- WOW! I realize Miss St isn't all that this season... but 35-0 and Game, Set, Match at halftime is impressive against a team that's had our number!! This reminded me of Sly Croom vs Cadillac Williams. I'm just going to enjoy it. We have some games coming up very soon which will tell us if Saturday's results had more to do with AU's capabilities or MSU's deficiencies. I'm not too worried about trying to decode that right now since the season will tell the tale.
- Miss St did beat South Carolina* fairly handily and had a chance to beat LSU at the end, so they have some capabilities. *Yes, I realize S Caro is handicapped as they're now 1 year into their search for a Head Coach.
- We're improving and that's obviously a good thing. We need Kerryon back asap, but this was our best overall performance since we whipped LSU almost exactly 2 years ago.
- To keep it in perspective, though.... we went 3-5 in 2014 following that 41-7 victory over LSU. So we might have a hot hand right now, but could fairly easily lose 4 of the final 6.
- Kerryon Johnson, Deshaun Davis, Nick Ruffin were the main injuries that I noticed. Deshaun tried to play through his but wasn't 100% and snaps were limited. But hopefully these two weeks will change that. Nick was hurt on the Hail Mary to end the first half and didn't return. We'll need all 3 for Arky.
2nd Half
- Ehh... it was extremely boring but wasn't as bad as it initially looked (only 4 possessions for each team). We were up 35 with our best RB on the shelf and playing an offense that couldn't move the ball.
- The offensive plan was narrowed down to running Pettway til 3rd down then throw it. I understand you don't want to implement the Curley Hallman Plan up 35-0 so White really had no job. I thought we might have some speed sweeps since the entire defense knew #36 was getting the ball. That didn't occur until the final drive and we basically bled-out the entire 4th quarter.
- The defense did not put in their typical package on 3rd-n-passing (#55, #1, #3, #4) and some drives were lengthened as Steele & Co gave some other guys a chance in high-leverage situations. For instance, a Cowart or Don Russell stayed on the field on 3rd-n-longs. You won't see that in close games the remainder of the year, but you can experiment with it up 35-0 or 35-7.
Offense
- Who would've predicted 35-0 at Half knowing these two things: 1) Turnover right from the jump when our WR basically gifts it into the DB's hands. 2) Kerryon is hurt after 3 carries and doesn't return?
- The sequencing/variety of the play-calling was definitely the best all year... and maybe well longer than that. We really took advantage of what SW does best and his 1st half throws were the daggers that followed KP's kidney shots. It was fun to watch!!
- Sean White was on fire. He had some good passing games last year but this was probably his best. He hit those 40-yard passes last season so I'm not too worried about the deep ball. It should improve in time with this relatively new receiving corps.
- Kam Pettway did yeoman's work. RB depth is obviously not a strength, but Pettway did about as well as could be expected. I think he had 21 carries in the first 18 minutes?? Something crazy like that. He obviously has some limitations as a true RB but he punishes defenses, falls forward, and seems to get at least 3 yards on most every carry. Fantastic effort!!
- This OL Unit looks much better! It'll be interesting to see them progress but they blew MSU off the line... Kyle Davis is still good at football - he, Ryan Davis, Darius Slayton, Tony Stevens are becoming a decent foursome and the future of the WR unit looks very bright!
Defense
- Carl Lawson & Marlon Davidson went crazy. Those 2 OTs for MSU were just way over-matched. Marlon hasn't stopped running since his first snap of the Clemson game.
- Tre Williams played very well with the increase in snaps due to DD's nagging injury. He played most every snap which is rare at LB. But his running mate was hurt and there's a bit of a drop off after Darrell Williams.
- Javaris Davis played a really good game and we were able to have a true 3-man rotation at CB which I'm sure was a result of Carlton Davis being somewhat hobbled. Carlton was able to sit for a couple series... which is something we likely won't see vs Arky/OM/UGA/Bama.
- Markell Boston continued his role as the Dime back when we went to 6 DBs.... Daniel Thomas once again got a little run in the 1st-and-2nd half at Nickel to spell Rudy. Crime Dog must really like him.
Arkansas Game
- Next week when I post the Mid-Season Snaps. No since in posting thoughts when they still have a game this weekend and also have an opportunity to forfeit vs us.
WAR EAGLE!!!
Total Plays: 70 (55 in Nickel... 14 in Dime... 1 in 4-3) Miss St scored one of their two TDs vs our lone 4-3 snap. That was kinda funny... maybe we'll scrap it.
DT
M. Adams - 34
D. Russell - 30
An. Williams - 26
D. Brown - 24
M. Swain - 12
D. Lawrence - 6
DE
M. Davidson - 47
C. Lawson - 45
J. Holland - 33
B. Cowart - 23
LB
Tr. Williams - 59
D. Williams - 38
D. Davis - 13 (banged-up)
TJ Neal - 9
Mon. Atkinson - 8
CB
C. Davis - 55
J. Davis - 45
J. Holsey - 40
S
Tr. Matthews - 67
R. Ford - 65
St. Roberts - 49
N. Ruffin - 23 (injured end of 1st half)
M. Boston - 14
D. Thomas - 5
- Miss St did beat South Carolina* fairly handily and had a chance to beat LSU at the end, so they have some capabilities. *Yes, I realize S Caro is handicapped as they're now 1 year into their search for a Head Coach.
- We're improving and that's obviously a good thing. We need Kerryon back asap, but this was our best overall performance since we whipped LSU almost exactly 2 years ago.
- To keep it in perspective, though.... we went 3-5 in 2014 following that 41-7 victory over LSU. So we might have a hot hand right now, but could fairly easily lose 4 of the final 6.
- Kerryon Johnson, Deshaun Davis, Nick Ruffin were the main injuries that I noticed. Deshaun tried to play through his but wasn't 100% and snaps were limited. But hopefully these two weeks will change that. Nick was hurt on the Hail Mary to end the first half and didn't return. We'll need all 3 for Arky.
2nd Half
- Ehh... it was extremely boring but wasn't as bad as it initially looked (only 4 possessions for each team). We were up 35 with our best RB on the shelf and playing an offense that couldn't move the ball.
- The offensive plan was narrowed down to running Pettway til 3rd down then throw it. I understand you don't want to implement the Curley Hallman Plan up 35-0 so White really had no job. I thought we might have some speed sweeps since the entire defense knew #36 was getting the ball. That didn't occur until the final drive and we basically bled-out the entire 4th quarter.
- The defense did not put in their typical package on 3rd-n-passing (#55, #1, #3, #4) and some drives were lengthened as Steele & Co gave some other guys a chance in high-leverage situations. For instance, a Cowart or Don Russell stayed on the field on 3rd-n-longs. You won't see that in close games the remainder of the year, but you can experiment with it up 35-0 or 35-7.
Offense
- Who would've predicted 35-0 at Half knowing these two things: 1) Turnover right from the jump when our WR basically gifts it into the DB's hands. 2) Kerryon is hurt after 3 carries and doesn't return?
- The sequencing/variety of the play-calling was definitely the best all year... and maybe well longer than that. We really took advantage of what SW does best and his 1st half throws were the daggers that followed KP's kidney shots. It was fun to watch!!
- Sean White was on fire. He had some good passing games last year but this was probably his best. He hit those 40-yard passes last season so I'm not too worried about the deep ball. It should improve in time with this relatively new receiving corps.
- Kam Pettway did yeoman's work. RB depth is obviously not a strength, but Pettway did about as well as could be expected. I think he had 21 carries in the first 18 minutes?? Something crazy like that. He obviously has some limitations as a true RB but he punishes defenses, falls forward, and seems to get at least 3 yards on most every carry. Fantastic effort!!
- This OL Unit looks much better! It'll be interesting to see them progress but they blew MSU off the line... Kyle Davis is still good at football - he, Ryan Davis, Darius Slayton, Tony Stevens are becoming a decent foursome and the future of the WR unit looks very bright!
Defense
- Carl Lawson & Marlon Davidson went crazy. Those 2 OTs for MSU were just way over-matched. Marlon hasn't stopped running since his first snap of the Clemson game.
- Tre Williams played very well with the increase in snaps due to DD's nagging injury. He played most every snap which is rare at LB. But his running mate was hurt and there's a bit of a drop off after Darrell Williams.
- Javaris Davis played a really good game and we were able to have a true 3-man rotation at CB which I'm sure was a result of Carlton Davis being somewhat hobbled. Carlton was able to sit for a couple series... which is something we likely won't see vs Arky/OM/UGA/Bama.
- Markell Boston continued his role as the Dime back when we went to 6 DBs.... Daniel Thomas once again got a little run in the 1st-and-2nd half at Nickel to spell Rudy. Crime Dog must really like him.
Arkansas Game
- Next week when I post the Mid-Season Snaps. No since in posting thoughts when they still have a game this weekend and also have an opportunity to forfeit vs us.
WAR EAGLE!!!
Total Plays: 70 (55 in Nickel... 14 in Dime... 1 in 4-3) Miss St scored one of their two TDs vs our lone 4-3 snap. That was kinda funny... maybe we'll scrap it.
DT
M. Adams - 34
D. Russell - 30
An. Williams - 26
D. Brown - 24
M. Swain - 12
D. Lawrence - 6
DE
M. Davidson - 47
C. Lawson - 45
J. Holland - 33
B. Cowart - 23
LB
Tr. Williams - 59
D. Williams - 38
D. Davis - 13 (banged-up)
TJ Neal - 9
Mon. Atkinson - 8
CB
C. Davis - 55
J. Davis - 45
J. Holsey - 40
S
Tr. Matthews - 67
R. Ford - 65
St. Roberts - 49
N. Ruffin - 23 (injured end of 1st half)
M. Boston - 14
D. Thomas - 5
