120 Club meeting tonight in Jackson

[BriantheDawg]

Reed Stringer, the TE's coach was the speaker. He was good, very candid and very optimistic. Kind of reminded me when Ron Cooper came to speak about how good our defense was going to be under his watch. We all know how that turned out. I didn't take any notes, so I may jump around a little bit, but here's what I remember:

-Our talent is on par with UA, AU, pretty close to UT. Still need a few players to be on the same level as UGA, LSU & Florida but we're getting there.
-We have the talent and the mindset to make the SEC Championship game THIS year.
-Derek Sherrod will replace Michael Brown. Offense line should still be a major asset without him. What could've been...
-Stringer has a bet with another coach on who will be drafted higher, Derek Sherrod or K.J. Wright, he thinks that much of Wright
-Co-Eric has seen the light. He will be the go-to guy
-They are really high on O'Neal Wilder - he was out sick all Spring but they feel he's going to be a good'un. Think Antonio Hargo (the next Randy Moss)
-We will not be changing offensive philosophies anytime soon.
-Wes Carroll and Tyson Lee are both very smart with the ball. Neither has the prototypical qb size, but both are winners and they have complete confidence in both qb's. Real Deal is young, still learning. (I took that as he'll probably never see the field as a qb unless injuries make way for him)
-Our secondary could be the best in the SEC, if not the nation. He was high on all of them. Hopefully we get AJ back and make them that much stronger.
-Wade Bonner and Robert Elliott - can't catch em in a phone booth - not really, but both can take it to the house at any given time. Wade Bonner could play TE, in the secondary or at linebacker, he's that good of an athlete.
-McShank is just a head case. Eric Richards is pushing him pretty hard though. Something's got to give.

I know I'm leaving a few things out, (I'm no Bulldog Backer) but this was the jist of the meeting. For the record, I'll believe we've got the team to make the SECCG game when I see it. I did leave with a warm fuzzy feeling though. Maybe that was just the catfish and hushpuppies, but he says the negative vibes are gone and that the team practiced better than they ever had this Spring...that we got MUCH better during Spring practice. The last scrimmage before the Spring game was how he sees us being come Fall time. With Carroll and Lee at qb, they completed 70% of their throws that day and averaged 6.9 yards/play. We played A LOT of younger players in the Spring game, not to be worried that that's how we'll be this Fall. I guess time will tell.

 

[BriantheDawg]

Reed Stringer, the TE's coach was the speaker. He was good, very candid and very optimistic. Kind of reminded me when Ron Cooper came to speak about how good our defense was going to be under his watch. We all know how that turned out. I didn't take any notes, so I may jump around a little bit, but here's what I remember:

-Our talent is on par with UA, AU, pretty close to UT. Still need a few players to be on the same level as UGA, LSU & Florida but we're getting there.
-We have the talent and the mindset to make the SEC Championship game THIS year.
-Derek Sherrod will replace Michael Brown. Offense line should still be a major asset without him. What could've been...
-Stringer has a bet with another coach on who will be drafted higher, Derek Sherrod or K.J. Wright, he thinks that much of Wright
-Co-Eric has seen the light. He will be the go-to guy
-They are really high on O'Neal Wilder - he was out sick all Spring but they feel he's going to be a good'un. Think Antonio Hargo (the next Randy Moss)
-We will not be changing offensive philosophies anytime soon.
-Wes Carroll and Tyson Lee are both very smart with the ball. Neither has the prototypical qb size, but both are winners and they have complete confidence in both qb's. Real Deal is young, still learning. (I took that as he'll probably never see the field as a qb unless injuries make way for him)
-Our secondary could be the best in the SEC, if not the nation. He was high on all of them. Hopefully we get AJ back and make them that much stronger.
-Wade Bonner and Robert Elliott - can't catch em in a phone booth - not really, but both can take it to the house at any given time. Wade Bonner could play TE, in the secondary or at linebacker, he's that good of an athlete.
-McShank is just a head case. Eric Richards is pushing him pretty hard though. Something's got to give.

I know I'm leaving a few things out, (I'm no Bulldog Backer) but this was the jist of the meeting. For the record, I'll believe we've got the team to make the SECCG game when I see it. I did leave with a warm fuzzy feeling though. Maybe that was just the catfish and hushpuppies, but he says the negative vibes are gone and that the team practiced better than they ever had this Spring...that we got MUCH better during Spring practice. The last scrimmage before the Spring game was how he sees us being come Fall time. With Carroll and Lee at qb, they completed 70% of their throws that day and averaged 6.9 yards/play. We played A LOT of younger players in the Spring game, not to be worried that that's how we'll be this Fall. I guess time will tell.

 

[patdog]

-Our talent is on par with UA, AU, pretty close to UT. Still need a few players to be on the same level as UGA, LSU & Florida but we're getting there.

Our talent level is not too far behind UA and AU, pretty far behind UT, and not in the same universe with UGA, LSU and Florida.

 

[KJDog]

and bring me a couple of whores while you are at it.

 

[BriantheDawg]

AU = OM
UA = Vandy
almost UT = Arkansas

That may be more comparable.

 

[Todd4State]

I wasn't all that imrpessed with Lee on the enhanced spring scrimmage that I saw on TV. I really do like Carroll though. He has some moxie, and unlike any other QB in modern MSU history, he doesn't turn the ball over.

Our o-line will not be an asset without Brown. I'll believe that when I see it. Same with Co-Eric Riley. He did look like he maybe had turned a little bit of a corner in the LB, so I'll buy him over our o-line. O'Neal Wilder will have to show me something before I get excited about him. He has NFL size, but can he do it when the lights are on?

Elliott and Bonner didn't impress me all that much either. I thought both looked pretty raw. I'll excuse Bonner since he is really a d-back.

I'm a KJ Wright fan to.

Our secondary will NOT be the best in the SEC, but should be pretty good.

Eric Richards will probably help us more than anybody because he will likely be an upgrade at both punter and KO specialist.

Sincerely,

Burned by 2001 Spring Scrimmage.

 

[patdog]

We're clearly better than Mississippi and Vanderbilt, and without their tailbacks, I think we're at least equal to Arkansas.

 

[BriantheDawg]

I just can't get too optimistic until they show it to me again. The Mississippi State fan in me just hopes and prays that last year wasn't a fluke. I think Croom has turned the corner, but Jackie Sherrill ruined me. We could win the SEC Championship game and I'd still be afraid of going 3-9 the next year. Thanks Jackie.

 

[Todd4State]

but playing La Tech on the road to start the season worries me. This will be one of their biggest home games in their schools history.

And isn't Pegues suspended for the first game?

We are going to have to come to play. I feel better with Croom coaching this game that Jackie, because under Sherrill we would just flat out overlook a lot of these teams- and that's saying something considering Croom lost to Maine.

And speaking of Maine- does any other school have more BS losses than us? In my lifetime, I remember tieing Arkansas State, losing to Northeast Louisiana, La Tech, Troy State, Tulane twice, Maine, and UAB. Hell, I was worried when we played Gardner-Webb. </p>

 

[ArrowDawg]

mnm</p>

 

[ArrowDawg]

........when he recently suggested that MSU was just behind the top 3 or so teams in the SEC. They all really seem to believe this rhetoric, which in some ways is good because the last thing you want is for all of them to be negative/defeatist. Still though............

 

[JacksonDevilDog]

Yeah, I was at the meeting tonight. I'm 26 and everyone else there doubled my age. I had a great time though and will become a regular. I thought Stringer was good and pretty upbeat. Nothing like Jack Daniels and fried catfish. Good times.

 

[DowntownDawg]

....but not as much as I would be if we were playing them sandwiched between two SEC teams. That is the trap game scenario. Usually, you are ready to just get out there and play football in game one, regardless of who you play. It's the middle to late season games like this that will get you beat (see MTSU in 2009).

 

[blockhead168]

todd4state.... you are a damn idiot if you like Carroll if you watched the spring game this year.. He threw 2 INT's to a 10th string walk-on linebacker. He looked horrible, and if you were there you saw that Tyson Lee looked much more athletic and just a better all around quarterback than Carroll. Also, many people think that maybe since we only scored 6 points that our defense must be "that good" and not to worry too much about the offense. For people that don't know... OUR OFFENSE SCORED 6 POINTS AGAINST 4TH AND 5TH STRING WALKONS. All of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd team offense and defense were on the maroon team. What a joke..

 

[MaxwellSmart]

-We will not be changing offensive philosophies anytime soon.

Pretty much tells me what I didn't want to hear.

</p>

 

[bullysleftnut]

you are a damn idiot if you like Carroll if you watched the spring game this year.. He threw 2 INT's to a 10th string walk-on linebacker.

Carroll was 2-6 with 1 int in the spring game. As a matter of fact, he had already gone to the sidelines by the time I got in, which was about 5 minutes after it started.

You might want to modify that "damn idiot" comment.

 

[Dawg in a pile]

I'm with Todd on this one. I wasn't that impressed with Tyson Lee in the spring game either, although I wasn't really impressed by anyone in the spring game. I want Carroll out there because of the way he led the team last season. As a true freshman he led us to 8 wins. I'm not saying we won them all because of him, but he was the QB while we were winning. I'll take the results from last season over the results of the spring game.

 

[blockhead168]

Either way... he had a completion percentage of 33% and passed for 16 yards against the scrub team. Find me another starting quarterback who had worse stats in a spring game this year. I just find it unbelievable that we can only score 6 points in an overtime game against our scrubs.

 

[8dog]

on carroll off of 6 pass attempts? The guy started most of the year for us last year and you are getting tied up in 6 pass attempts? wow.

 

[bigkdawg]

Were you the guy proclaiming that henig wasn't that bad and he could "sling it" better than carroll?</p>

 

[blockhead168]

I'm not trying to stir the pot and make people freak out about what I'm saying.... I just believe we are in trouble if we think Wes Carroll is going to lead us to 8 wins again this season. I agree he didn't turn the ball over that frequently but other than the Kentucky game, he didn't do anything all year that caused me to believe that he was the reason for our success. Mike Henig is an absolute joke, so lets not even start that...

 

[dogmatic1]

[No message]

 

[bigkdawg]

I was messing about the henig stuff, but we gotta realize what carroll did last year for a true freshman was pretty promising. You have to also remember the Arkansas game where he had decent throwing game.

NO one expected him to come in and start as a true freshman, including himself. They guy is a winner and until he proves me otherwise, I'm a big fan.

And I'm not trying to defend Croom on this, but Croom does not put much emphasis on the spring game unlike he does the spring practices. I wish he would do something that would showcase some type of offense to the fans, but that isn't his style.

 

[blockhead168]

The problem with Croom showcasing some type of offense is that we don't have the ability to showcase anything. He uses the same excuse in the spring game every year.

 

[SirBarksalot]

At least thats the way it used to be....

 

[BriantheDawg]

I guess what happens at Cindy's, stays at Cindy's.

 

[4suredog]

Wes only played the first 10 plays. He was told all week that he would only play the first 10. So the whole 0-0 thing has nothing to do with Wes. I don't think AD was in the game as long as Wes. I am not saying they are gonna be a powerhouse offense but to base ANYTHING on the spring game is really kinda stupid. Its a chance for the coaches to get all the players on the roster on the feild and to see what they do against the other guy. The play itself is not nearly as important as the effort/ability of each individual and what he did on each snap. Wow, have any of you guys blasting the Spring game results ever, ever really understood the game?

 

[blockhead168]

I understand that we are probably the only team not to score in regulation against a defense made up of mostly walk-ons... does it make you feel that much better than Carroll and AD only played a short amount of time? What does that say about the rest of our team? Whatever you say doesn't diminish the fact that we didn't score a single offensive point in regulation of a spring game.... even ole miss managed to score 40

 

[4suredog]

ok, so what do you think the point of the spring game is? I think its to evaluate individual players that were redshirted last season or didn't play much that may play more this season. During the spring practice period I think they had 3 "scrimmages". Do we know the numbers from these other games? My point is that to base our entire outlook on a "game" that had very few starters playing more than few series and designed to prevent even the third string guys from injury is really foolish. I don;t see how it matters if they scored 0 or 100 it was not the starters playing and the approach from the coaches stand point was to do things so that they could eveluate individual efforts and ability not the team as a whole. It was a much less meaningful event than say a tuesday game week practice.

 

[Stormrider81]

And you know what, neither does Croom. I disagree with the way Croom handles that game. I'll even go a step further and say he is an idiot for the way he handles it. Still, we put no emphasis on scoring or looking good in that game, our coach treats it with disdain, therefore I will put no stock in anything that happens in that game. It's a glorified scrimmage that our coach could care less about.

Wes Carroll isn't the greatest QB ever, but the guy is smart, he's a leader, and generally he's protective of the ball for a player of his age. The biggest thing is he's proven he can win. Tyson Lee hasn't proven anything except that he can put up good numbers in practice. So did Michael Spurlock. Do it on the field against SEC competition when the game is on the line and the crowd is wild and then we'll talk. That's not to say I'm against Tyson Lee, I want competition and the best QB available because I want to win. However, I'm also not going to hang Wes out to dry because he didn't dazzle in practice and a player with zero SEC experience did. Quite frankly anyone that does that is an idiot that has very little knowledge of SEC football.

 

[Todd4State]

I would be in favor of just doing away with it. It's boring and pointless anyway.

And unlike other schools, we don't make it into a gameday atmosphere at all. Maybe Byrne will do some things differently, because I do think the spring game has good potential. I don't think that we will ever get to Alabama spring game level, but that's OK. </p>

 

[captaindawg]

the information put out at the 120 club meetings is not supposed to be broadcast on message boards and the like as the coaches are supposed to be able to speak freely. This is why no media is there. Most of the time its put out in the meeting as "Now look, I don't want to go home and read this on (insert Genespage, sixpack...)." Its kinda like premium content from other sites.

 

[SirBarksalot]

the information put out at the 120 club meetings is not supposed to be broadcast on message boards and the like as the coaches are supposed to be able to speak freely. This is why no media is there. Most of the time its put out in the meeting as "Now look, I don't want to go home and read this on (insert Genespage, sixpack...)." Its kinda like premium content from other sites.

Geez, do people really expect to hear "inside information" if they come home and post it on the interweb? Call your friends and ask or tell what was said, thats what i do now. How stupid.
</p>

 

[vhdawg]

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