suggested he's part of it. This new speculation that he isn't only started after a graphic showing him as a graduate.

Play him Kansas State, Auburn or Tennessee, and Ole Miss.
If you're trying to play win the most games, you play him Kansas State, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas. I know people think Tennessee and Arkansas suck but those games are on the road and won't be easy. If you want to substitute Auburn for Arkansas, I can go with that.

Just further evidence that this theory makes NO sense. IF his Tutorgate allegations are true, you absolutely can't play him against USM. So he either isn't a part of it, or he is but not to the level that he's suspended 8 games. Or the coaches are stupid.

Everyone gets to choose at this point I suppose.
 

Go Budaw

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Aug 22, 2012
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Yep, even Paul suggested he's part of it. This new speculation that he isn't only started after a graphic showing him as a graduate.

Play him Kansas State, Auburn or Tennessee, and Ole Miss.

I have no idea what to believe and have no sources. But him being a graduate was never relevant to the possibility that he was part of tutorgate. If he graduated in December, its not like they can revoke his diploma after the fact. And even if he didn’t graduate until May or after the summer session, he still could have easily recovered the credit hours lost from the course. I’m not even sure that they can change his grades for the course retroactively after they’ve already been published at semester’s end, but I suppose maybe its possible?

Anyway, none of this stuff came to light until February. There are numerous ways he could have been part of it and still graduated, since its pretty clear none of these guys even got suspended from school.
 
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hullabaloodog

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Jul 10, 2008
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For arguments sake, let's just say he is part of Tutorgate and Joe wanted to use him vs KSU, UK, and Auburn. Did he play him vs USM to get him in "game shape" for those three games? It seems dumb to me, but I'm just trying to make sense of it. Hopefully his suspension vs ULL was unrelated and we'll see him the rest of the year.
 

philduckworth

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Feb 20, 2015
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For arguments sake, let's just say he is part of Tutorgate and Joe wanted to use him vs KSU, UK, and Auburn. Did he play him vs USM to get him in "game shape" for those three games? It seems dumb to me, but I'm just trying to make sense of it. Hopefully his suspension vs ULL was unrelated and we'll see him the rest of the year.

I honestly believe the injuries to D. Parker and Evans Wilkerson forced the move of James Jackson to back up center. At that point, Joe was worried about DT depth so he decided to play Autry. Like all coaches, he wasn't taking USM lightly, it was a super hot day and maybe gave USM more credit than they deserved. It was a horrendous decision but that was the rationale.
 

VegasDawg13

Freshman
Jun 11, 2007
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I honestly believe the injuries to D. Parker and Evans Wilkerson forced the move of James Jackson to back up center. At that point, Joe was worried about DT depth so he decided to play Autry. Like all coaches, he wasn't taking USM lightly, it was a super hot day and maybe gave USM more credit than they deserved. It was a horrendous decision but that was the rationale.
I don't know what to believe, but this definitely sounds more like the way coaches think than "How do I maximize our chances to win 8 games?"
 

NWADawg

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May 4, 2016
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For arguments sake, let's just say he is part of Tutorgate and Joe wanted to use him vs KSU, UK, and Auburn. Did he play him vs USM to get him in "game shape" for those three games? It seems dumb to me, but I'm just trying to make sense of it. Hopefully his suspension vs ULL was unrelated and we'll see him the rest of the year.

There's been discussions about Pickering and others young guys not being in shape or being ready. Maybe we are banking on those guys being more ready by the time autry's 4 games are used up. So basically he has become a stop gap instead of a secret weapon or the upperclassmen leader we need.

Hope all this speculation is a waste of brain usage and he spends the rest of the season as the anchor and leader he can be.
 

hullabaloodog

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Jul 10, 2008
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I honestly believe the injuries to D. Parker and Evans Wilkerson forced the move of James Jackson to back up center. At that point, Joe was worried about DT depth so he decided to play Autry. Like all coaches, he wasn't taking USM lightly, it was a super hot day and maybe gave USM more credit than they deserved. It was a horrendous decision but that was the rationale.

I could see this being the case and it's just flat out stupid.
 

philduckworth

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Feb 20, 2015
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There's been discussions about Pickering and others young guys not being in shape or being ready. Maybe we are banking on those guys being more ready by the time autry's 4 games are used up. So basically he has become a stop gap instead of a secret weapon or the upperclassmen leader we need.

Hope all this speculation is a waste of brain usage and he spends the rest of the season as the anchor and leader he can be.

When Autry is available, Pickering is our #6 DT. Otherwise, he's our number 5. He either needs to play himself into the 2 deep or redshirt. Willie Gay still has his 4 games so maybe we can be more judicious with him. I would play Gay vs UK, AU, LSU, and Ole Miss.
 

CoolDawg

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Oct 20, 2013
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I guess the thing that gives me hope that Autry wasn't involved is the fact that the class where the cheating occurred was an introductory chemistry. I would think a senior very close to graduating would not be taking an introductory class.
 

kired

All-Conference
Aug 22, 2008
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I don't buy it. He didn't just play - he STARTED. I think if Joe was worried about depth, you have him 100% ready to play but see how the game goes for a few possessions. Then you bring him in if needed, but you don't start him and give up 25% of his season on the first defensive series in a game that turns out to be a blowout.

I just find it ironic that he's the only senior involved and he's also the only one rumored to be suspended that has played so far. If he's really part of the group, it's has to mean Joe made a decision to play these guys once every 3 games or so.

It actually does make sense to go ahead and use them for some games early if you think you'll need them to win. You definitely don't want to hold them out for the first 5 or 6 weeks, and then they get injured in their first or second game and be forced to miss the rest of the season. You can use those suspended games as off weeks for them to recover and stay fresh.

But still... USM... wtf?
 

philduckworth

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Feb 20, 2015
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Surely Autry plays senior night, right?

He can still be recognized before the game and go thru pre-game ceremonies. Willie Gay was on the sideline with a jerseys on and no pads.

Before he played vs USM, I thought it was a lock he would play vs Ole Miss, but now, it just doesn't make sense.
 

patdog

Heisman
May 28, 2007
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You can't do it that way. It's not like a redshirt. You have to declare the player either suspended or not suspended before the game starts. I don't know what to think. The OP sure acts like he knows what he's talking about, but it makes no sense at all to me for him to play against USM under any circumstances if he's facing an 8-game suspension this season.
 

Go Budaw

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Aug 22, 2012
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I guess the thing that gives me hope that Autry wasn't involved is the fact that the class where the cheating occurred was an introductory chemistry. I would think a senior very close to graduating would not be taking an introductory class.

Autry was a JUCO. Could have been any number of things. His chem class there might not have transferred over or he may have been retaking it after failing it as an underclassmen. Or he could have gotten bad guidance from the academic staff at ICC on classes he needed. Or he could have changed majors. Or maybe he is, in fact, not suspended.

When I was a freshmen at MSU, I had lots of freshmen level classes with 3rd and 4th year football players. Many of them don’t take a conventional route to graduation. Its not unusual at all.
 

MagnoliaHunter

All-Conference
Jan 23, 2007
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OT but diplomas can be revoked

I have no idea what to believe and have no sources. But him being a graduate was never relevant to the possibility that he was part of tutorgate. If he graduated in December, its not like they can revoke his diploma after the fact. And even if he didn’t graduate until May or after the summer session, he still could have easily recovered the credit hours lost from the course. I’m not even sure that they can change his grades for the course retroactively after they’ve already been published at semester’s end, but I suppose maybe its possible?

Anyway, none of this stuff came to light until February. There are numerous ways he could have been part of it and still graduated, since its pretty clear none of these guys even got suspended from school.

They can in fact revoke his diploma after graduation, or at least they used to be able to. Back in the dark ages when I graduated in '89, a girl that was in several of my classes and graduated with me had her diploma revoked when it came out that she had cheated on several finals and regular tests too. Her brother told me this so I would guess that its true.
 

kired

All-Conference
Aug 22, 2008
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Well in that case... maybe this Saturday will clear things up... or make us more confused. Surely we won't burn half his eligibility in the first 3 games of the season, before SEC play even begins.
 

johnson86-1

All-American
Aug 22, 2012
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When Autry is available, Pickering is our #6 DT. Otherwise, he's our number 5. He either needs to play himself into the 2 deep or redshirt. Willie Gay still has his 4 games so maybe we can be more judicious with him. I would play Gay vs UK, AU, LSU, and Ole Miss.

If the argument is not that the coaches believe a couple of the younger players will be equal to autry by the second half/last third of the season, then the only options are that (1) our coaches made a horrendously stupid decision, (2) he is not part of tutor gate, or (3) we don't have the flexibility people think when it comes to suspensions.

I'm really hoping it's that he's not part of tutor gate.

I guess another possibility is that the coaches think USM is better than three of KSU, Arkansas, Ole Miss, and UT, so we decided to use Autry against USM, UK, Auburn, and A&M. Or alternatively USM is better than two of those four and we are giving up on A&M too.

Or maybe the coaches are just playing "not to lose", and are just worried about maximizing their chances of winning 8 games, which means split Autry and Gay up the best they can between USM, KSU, UT, UK, Ark, and UM, and say to hell with Auburn, A&M, LSU, and Bama. Now that I think about it, that would probably be the smartest career move for them. If they get 8 wins but don't compete in 4 games, that will look bad, but they will have the suspensions as the excuse. People may be upset about not competing and not holding players for the A&M and/or Auburn game, but their seat won't get any hotter and will in fact 8 wins will probably give them additional credibility. If they hold back against one of the remaining 7 should win games and we get upset, and then still lose all 4 "should lose" games, then fans will be furious that they lost a winnable game because they were holding players for a game that we weren't likely to win regardless.

Yup, the more I think about it, the more likely this seems. Can't really blame them either but that is going to be a major downer if we don't have Autry and Gay against at least one of A&M or Auburn.
 

philduckworth

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Feb 20, 2015
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You can't do it that way. It's not like a redshirt. You have to declare the player either suspended or not suspended before the game starts. I don't know what to think. The OP sure acts like he knows what he's talking about, but it makes no sense at all to me for him to play against USM under any circumstances if he's facing an 8-game suspension this season.

Moorhead punted on 4th and a literal inch in the BOWL GAME against Iowa with only 4 minutes left and just ONE timeout. Point being, sometimes smart people make dumb decisions.
 

Jeffreauxdawg

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Dec 15, 2017
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Unless your major is interdisciplinary studies and you had a free elective.

You might think, but I somehow didn't take English Comp 2 until my graduating semester. Maybe he felt the same way about stoichiometry as I did about writing a 10 page paper on my interpretation of a Richard Wright short story....
 

Rupert Jenkins

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I hate to but I have to agree with " digging out you wife" but none of us know who is suspended. Not of us know everything and none of us are privy to what the actual coaches know. Some decisions are gambles and educated guesses. I have confidence they are choosing correctly. I'm guessing since he is a graduate he is not suspended but as I said....I have no idea.
 

philduckworth

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Feb 20, 2015
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I hate to but I have to agree with " digging out you wife" but none of us know who is suspended. Not of us know everything and none of us are privy to what the actual coaches know. Some decisions are gambles and educated guesses. I have confidence they are choosing correctly. I'm guessing since he is a graduate he is not suspended but as I said....I have no idea.

Everyone pretty much knows the 10 players suspended. That wasn't even the point of this thread though. The point was assuming Autry is one of the 10, and since he has already played 1 game. What other 3 should he play in?
 

Rupert Jenkins

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But if we are assuming that he is suspended for tutorgate I would say A&M, Auburn and Ole Miss would be my choices if I assumed he could only play in 3 more games.
 

Joe Schmedlap

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Aug 11, 2010
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Its so 17'n stupid not to just release the names of the dipshits that cheated and not only damaged their own careers, but also the 2019 season of their team mates. Just tell us who they are and be done with it. Pass the Tylenol!!!
 

Rupert Jenkins

All-Conference
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I wish we knew also. It would be so much easier to be an armchair coach and second guess everything they do. And I'm sure this will be ridiculed but if I had 4 games to play my best players I would choose Auburn, A&M, Ole Miss and not sure about the fourth team. Tbh I wouldnt worry about LSU or Bama. I would try to win every other game on our schedule. I know, I know....but we aren't gonna run the table people
 

Nunya.sixpack

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Jun 10, 2019
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I wish we knew also. It would be so much easier to be an armchair coach and second guess everything they do. And I'm sure this will be ridiculed but if I had 4 games to play my best players I would choose Auburn, A&M, Ole Miss and not sure about the fourth team. Tbh I wouldnt worry about LSU or Bama. I would try to win every other game on our schedule. I know, I know....but we aren't gonna run the table people

Bingo
 

Crazy Cotton

All-Conference
Aug 26, 2012
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If he needed that class to graduate, and he was failed for cheating, then that diploma (and with it his entry to gradschool) would absolutely be revoked. I've done it more than once to a student when I had positive proof, after the fact (and after the student had walked in graduation), that the student cheated. There was a case at UTK I am familiar with where the student received the PhD and got a good professorship. Come to find out the dissertation contained data collected by the adviser. Ph.D. was revoked by UTK about a year later, after the investigation, resulting in loss of job for the person, and to add insult to injury, the Feds dropped in to demand repayment for the NIH grant the student has used to fund his research. Career ending dipshittery and a big bill for good measure.

In this case, however, cheating on an assignment doesn't necessarily mean that the student has failed the course. They might have received a zero for the assignment but still passed the course, or the course might not have been required for completion of the degree.
 
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