I'm probably the only one here who will say this: we will be OK.

[bulldogbaja]

Maybe this will be a day early, but I'm kinda sick of seeing EVERYBODY melt down.
We, in fact, WILL win an SEC game. I hereby take back my prediction that we at least have a chance at atlanta. However, we should still win 6 games.
Look at the offense: the first 2 drives were exactly what we've been wanting. That's more good pass completions than have happened in the whole rest of the Croom era combined. Dixon ran well. When did the offense stop? When we kept putting Lee out there. With Carroll in, we were at least moving the ball. And we did move the ball really well at times. If we could learn that our offense doesn't have to either be ALL run or ALL pass, it could be pretty good.

Our defensive line is shallow. They were worn out by the end of the game. That's a big problem. I didn't like our defensive play calling at all. I think that by week 3, our offense will have taken a step forward over last year. I'm afraid the defense may have taken a step back though. Bottom line? I think we recover and go 6-6.

 

[bulldogbaja]

Maybe this will be a day early, but I'm kinda sick of seeing EVERYBODY melt down.
We, in fact, WILL win an SEC game. I hereby take back my prediction that we at least have a chance at atlanta. However, we should still win 6 games.
Look at the offense: the first 2 drives were exactly what we've been wanting. That's more good pass completions than have happened in the whole rest of the Croom era combined. Dixon ran well. When did the offense stop? When we kept putting Lee out there. With Carroll in, we were at least moving the ball. And we did move the ball really well at times. If we could learn that our offense doesn't have to either be ALL run or ALL pass, it could be pretty good.

Our defensive line is shallow. They were worn out by the end of the game. That's a big problem. I didn't like our defensive play calling at all. I think that by week 3, our offense will have taken a step forward over last year. I'm afraid the defense may have taken a step back though. Bottom line? I think we recover and go 6-6.

 

[NutherT]

I felt this way after the LSU game last year: We played like ****, but we're better than we've been. I really believe that with a healthy Sherrod and an eligible Pegues, we are going to be a significantly better team than last year. Will we win 7 games? I don't think so, but I also think a bowl game is still well within reach. I am mostly upset that we failed to capture the lightning in a bottle that we could have: rolling into the Auburn game 2-0 with the confidence necessary to make it a competitive game.

I predicted we would be very lucky to win this game, so it doesn't sting as badly for me as it could. I think we'll be fine in the long run though.</p>

 

[JacksonDevilDog]

offense has more potential. D looks shaky. Special teams still ****** but will get better. No more than 5 wins max.

 

[Original48]

"We, in fact, WILL win an SEC game."

If this holds true then the best we can do is 4-8. And Georgia Tech is better than Louisiana Tech.

 

[8dog]

we expected to lose to LSU. This game was one of the ones to get to 6 or 7. Frankly, I don't see but 5 wins left on the schedule. And we won't win all five of those.

 

[SLUdog]

bright spots. However, unless we improve mentally and limit turnovers 4 wins would be an accomplishment. This team looked unprepared to play football. Our special teams (the unit the lost the game) was completely outplayed by La. Tech. Their punting unit controlled field position, their kicker made 2 long FGs, and we fumbled twice deep in our own territory.

Carroll also threw 3 ints. The last one was on 3rd and long and took away a potential FG attempt. </p>

Let's face it. A better coach wins that game for us by 10. Sylvester Croom continues to demonstrate that he is really is not HC material. We won some games (like UM) for which we were unprepared last year, this year it won't happen.</p>

</p>

 

[Coach34]

watching La Tech push us around in the 4th quarter is a sign of things to come...</p>

 

[BigMotherTucker]

.

 

[thatsbaseball]

How bout naming those 6 victories

 

[SLUdog]

INT by Carroll. Our team was so mentally unprepared to play football. Hire little Dooley.</p>

 

[bulldogbaja]

bright spots. However, unless we improve mentally and limit turnovers 4 wins would be an accomplishment.

</p>

I think we will improve mentally, and 2 turnovers on special teams isn't a normal thing. The nature of the SEC this year is that we're still better than Vandy, KY, and Ark. And GTech may or may not be better than Latech (I said this beFORE last night).

 

[SLUdog]

SE LA, MTSU, and Vandy. However, 2-10 is a real possibility. There is no excuse for this situation in year 5. </p>

 

[Coach34]

bright spots. However, unless we improve mentally and limit turnovers 4 wins would be an accomplishment.

</p>

I think we will improve mentally, and 2 turnovers on special teams isn't a normal thing. The nature of the SEC this year is that we're still better than Vandy, KY, and Ark. And GTech may or may not be better than Latech (I said this beFORE last night).

no we arent. Vandy and Kentucky have pretty good defenses. We do have the advantage of being at home though. But Vandy and Kentucky are better than La Tech, so is Ga Tech...Ga Tech will be much better coached than we are in addition to being at home...
We may be better than UPig though...

aGAIN, getting pushed around by a mid-level WAC team in the 4th quarter is not a gtood sign. At all

 

[bulldogbaja]

Research the teams, coach. KY is without a doubt the worst team in the SEC.
Look, I say we'll be OK. You don't. Just wait and see who's right.

Oh, and I really don't understand all your crowing and chest-thumping about "oh, i was right, i was right." How were you right? You said "McCroomvey" will never open up the playbook, and we did. It's why we lost. So how were you right?

 

[Seinfeld]

We are going to be ok and be competitive a lot of ballgames this year. Also, I don't believe that we are anywhere near as bad of a football team as we saw last night. I could probably count ten absolutely critical mistakes that MSU made and eliminating any one of them would have given the Bulldogs a win.

That being said, it is completely inexcusable to have a team as poorly unprepared as MSU was last night and it is completely inexcusable for an SEC team to lose to Lousiana Tech ever. EVER... I don't give a damn about scholarship limits and I don't give damn about who didn't play last night. MSU should have wiped the floor with LTech and they pretty much would have if they didn't keep making stupid mistake after stupid mistake. Also, the fact that Louisiana Tech has a kid kicking 50-yd field goals into the nets and out punter has trouble booting a ball 25 yards is pathetic.

The season is not over after Week one, but it is pitiful that Croom is still losing games like this after five years, and it is honestly just embarassing.

 

[hotdigitydog]

nt

 

[Coach34]

Kentucky will have the best defense they have had since Brooks got there. They also will have a decent OL that will allow them to run the ball. They will be better than La Tech, I assure you.

"How were you right? You said "McCroomvey" will never open up the playbook, and we did. It's why we lost. So how were you right?"

I have said all along that Crooms is not capable of running a competent college offense. I have said that he is not the answer as our head coach. I also said we wouldnt repeat last year because we wont score the defensive TD's we did last year. Game 1- no defensive TD, and no victory over La-freaking-Tech. So, yeah, I was right....

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

We just can not be this bad... Looked to me that we did not have a leader on the field... perhaps thats Peagues on D.
I don't know on offense. Somebody has got to step up.
Still, I don't think we have to worry about making plans to attend a Bowl.

 

[bulldogbaja]

I don't really pay much attention to what you say, you also said these things:
Our O-line will be horrible without mike brown. Well, at least while Carroll was in the game, the protection was pretty good, and we averaged 6 yrds per carry in the first half.
Croom will never open up the playbook. Pretty sure this was your war-cry for the last 9 freakin months. Well, wrong, coach.

I'm betting there are lots more, but like I said, I don't normally pay attention to you. So maybe next time rethink the "I was right" thread.

 

[Coach34]

"Our O-line will be horrible without mike brown. Well, at least while Carroll was in the game, the protection was pretty good, and we averaged 6 yrds per carry in the first half. "

We had 30 carries for 79 yards rushing...we didnt even average 3 yards a carry against a mid-level WAC team...plus, we gave up 5 sacks...How is that not horrible?? Are you really that damn stupid boy? I dont know how I could be any more right than that

 

[davatron]

And Georgia Tech is better than Louisiana Tech.

By this logic, we will only beat SE Louisiana and MTSU.

I'm as pissed about last night as anyone, but I think 6 wins is in the realm of possibility.

 

[was21]

they won't be invited to the Indy Bowl, wouldn't be much of a draw as far as ticket sales in the Shreveport area, but doubtful if they win anywhere near 6 anyway. They might beat Southeastern, and that's about it. There's really no reason to think that an unprepared team should be favored in any game.

 

[bulldogbaja]

Passing Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Long Sack
--------------------------------------------
Wesley Carroll 25-12-3 172 1 26 0
Tyson Lee 15-10-0 85 0 25 3
Totals... 40-22-3 257 1 26 3

So not 5 sacks, 3. And all on Lee, the guy who kept freezing up in the damn pocket.
ALso:

Rushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg
--------------------------------------------
Anthony Dixon 18 96 5 91 0 31 5.1
Christian Ducre 3 13 1 12 0 9 4.0
Wesley Carroll 2 6 2 4 0 6 2.0
Brandon Hart 1 1 0 1 1 1 1.0
TM 1 0 2 -2 0 0 -2.0
Marcus Green 1 0 3 -3 0 0 -3.0
Tyson Lee 5 6 18 -12 0 6 -2.4
Totals... 31 122 31 91 1 31 2.9

So NOT 79 yards, 91. And our HBs averaged 5 YPC.

So were you lying? guessing?

 

[Coach34]

</a><a href="http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=282432348&confId=8">http://scores.espn.go.com...Id=282432348&confId=8

and even if its 91 yards and ESPN is wrong- 91 yards on 30 carries?? Against a mid-level WAC team? Are you going to continue to argue that 17'ing point? Really? They barely made the top 100 in defense last year...you sir, are a M-O-R-O-N

 

[Sutterkane]

We had 30 carries for 79 yards rushing...we didnt even average 3 yards a carry against a mid-level WAC team...plus, we gave up 5 sacks...How is that not horrible?? Are you really that damn stupid boy? I dont know how I could be any more right than that

Not trying to say we don't suck, but those rushing stats include sacks. Dixon averaged over 5 yards a carry. Ducre around 4 a carry.

We should have run the ball a LOT more, plain and simple. If we wanted to showcase the passing game, we should have done it with a 3 TD lead with their defense worn down, not all through the first half and then the rest of the game, I don't care how successful it was at the time.

Remember when we came out passing like the 2000 St Louis Rams last year vs LSU (but with tragic results)? Jackie got interviewed on the sidelines and said he'd give Dixon the ball the whole game. Even with a 14-9 lead and La Tech gaining momentum, we still came out passing. Absolutely retarded. Take a look at the TOP in the 4th quarter. No way that should ever happen to us in the 4th quarter, ever.

 

[OEMDawg]

Crooms likes excuse makers like you. We are guaranteed to never have an empty stadium because we have a dedicated bunch of people that have no problem with 3-4 wins and everything else is a bonus.

 

[OEMDawg]

Nothing wrong with that logic. We couldn't stop La Tech from running it straight up the gut for the entire 4th quarter. Paul Johnson will have his GT offense running circles around us. I wouldn't be shocked in the least if we get gouged for 250-300 yards rushing.

MTSU and SELA are somewhat safe bets. That's 2. Do you really think we are going to pull off 4-4 in the SEC again? No way in hell.

 

[raywhitewasframed]

Unfortunately, not all opinions are equal. This particular opinion belongs in the flat-earth category.

An opinion that "we will be o.k.", in the face of such over-whelming evidence to the contrary, borders on delusional.

This game proves what was said many times last year by many folks: we needed every single one of those interceptions at Auburn, we needed Capt. Shrimp Boat to go for it on fourth down, and we needed Alabama to implode. We needed those things b/c we couldn't accomplish success on our own. When a team doesn't gift us a win, we are lost.

The obvious response, then, would seem to be that when we are the giver of turnovers then we lose, and so we merely needed to curtail the turnovers. That is not the correct response. The distinction is that we should 've been able to overcome our mistakes against La Tech to win ugly.The fact that we made the turnovers is evidence that we were not prepared. The fact that we were not able to overcome them is proof that we lack character.

Buckle your seat belts, boys. We're in for a bumpy ride.

 

[bulldogbaja]

There is a big difference between the people who think 3-4 wins is OK, and those who don't think it's going to happen. If we revert back to 3 wins, Croom should be banned from coaching. I think we will pull it together though.
Last night, everything went wrong. 2 turnovers on special teams, inside the 20! Two dumb coaching moves, by playing Lee in the 2nd half and by not running the ball more. A bad call on Zach Smith. Without our best player and a starting OLman. Down to our 3rd or 4th PR man.
I make no excuses. McCorvey shouldn't even still be here. But I think the team will pull together and win some games. If not, it's not OK. So apply your criticism to the right person next time.

By the way, did you just say it's a bad thing that a team has a "dedicated bunch of people" as fans?

 

[GonzoDawg]

You guys need to lighten up a bit. Your not as bad as you are making things out to be. You ran into a team on the rise last night. You have a great D and some powerful RB's. Don't drink the koolaid just yet. We'll be rooting for you the rest of the way. Go beat the crap out of lsu and you'll be my next favorite team. By the way your fans that came to Ruston showed a lot of class. The only ones I had no respect for were the ones leaving when you were only down 8 late in the 4th. Good luck the rest of the season.

 

[TheCosmoKramer]

We may somehow win one SEC game and win 6 total this season (though I doubt it), but even if we did, the season would not be OK. Winning only 6 games with this schedule in year five of a head coach should not be considered OK.

 

[bulldogbaja]

At MSU, 10-2 would be great, 8-4 good (really good with a bowl win), and 6-6 is OK. Anything less is bad. 3-9 is embarassing.

p.s. it's extremely unlikely that we win 1 SEC game and go 6-6.

 

[TheCosmoKramer]

but when you have the easy schedule MSU has this year, 6-6 is not OK. You need a winning record with this schedule to be OK, I think.

 

[OEMDawg]

We just lost 1 of our 4 out of conference games. We play 8 SEC games. How do we win 6 games overall and "may somehow win one SEC game"?

 

[TheCosmoKramer]

I didn't make that comment to begin with, I was just repeating the record that the guy that started the thread said would be OK. How he thought we'd get there, I don't know.

 

[bulldogbaja]

I was responding to somebody in another thread who said we "wouldn't win 1 SEC game."
I see your point about the schedule. "OK" is relative, I mean OK compared to how we looked last night, which was not OK.