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Whew... Welp... Takeaways? Sure, I guess we can do that.
The Mississippi St. Bulldogs suffered (I MEAN SUFFERED!) a severe loss to the Auburn Tigers this past Saturday night, 56-23. I can’t come up with some extravagant reason behind the loss, but I will give you some takeaways (you might not love them).
UNPREPARED.
I know that you know this already. All that is being talked about on podcasts and sports radio is two delay-of-game penalties within the first minute of the game. Yeah, that’s ridiculous, and yes, that’s coaching. If you’re blaming someone for the loss, it has to be Moorhead, BUT you have to remember Dan Mullen had those games too. I’m not saying Moorhead is going to lead us to win 8-10 games every year, but I am saying every coach has his hiccups. Moorhead needs to learn how to prepare his team better and discipline them. You can’t win on the road in the Southeastern Conference without some momentum. Look at Kentucky against MSU a couple of weeks ago. UK has a much better chance of winning that game if their QB doesn’t throw a pick-six on the first drive. Momentum follows being prepared.
Sorry, Tommy Stevens.
Garrett Shrader needs to be the guy. It’s obvious now. Tommy Stevens can’t play without being injured. Ride the Shrader bus from here on out. Prepare for the next three years because I think we have a special kid on our hands.
Kylin Hill needs to be in space.
When Kylin Hill gets to the outside, he makes things happen. This one is on Moorhead as well. CALL PLAYS THAT GET Hill OUT OF THE MIDDLE OF THE PILE! I feel like if any coach watches film, they could see that Hill is a much better player on the corners. Many times, Hill will take it to the outside by himself, but that’s not the designed play call. Even if it’s a screen pass to him, he will manage to get seven yards. It is frustrating that Moorhead can’t see this.
The loss isn’t the problem.
It’s not that any fan expected to win this game. We, as fans, expected to lose, but only by 10 or 14 points. We did not expect disaster. This game was embarrassing. Now, we did expect to be 4-1 with a win over Kansas State, but this loss doesn’t hurt you in the long run. The thing that hurts you, in the long run, is having a coach that doesn’t change anything. There has to be change in the future, or we’ll settle for 6 and 7 wins every year.