1. It was ugly, ugly, ugly. But we still won pretty comfortably on the road against an improved USM team. As bad as we looked most of the night, there was never really a point where I thought we might actually lose the game.
2. I agree with most on here that the defense was pretty bad. But they only gave up 16 points despite being put in bad positions repeatedly by both the offense and special teams. Lots of bending (too much), but no breaking from the defense last night.
3. I thought the 3 miscues in the 1st quarter completely changed the game (Shump's fumble, Ross's muffed punt, and letting them recover the onsides kickoff) completely changed the game. We should have been up 7-0 and getting the ball in good field position. Instead, after Shump's fumble, our offense doesn't snap the ball for 21 plays and over 9 minutes have elapsed (closer to 30 minutes in real time) and we're down 10-7.
4. Mullen tried to play this game like a spring game. Run-pass balance was way too skewed to the pass. I understand wanting to keep Dak from taking hits, but it's a road football game against a I-A team that is sky high for the game. Run the real offense and get a lead, THEN start playing to keep Dak healthy. It worked though, so maybe I'm bitching too much.
5. I'm not ready to panic just yet. I do think we can play much better than we did last night. And we'd better, because we won't win many SEC games playing like that.
2. I agree with most on here that the defense was pretty bad. But they only gave up 16 points despite being put in bad positions repeatedly by both the offense and special teams. Lots of bending (too much), but no breaking from the defense last night.
3. I thought the 3 miscues in the 1st quarter completely changed the game (Shump's fumble, Ross's muffed punt, and letting them recover the onsides kickoff) completely changed the game. We should have been up 7-0 and getting the ball in good field position. Instead, after Shump's fumble, our offense doesn't snap the ball for 21 plays and over 9 minutes have elapsed (closer to 30 minutes in real time) and we're down 10-7.
4. Mullen tried to play this game like a spring game. Run-pass balance was way too skewed to the pass. I understand wanting to keep Dak from taking hits, but it's a road football game against a I-A team that is sky high for the game. Run the real offense and get a lead, THEN start playing to keep Dak healthy. It worked though, so maybe I'm bitching too much.
5. I'm not ready to panic just yet. I do think we can play much better than we did last night. And we'd better, because we won't win many SEC games playing like that.
