Where do you stand on the Air Raid now?

[BoDawg.sixpack]

Anyone actually flip flop one way or the other? We've got speed and good hands all up and down the roster. Having a spring practice under our belt going into the 2021 schedule is going to be huge, but this years' freshmen were really outstanding. I think we're going to sneak up on some people in 2021 because of how our final W/L record turned out.

 

[oxfordrebel22]

State and Ole Miss will both feel much better after 2021 because we will both get some cheap OOC wins that we forget about and win 7-8 games. Which, will be a big deal. It’s rare both MS schools win 7+ regular season games, but I think we both will in 2021. Egg Bowl will be fun.

 

[forestdepth]

I’ve flipped to the air raid camp if we can run the ball like we did today

 

[AFDawg]

Very much wait and see for me. I see reasons for optimism (freshmen, Leach's prior teams)--but also why people are frustrated or doubting.

To me this year is a preseason. If things are still sputtering 3/4 into next fall, then I'll worry.

 

[Seinfeld]

I’m fine with people feeling however they want, but I’ll mention again that we got outgained today 481 yards to 274. It was yet another piss poor offensive day masked by the fact that we won the turnover battle and buckled down on defense in the red zone.

That said, while I’m not at all convinced that Rogers will be our starting QB next year, it’s hard to not believe that the future is bright. Tulu and Walley are going to be weapons, I saw more from our RBs today than I’ve seen all year, and we’ve got another crop of offensive firepower on the way. If Sawyer is the guy we think he is, things will get better. We do need to figure something out on the O line, though. That should be priority 1

 

[57stratdawg]

I expect us to be successful on offense next year. To beat the 3-8 look, we’ve got to get efficiency from our running backs. We need precision from our QB & WR. Finally, our OL has to keep the QB clean.

I think we’ll improve in all those areas in 2021.

The improvement in the running game is likely Rogers maturing at the line of scrimmage as much as anything. He’ll continue to develop in the route combos with the WRs. OL might still be a year away though.

 

[shotgunDawg]

I’m fine with people feeling however they want, but I’ll mention again that we got outgained today 481 yards to 274. It was yet another piss poor offensive day masked by the fact that we won the turnover battle and buckled down on defense in the red zone.

That said, while I’m not at all convinced that Rogers will be our starting QB next year, it’s hard to not believe that the future is bright. Tulu and Walley are going to be weapons, I saw more from our RBs today than I’ve seen all year, and we’ve got another crop of offensive firepower on the way. If Sawyer is the guy we think he is, things will get better. We do need to figure something out on the O line, though. That should be priority 1

we didn’t have a great offensive day but many of our drives started at the 50 or so after Tulu’s returns, which surpressed total yardage along with hideous penalties by the officials that created real down and distance issues.

 

[shotgunDawg]

I expect us to be successful on offense next year. To beat the 3-8 look, we’ve got to get efficiency from our running backs. We need precision from our QB & WR. Finally, our OL has to keep the QB clean.

I think we’ll improve in all those areas in 2021.

The improvement in the running game is likely Rogers maturing at the line of scrimmage as much as anything. He’ll continue to develop in the route combos with the WRs. OL might still be a year away though.

im excited to see how much better our RBs are next year. The weight room will help Marks immensely

 

[DAWG61]

Idk we haven't seen it in its correct form yet. I'll let you know once we actually see Leach's offense work correctly for more than 1 or 2 drives a game.

 

[was21]

yawn..basketball on grass or turf

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

I don’t think it will work against well coached SEC defenses.... also, there is no tempo to it.

 

[Willowdawg]

To me and it's already been mentioned is O line play. Its become very obvious that that is what needs the most improvement for the air raid to be successful. I also think Will has the work ethic to make a tremendous stride and be much better next year especially if o line play is better. I think Sawyer will have to be far better than Will for him to start next year. I don't think Leach will want to start another true frosh unless Will lays a huge egg like Costello. It would be nice to red shirt Sawyer. The fact he's coming in will have Will working hard all off-season.

 

[PineGroveBully]

I don’t know whether it will or not, but to me it’s now Opposite Day whenever I read one of your posts.

 

[ckDOG]

No spring. New system. True freshmen. 10 sec games.

Anyone actually flip flop one way or the other? We've got speed and good hands all up and down the roster. Having a spring practice under our belt going into the 2021 schedule is going to be huge, but this years' freshmen were really outstanding. I think we're going to sneak up on some people in 2021 because of how our final W/L record turned out.

In context, it was bumpy, but pretty much par for the course relative to Yr 1 at prior Leach tenures. Some good, great, and butt ugly. With all the young talent and hopefully a full spring to iron out kinks, I'm optimistic. Really would like to see Leach figure out some simple ways to get some cheap run yards off sagging defenses. Leach is smart enough to scheme up some wrinkles. But he also is stubborn enough not to. Guess we'll see.

 

[DAWG61]

The Air Raid works vs any defense when performed correctly. No 11 man defense on the planet can cover all the space on a football field in 3-5 second intervals. The real questions are can Leach recruit the right players to run it correctly and can he himself adjust when his idea of it isn't being shown on the field.

 

[Todd4State]

The same as before. I think it will work and we will get better as we add players to what we have right now. Our guys that are freshmen and sophomores are going to grow up a lot and just get better. Really that goes for both sides of the ball. We need to develop a little more of a deep passing game and I think that will come in time. I'd like to see Will scramble more too. Really the key is the offensive line developing though.

 

[coach66]

We need better receivers with more speed and

Possibly a bigger arm at QB to stretch the field and some better OL to give us the time needed but things are improving. If we will continue to run the ball it will be successful.

 

[Ranchdawg]

Still firmly behind the air raid. Once Leach has the players on the same page things will click. I do wish KJ would have worked out. Attacking a zone was not his forte. Sadly, he won't be going to the NFL unless he stays another year and wins the starting job back.

I'm really looking forward to the Arnett defense next year. We've always gotten quality players and done well there by I believe Anett is an exceptional coach.

 

[messageboardsuperhero]

We averaged 21.4 PPG this year. 2012 WSU and 2000 TTU averaged 20.4 and 25.4 PPG, respectively. That was with those teams having full springs, offseason workouts, fall camps, and not playing all-conference schedules.

Leach has NEVER had a “good” offense in year one at any stop. Even in 2000 when this offense was brand new and defenses didn’t know what to make of it yet, TTU was still below average in scoring nationally.

With that said, any year 2 and beyond Leach has ever coached in any stop, his offense has been at least solid. Most have been really good and several have been elite. We have 19 seasons of P5 head coaching data on Leach at three different schools now, and the conclusion pretty much writes itself. His offense is not good in any of the three first seasons- BUT, in each of the other 16 seasons he averaged between 30-40+ PPG.

You’re already seeing us take some of the steps. Games 2-6, we averaged 10.8 PPG. In the last five games, we averaged 27.4 PPG. There are some non-offensive scores in both sample sizes, but we are obviously in much better shape than we were in October.

We have a long way still to go, and we are far from good offensively right now. But history says this was a normal year 1 for Leach and we will get there.

 

[messageboardsuperhero]

And FWIW, I don’t think the main issue is us needing to get “more talented” on offense. I see a lot of comments like that and kind of disagree. Maybe in some spots we need to get the right kind of talent, for example some more OL with quick feet and more athletic at WR. Overall our offensive talent is not as bad as it looked for a lot of this year, IMO.

But the biggest thing we need to do to improve offensively is get reps. A full offseason of workouts, spring practices, summer throwing sessions, etc. is what we need more than anything.

It’ll also help when these freshmen get in the weight room and become sophomores...

 

[msstate7]

we didn’t have a great offensive day but many of our drives started at the 50 or so after Tulu’s returns, which surpressed total yardage along with hideous penalties by the officials that created real down and distance issues.

State: 10 possessions (threw out last one, recovered onside), avg starting possession was at state 32.5

Tulsa: 11 possessions, avg starting possession was at Tulsa 32.6

 

[Ranchdawg]

Well stated, I don't think Leach believes it is a talent issue either. It is a major shift in game plan. Not many of our players were exposed to the air raid before this year. One of the reasons I like a passing offense is the ability to stay in games against teams with superior talent. Freeze was able to beat Alabama because of his passing offense. Of course, Saban has adapted now and has both a good passing and ground attack.

 

[fedxdog]

Yes BUT, everyone before the season was worried about our defense. They are what saved us yesterday, while the offense struggled for tempo.
Why do we run on 3rd and 3, and then pass on 4th and 3?
We seldom ran wide, just up the middle.
Play calling was more bazaar than under Croom...very frustrating.

 

[msstate7]

Yes BUT, everyone before the season was worried about our defense. They are what saved us yesterday, while the offense struggled for tempo.
Why do we run on 3rd and 3, and then pass on 4th and 3?
We seldom ran wide, just up the middle.
Play calling was more bazaar than under Croom...very frustrating.

Defense definitely won that game. Pick 6 and the outstanding red zone defense. We gave up too many yards, but we clamped down in the red zone.

 

[paindonthurt_]

This is the correct answer.

Patience.

 

[Ralph Cramden]

I don't know how you can't feel really good about this team. We all know the air raid is a precision offense. Repetition is what its all about. These freshmen are all gonna make huge strides this off season. A year ago most of these guys were playing high school ball. Next year is gonna be exciting and I think by 22 or 23 we will be challenging Bama. Pump that sunshine

 

[garddog]

Biggest thing is we need more OL built like Cross. Quicker feet and better twist. The wider splits require agility and when you have that you can create more spacing and the outside rush has farther to travel. It also creates better leverage angles for redirecting the pass rushers.

I played in a system that used wide splits and we gave up very few sacks. I coached with a coach that loved tight splits and they worked great for smash mouth up the gut running. But the two require different OL types. Square peg round hole.

 

[missouridawg]

I see a lot of folks thinking we are going to get a normal spring practice this year. Is that going to happen? We’re still 4-6 months away from the vaccine getting into the majority of Americans, right?

 

[o_1984Dawg]

Whatever we get will be a lot closer to normal than 2020.

 

[#ShowOff]

Total Yards

Game 1:
Miss. State - 632 yds (76 offensive plays)
LSU - 425 yds (84 offensive plays)

Game 2:
Miss. State - 400 yds (84 offensive plays)
Arkansas - 275 yds (65 offensive plays)

Game 3:
Miss. State - 295 yds (84 offensive plays)
Kentucky - 157 yds (53 offensive plays)

Game 4:
Miss. State - 217 yds (60 offensive plays)
TX A&M - 325 yds (57 offensive plays)

Game 5:
Miss. State - 200 yds (63 offensive plays)
Alabama - 499 yds (73 offensive plays)

Game 6:
Miss. State - 204 yds (57 offensive plays)
Vanderbilt - 478 yds (82 offensive plays)

Game 7:
Miss. State - 358 yds (66 offensive plays)
Georgia - 409 yds (61 offensive plays)

Game 8:
Miss. State - 479 yds (78 offensive plays)
Ole Miss - 550 yds (82 offensive plays)

Game 9:
Miss. State - 240 yds (67 offensive plays)
Auburn - 343 yds (68 offensive plays)

Game 10:
Miss. State - 446 yds (66 offensive plays)
Missouri - 342 yds (69 offensive plays

Armed Forces Bowl:
Miss. State - 271 yds (60 offensive plays)
Tulsa - 484 yds (86 offensive plays)


Total Season Offense:
Miss. State - 3,742 yds (761 offensive plays)
Opponents - 4,287 yds (780 offensive plays)

Avg. Yds Per Play
Miss. State - 4.9
Opponent - 5.5

Avg. Per Game
Miss. State - 340.2 yds
Opponents - 389.7 yds

Some strange stats and games this season. And some were against historically bad teams and bad defenses (i.e. Vandy & Ole Miss).

The Kentucky/Vandy/Bowl game really stand out. Here's hoping to better OL play and a little more running in 2021.

Happy New Year.

 

[The Peeper]

We've got to find a center and 2 tackles that don't look like matadors letting bulls rush right past them and find an other alternative play on 3rd and 5 besides throwing to the safety valve for a gain of 2.

 

[messageboardsuperhero]

Total Yards

Game 1:
Miss. State - 632 yds (76 offensive plays)
LSU - 425 yds (84 offensive plays)

Game 2:
Miss. State - 400 yds (84 offensive plays)
Arkansas - 275 yds (65 offensive plays)

Game 3:
Miss. State - 295 yds (84 offensive plays)
Kentucky - 157 yds (53 offensive plays)

Game 4:
Miss. State - 217 yds (60 offensive plays)
TX A&M - 325 yds (57 offensive plays)

Game 5:
Miss. State - 200 yds (63 offensive plays)
Alabama - 499 yds (73 offensive plays)

Game 6:
Miss. State - 204 yds (57 offensive plays)
Vanderbilt - 478 yds (82 offensive plays)

Game 7:
Miss. State - 358 yds (66 offensive plays)
Georgia - 409 yds (61 offensive plays)

Game 8:
Miss. State - 479 yds (78 offensive plays)
Ole Miss - 550 yds (82 offensive plays)

Game 9:
Miss. State - 240 yds (67 offensive plays)
Auburn - 343 yds (68 offensive plays)

Game 10:
Miss. State - 446 yds (66 offensive plays)
Missouri - 342 yds (69 offensive plays

Armed Forces Bowl:
Miss. State - 271 yds (60 offensive plays)
Tulsa - 484 yds (86 offensive plays)


Total Season Offense:
Miss. State - 3,742 yds (761 offensive plays)
Opponents - 4,287 yds (780 offensive plays)

Avg. Yds Per Play
Miss. State - 4.9
Opponent - 5.5

Avg. Per Game
Miss. State - 340.2 yds
Opponents - 389.7 yds

Some strange stats and games this season. And some were against historically bad teams and bad defenses (i.e. Vandy & Ole Miss).

The Kentucky/Vandy/Bowl game really stand out. Here's hoping to better OL play and a little more running in 2021.

Happy New Year.

Kentucky was a **** show. We did not play well offensively against Tulsa yesterday, but we also didn’t turn it over and that made a big difference.

The Vandy game can’t really be held against the offense IMO. It was the first start for a lot of our freshmen, and we were down our entire two deep at OT. We had to start Eiland at LT and a guy who now plays DE (Cunningham) at RT.

 

[Todd4State]

And FWIW, I don’t think the main issue is us needing to get “more talented” on offense. I see a lot of comments like that and kind of disagree. Maybe in some spots we need to get the right kind of talent, for example some more OL with quick feet and more athletic at WR. Overall our offensive talent is not as bad as it looked for a lot of this year, IMO.

But the biggest thing we need to do to improve offensively is get reps. A full offseason of workouts, spring practices, summer throwing sessions, etc. is what we need more than anything.

It’ll also help when these freshmen get in the weight room and become sophomores...

When I say add talent I don't mean our current players are bad. I mean add to what we have in addition to our core.

 

[Todd4State]

I see a lot of folks thinking we are going to get a normal spring practice this year. Is that going to happen? We’re still 4-6 months away from the vaccine getting into the majority of Americans, right?

How is spring practice going to be different than practice during the regular season?