A Nightmare In Death Valley
by C.G. Mosley on Sep 19, 2010 2:21 PM EDT
Email
Print
In a way it was fitting that the Mississippi State Bulldogs decided to wear black uniforms last night in yet another disappointing performance against the LSU Tigers. As I watched the Tigers slaughter our beloved Bulldog offense, I truly felt as if I were attending a funeral. Having said that, I hope MSU burns the black uniforms and never considers adorning them again until we have earned the right to do so. Obviously, there is still quite a bit of work to do on offense.
On a positive note, the defense played their guts out. They kept LSU's kicker, Josh Jasper, very busy and before the night was over he broke the school record with five field goals. Going into halftime the Bulldogs trailed 12-0 but the defense allowed no touchdowns during the first half.
Shortly after the third quarter began, it appeared that the Bulldog offense had finally woken up when Tyler Russell led them down the field for a touchdown. That made the game 12-7. Then everything fell apart. By the time the game finally ended the Bulldogs had turned the ball over five times. Five times!!! The end result was a painful and frustrating 29-7 win for the Tigers.
Next up is Georgia (the other Bulldogs). They're coming into Starkville fresh off a loss to Arkansas and they're going to be just as hungry as MSU is for another win. They, like MSU, have a record of 1-2 and both of their losses have also been to SEC opponents. Since Mark Richt has been the coach there the Georgia Bulldogs have never been 0-2 in SEC competition. They will be ready when they arrive at Davis Wade next Saturday. MSU better be too or its going to be a long, long season.
3 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Here’s what I take from this game. First of all, there is something wrong with our special teams. We couldn’t get LSU inside their 40(or on their side of the field, for that matter) and we couldn’t start outside of our 20. We lost the field position battle so badly that we actually out-gained them in yards from scrimmage. Special teams weren’t much better against Auburn and were even shaky against Memphis. I’m no analyst so I’m not going to speculate as to what the problem is, but it needs to be addressed.
Second, it is my opinion that the best adjustment Coach Mullen could make offensively is to put his confidence in Tyler Russell as the starting QB. I realize this may be backup QB syndrome on my part, but I tend not to think so since Russell actually threw the majority of the picks on Saturday. It’s becoming obvious that while Relf’s passing has improved on the practice field, it hasn’t gotten much better when he’s in games under pressure. On both of Relf’s picks, he basically just put the ball up for grabs into three and four man coverage. On the other hand, out of Russell’s three; one, arguably two of them weren’t directly his fault. On top of that, the psychological factor of Russell trying to prove himself and make things that aren’t there happen might be occurring. He might be a little more composed if he were given the job, instead of trying to win it while the rest of the team is trying to win the game. Additionally, Russell showed us he can actually run in this game, and while Relf is obviously the far superior runner, it might shift the balance enough to warrant the change.
I tend to agree
especially what you stated about special teams…it sure hasn’t gotten any better as we just completed the third week. I’ve still got mixed emotions on the quarterback situation. I’m leaning more toward Russell, but I’m scared my frustration is clouding my judgement. I’m gonna trust the coaching staff to make the right changes if they’re necessary. Whatever they do, let’s hope the Bulldogs are better prepared when they face a really hungry Georgia team this Saturday.
by C.G. Mosley on Sep 19, 2010 10:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Punters can be streaky, so I’m not ready to throw that part of the special teams under the bus just yet. That being said, the return game is a train-wreck. It all starts with the receiver making poor decisions. It’s as though Bumphis et. al. are oblivious to their position on the field. The keep fair catching inside the 10 or worse, running it out of the end zone. When the offense is struggling as bad as it has been, don’t hamper them further by putting the goal posts in their back.
Relf’s execution was painful to watch. LSU’s defense wasn’t setting the world on fire in the first half, but his lack of touch AND arm strength was readily apparent. And the thf24 is right, he just threw up to jump balls costing the Dawgs a possible 3 points on one and handing LSU stellar field position on the other.
Bottom line is that the loss to Auburn likely killed any chance of a .500-ish season and a bowl appearance. I’m starting wonder if the team doesn’t believe this as well, especially the offense because there hasn’t been any fire or inspiration on that side of the ball. At least Manny’s boys are still flying around.
If we don't get our sauce, we ain't watching the game!
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
