High expectation has certainly played a factor for fans

[Oak23]

The expectation has been a real challenge for Jo as well as fans to get past. I’m not trying to make excuses for the losses at all by saying that. Obviously the fans expected more wins due to the roster and perceived upward trend prior to Jo’s arrival. Moreover, any other year, minus a few, most fans would be happy today with this season as a whole - period. Has there ever been more expected from a first year coach in recent state history? No, because there has never been a sitting coach to leave the team this way- in the apparent upward trajectory at the time of his departure. I mean, For as long as I can remember, previous coaches would leave due to being fired/resigning as a result of consecutive losing seasons . Oh, Possibility of Dan doing sometype of a PR reverse sandbagging? IMO unlikely. The parts are the parts- the talent is the talent.
Question: Does anyone know How long it took Mullen to beat 2 ranked teams? I’m not sure.

 

[Drebin]

Joe is as guilty of the high expectations as anyone. In fact, he is responsible for setting them.

At the end of the year, we will have zero wins against ranked teams unless we beat bama.

 

[Upyurs]

I'll bet AM is ranked at end if year. Wanna guess how many top 25 we beat in 2014? 1..Auburn at 22

 

[Dawgzilla]

High expectations are the main cause of the vitriol on this board and among a large part of the fan base....I don't know how many posts are on this board about JoMo "wasting" this season when it should have been truly special, or whatever. But its not just the losses; it is the way the offense has been totally inept in those losses. Maybe the performance at LSU can be excused, but having 2 games with no TDs, and another game with just the 1 TD -- along with barely 200 yards of offense in those games -- is justifiably alarming. I don't care that its a new coaching staff, when you have an "offensive genius" at the helm and a slate of returning starters, you should be able to put together a reasonably competent offense.

I don't have any problem with finishing the season 8-4. But if my expectations for the Alabama game are correct, then we are going to have 4 losses in which we scored in the single digits while our defense performed admirably. That does not leave me with a real positive outlook for the future.

And I am one of Moorhead's biggest supporters on this board.

 

[MaroonOldCrow]

...it is the way the offense has been totally inept in those losses. Maybe the performance at LSU can be excused, but having 2 games with no TDs, and another game with just the 1 TD -- along with barely 200 yards of offense in those games -- is justifiably alarming. I don't care that its a new coaching staff, when you have an "offensive genius" at the helm and a slate of returning starters, you should be able to put together a reasonably competent offense.

This. I'm less concerned about the losses themselves than the manner in which the games were lost. There's no excuse for the offense to be out there looking like the Eleven Stooges.

 

[Hump4Hoops]

Our schedule this year has been such a roller coaster of rankings.

2 teams propelled themselves into the top 15 by beating us, and we knocked 2 others out of the top 15ish. Then there's LSU. Makes our defense look even more dominant when you factor in the level of competition.

 

[vandaldawg]

I hear what you are saying, and I’m not trying to bag on you, but I do hate that idea that says they aren’t ranked after you play them, so you didn’t beat a ranked team. It’s horse ****. They were ranked. You beat them. You beat a ranked team. To suggest otherwise devalues what you did, and frankly perpetuates the outside perception that if MSU beat them, then I guess they weren’t that good. Maybe they were that good, maybe we were just better.

 

[thatsbaseball]

If you're a State fan and did not have high expectations for this team, you either have NO knowledge about football or you are just "that guy".

 

[JoMo MoJo]

This. I'm less concerned about the losses themselves than the manner in which the games were lost. There's no excuse for the offense to be out there looking like the Eleven Stooges.

Don’t forget the horrible discipline this team showed in the first few games too. That definitely is Mohead’s fault. And letting Bennie 17’ing Snell derail them before the game even started in Lexington. This team was not adequately prepared for a game until Auburn.

 

[maroonmania]

The expectation has been a real challenge for Jo as well as fans to get past. I’m not trying to make excuses for the losses at all by saying that. Obviously the fans expected more wins due to the roster and perceived upward trend prior to Jo’s arrival. Moreover, any other year, minus a few, most fans would be happy today with this season as a whole - period. Has there ever been more expected from a first year coach in recent state history? No, because there has never been a sitting coach to leave the team this way- in the apparent upward trajectory at the time of his departure. I mean, For as long as I can remember, previous coaches would leave due to being fired/resigning as a result of consecutive losing seasons . Oh, Possibility of Dan doing sometype of a PR reverse sandbagging? IMO unlikely. The parts are the parts- the talent is the talent.
Question: Does anyone know How long it took Mullen to beat 2 ranked teams? I’m not sure.

What fans expected was a MUCH better offense than what has been put on the field for most of the season. Hopefully this past weekend's game was a turnaround to having an acceptable passing game and overall offense. But scoring 7, 6 and 3 points in 3 of your first 4 SEC games with good talent on hand and the best defense in the SEC is reason for harsh criticism. Its great being 5-3 but this team should absolutely be no worse than 7-1.

 

[CookieMonster.sixpack]

We’ve played 8 games and we have had the better team in all 8 (when if ever has that happened at MSU?) That we are 5-3 is a travesty. We ought to be 8-0, 7-1 at worst, and playing Bama for the West in 2 weeks. That’s the talent of this roster. April will bear that out. If you aren’t disappointed in this season you clearly haven’t been following State long enough.

 

[NWADog]

In our 3 losses I think there were a few key things that have caused us to struggle this season. An insane amount of penalties vs Kentucky + rain. Huge dropped pass for a touchdown along with other drops in that game. LSU had 4 interceptions. In everyone one of those losses we also were constantly losing the field position battle. With crappy punting that’s a terrible recipe.

In those losses playing behind the chains because of penalties or dropped passes caused us to play in a style that no one wants to play in.

You cant win games when you play behind the chains and have to get in 3rd and long all night. Some of those first and second down plays have been questionable but we are where we are because of inconsistency and some very inopportune penalties and drops by receivers.

Controlled the game vs Auburn and rarely had a 3rd and long... we won handily. Fitz passes for like 188 yards or something on 3rd down alone vs A&M and we win by 2 touchdowns.

Execution and consistency has been an issue but we are really so close

 

[kired]

I could feel this before the year even started - a lot of people guessing 10 wins at a minimum. Even though I wanted to believe 10-2 was possible, I lowered my expectations to 9-3 because I figured we'd lose one just based on being a completely new staff.

Our offense looked terrible the first 4 SEC games --- but I think that Kentucky loss just took everyone by complete surprise and really screwed with our heads. Now Kentucky is an overtime loss on the road at A&M away from being 8-0, 6-0 in the SEC. Their defense is sitting right there with us, Bama, and Georgia as clearly the best 4 in the SEC. Their players & fans were incredibly hyped for that game after finally getting over the hump against Florida. In hindsight, that was likely the 3rd toughest game on our schedule other than Bama and LSU --- maybe the toughest test for our offense all season. That's one of those losses I can easily see causing the players to lose confidence in themselves and the coaching staff.

 

[Seinfeld]

Perfectly stated. An 8-4 record and a trip to the Outback bowl may drive disappointment, but they’re not what’s driving my distaste for Moorhead.

I’ll say this again... You cannot enter a job with a label of “offensive guru” and proceed to completely decimate a team’s offense through the first half of a season. You also cannot blame your QB’s grasp of the scheme when you have two separate 4-star QBs sitting on the bench and while you refuse to utilize the most dynamic threats on your entire roster. In short, you just can’t completely suck at your one calling card

Moorhead deserves a shot with a kid like Shrader, and time will tell as to how that gonna work out. He’s dug a big hole, though, and it isn’t going to be because of an 8-4 finish

 

[Phil Wenneck.sixpack]

I'm as disappointed as anyone but this roster thing is a tad bit overblown.

Defense is loaded but offensively who can you say has a shot at the NFL in this draft? Yes the roster is loaded in number of draftable players but literally everyone of them is on defense. That's not making excuses for offensive issues but it's a lopsided difference in roster talent. It's not like we are loaded across the board.

 

[fishwater99]

We’ve played 8 games and we have had the better team in all 8 (when if ever has that happened at MSU?) That we are 5-3 is a travesty. We ought to be 8-0, 7-1 at worst, and playing Bama for the West in 2 weeks. That’s the talent of this roster. April will bear that out. If you aren’t disappointed in this season you clearly haven’t been following State long enough.

^^^^
THIS

 

[CookieMonster.sixpack]

We were loaded enough on offense

Defense is loaded but offensively who can you say has a shot at the NFL in this draft? Yes the roster is loaded in number of draftable players but literally everyone of them is on defense. That's not making excuses for offensive issues but it's a lopsided difference in roster talent. It's not like we are loaded across the board.

to score 82 points combined against UK & LSU last year. Those three teams (UK, MSU & LSU) are virtually identical in roster composition. And yet we combined for 10 points this year. It's not like Moorhead had to be a genius, though he certainly sold himself as one. If we are just mediocre on offense. Just mediocre. We win at least LSU & UF games. Quite probably we win UK too.

This isn't the NFL where you can start slow and finish strong. There's also not a draft to give bad teams better players. With our circumstances as as a program, we get a shot every decade or so to be special. This was that shot.

Beating an A&M team we were favored against doesn't change the fact that the shot was blown.

 

[Seinfeld]

I’m hoping for the same, and I’m sure folks are gonna get pissy about this, but I’m skeptical that Saturday night really changed anything. Here are our four scoring plays:

1. 3rd and 12 conversion to Guidry for a nice 25 yd TD catch. This was after converting three 3rd and longs with one being Mitchell’s crazy catch

2. 3rd and 11 conversion to Mitchell for a great 38 yd TD catch

3. 3rd and 21 conversion to a wide open Guidry for an 84 yd TD

4. 76 yd TD run by Fitz

Saturday night was outstanding, and I’m not trying to take away from that, but it’s hard for me to see how we can consistently win games doing what we did this past weekend. We converted several very low percentage plays, and without those 4 plays, we’re suddenly back to same ol’ same ol’