Is anyone else getting a little wooly?

[Uncle Ruckus]

Listening to T&L this morning, listening to a little of the sec football podcast breakdown on us, and just realizing what we have returning...I'm starting to sprout a little wool.
Mike Leach has had two players who were three year starters at QB since he's been a HC. Both of those qb's won 9 games.
We return 96% of the passing yards
100% of the rushing yards
69% of the receiving yards
86% of the tackles
74% of the tackles for loss
78% of the sacks
82% of the interceptions
State added a legit kicker after losing games by 2, 3, and 3 points. We know about the 2 point loss to Memphis, missed a field goal in the 3 point loss to LSU, and missed 3 field goals in a 3 point loss to Arkansas.
State added highly rated talent to a bad secondary. They signed the best JUCO corner in the nation, a 4* from Bama, a 4* from Michigan, a 4* from FSU, and a JUCO all-american from West Virginia.
All of the starting front 7 (6 in State's defense) return if you count Jett as the starter over Brule. That front 7 also adds a huge talent in Trevion Williams and brings back the guy who was going to be the anchor of the DL in Jordan Davis who has NFL talent.
Every playmaker on offense returning has been in the system for three years except RaRa, who will have two years.
The only concern, and it could be a big one, are the tackle spots. The middle of the line will be good to very damn good. We can only upgrade at RT and the LT just has to be a good SEC OL.
I just got even woolier typing this.

 

[dorndawg]

I'm still a member of the 6-6 camp, but you make some good points. It definitely raises my optimism level about being pleasantly surprised.

 

[Go Budaw]

We could be a really, really good team this year and still wind up with only 7 wins or so. Reminds me of 2010 or 2013 in that regard, a lot of pieces to work with but just a brutal schedule. We are #24 in preseason FPI, but 7 teams in the Top 18 are on our schedule. And the biggest problem is that of those 7 teams, 5 are either on the road or they are Bama / UGA (auto losses). The other two are Texas A&M and Auburn. Auburn might have identified a cheat code for the FPI by the way, they are currently checking in at #11.

 

[aTotal360]

Don't do it, bro. Stay pessimistic. You're better off in the end. We know how this story ends.

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

I don’t think we beat UGA, but it’s not a given. They lost a TON of talent. Their QB isn’t going to win the game for them. And two years ago State took something like 17 scholarship players, 5 walk-ons, 6 kids from Starkville High, and a life-sized cardboard cutout of Jack Crystal to Athens and nearly won the game. Georgia is gonna play a lot of their regular defense and not rush 3 every play because they’re Georgia and State will have success against it.

 

[Msubulldogfan1]

I was thinking the other day that this has to be the most talented team leach has ever had. There’s 4*s and some 5*s (hs ranking) all over the defense.

I feel like 8-4 is the target, but I will not be shocked if we upset some folks and end up 9-3. 10-2 with Georgia and bama on the schedule just seems too far out of reach.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

I keep thinking that this year will see big improvement. Then I get afraid of getting my hopes up because in the SEC West gauntlet big improvement could still translate to losses.

 

[Cooterpoot]

8 wins or bust for me. And I mean 8 in the regular season.

 

[aTotal360]

Don't do it. I care about you.

 

[missouridawg]

Really wish Polk was back.

 

[DoggieDaddy13]

Agree. It sure seems we could have a strong team this year. At least, the games should be competitive throughout the season.
With the schedule being so tough, we need to get some good early wins. We need to beat LSU at their place.
If we can do that an avoid laying an egg in a non-conference game, we could be 5-2, even 6-1 after Kentucky. If so, I like our chances against Auburn and OM. We'd likely get 8 wins. I think we'll end up with 9.
Gonna be a fun year.

 

[dorndawg]

Really wish Polk was back.

Look, I know we were all disappointed with Lemonis this season but I'm not sure Polk III is the solution.

 

[PBRME]

No

 

[missouridawg]

Look, I know we were all disappointed with Lemonis this season but I'm not sure Polk III is the solution.

We need a bulldog to go over the middle and make tough catches. He'd be just the short fat old man to do that.

 

[dorndawg]

We need a bulldog to go over the middle and make tough catches. He'd be just the short fat old man to do that.

Low man wins, he'd be a beast in the trenches.

 

[johnson86-1]

Listening to T&L this morning, listening to a little of the sec football podcast breakdown on us, and just realizing what we have returning...I'm starting to sprout a little wool.
Mike Leach has had two players who were three year starters at QB since he's been a HC. Both of those qb's won 9 games.
We return 96% of the passing yards
100% of the rushing yards
69% of the receiving yards
86% of the tackles
74% of the tackles for loss
78% of the sacks
82% of the interceptions
State added a legit kicker after losing games by 2, 3, and 3 points. We know about the 2 point loss to Memphis, missed a field goal in the 3 point loss to LSU, and missed 3 field goals in a 3 point loss to Arkansas.
State added highly rated talent to a bad secondary. They signed the best JUCO corner in the nation, a 4* from Bama, a 4* from Michigan, a 4* from FSU, and a JUCO all-american from West Virginia.
All of the starting front 7 (6 in State's defense) return if you count Jett as the starter over Brule. That front 7 also adds a huge talent in Trevion Williams and brings back the guy who was going to be the anchor of the DL in Jordan Davis who has NFL talent.
Every playmaker on offense returning has been in the system for three years except RaRa, who will have two years.
The only concern, and it could be a big one, are the tackle spots. The middle of the line will be good to very damn good. We can only upgrade at RT and the LT just has to be a good SEC OL.
I just got even woolier typing this.

Same here but I am expecting them to be bad enough to derail our offense. Just can't throw it 50 times a game and be successful when you have to tackles that are going to struggle to win one-on-one battles with quality SEC DEs and OLBs. You give us Cross back, and I would think 10 wins with an extremely difficult schedule was on the table; we can handle a marginal right OT (who will likely be improved over what we had last year). But I just don't see how the offense can hum when Will can't trust either of his OTs.

Really hope I'm wrong either about how well the offense can manage with marginal OTs or how good our OTs are going to be.

 

[missouridawg]

Low man wins.

Until we play a midget team or Wes Johnson suits up, he'll be unstoppable if this is the case.

 

[patdog]

Yeah. People are really underestimating the schedule. You can be a pretty good team and go 6-6 or even 5-7 with this schedule. I'm sticking with my 6-6 prediction.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Listening to T&L this morning, listening to a little of the sec football podcast breakdown on us, and just realizing what we have returning...I'm starting to sprout a little wool.
Mike Leach has had two players who were three year starters at QB since he's been a HC. Both of those qb's won 9 games.
We return 96% of the passing yards
100% of the rushing yards
69% of the receiving yards
86% of the tackles
74% of the tackles for loss
78% of the sacks
82% of the interceptions
State added a legit kicker after losing games by 2, 3, and 3 points. We know about the 2 point loss to Memphis, missed a field goal in the 3 point loss to LSU, and missed 3 field goals in a 3 point loss to Arkansas.
State added highly rated talent to a bad secondary. They signed the best JUCO corner in the nation, a 4* from Bama, a 4* from Michigan, a 4* from FSU, and a JUCO all-american from West Virginia.
All of the starting front 7 (6 in State's defense) return if you count Jett as the starter over Brule. That front 7 also adds a huge talent in Trevion Williams and brings back the guy who was going to be the anchor of the DL in Jordan Davis who has NFL talent.
Every playmaker on offense returning has been in the system for three years except RaRa, who will have two years.
The only concern, and it could be a big one, are the tackle spots. The middle of the line will be good to very damn good. We can only upgrade at RT and the LT just has to be a good SEC OL.
I just got even woolier typing this.

I've gone from 6-6 to 7-5 but our schedule is just too tough to project more. I hope I am wrong.

 

[msu86]

No, bottomline we are not good enough in the trenches to be very good. If we had a good offensive line our offense could be really good but we have too many holes. Dline will get pushed around by running teams.

 

[CochiseCowbell]

We need a bulldog to go over the middle and make tough catches. He'd be just the short fat old man to do that.

I can picture someone circling the cigar smoke on the telestrator a la The Replacements.

 

[Drebin]

No, bottomline we are not good enough in the trenches to be very good. If we had a good offensive line our offense could be really good but we have too many holes. Dline will get pushed around by running teams.

We will have one of the best defensive lines in the league this year, and the interior of our o-line is very good. Biggest concerns are at tackle where we have to replace Cross but we have some talent there - it just needs to step up. And maybe Dollar Bill has learned that holding is a bad thing.

 

[shotgunDawg]

Should be a nice season but it’s hard to get wooly about a sport in which, due to a horrid talent acquisition structure, eliminates 80% of its teams before they play a game and relegates 90% to playing in mid level bowl games that no one cares about.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

No, bottomline we are not good enough in the trenches to be very good. If we had a good offensive line our offense could be really good but we have too many holeers. Dline will get pushed around by running teams.

That's the big thing that worries me. I'm hoping the OL signees we have had will fill those holes but we will have inexperience at OT that is hard to quick fix unless you are Bama.

 

[wdawg44]

We have 3 upperclassmen DL for the first time since 2018, our DL won't get pushed around.

 

[columbiadawg2]

Being a state fan since birth, I'm as wooly as a person with alopecia each season regardless of stats, figures, facts, etc.

 

[patdog]

That's probably a bit of an exaggeration. To be one of the best in the SEC is elite. Our DL will be good, but it's not elite. On3 doesn't include us in their top 5 defensive lines. They do mention us as one of three "best of the rest" DLs. BTW, we play all of the top 5 and one of the next 3.

 

[Drebin]

That's probably a bit of an exaggeration. To be one of the best in the SEC is elite. Our DL will be good, but it's not elite. On3 doesn't include us in their top 5 defensive lines. They do mention us as one of three "best of the rest" DLs. BTW, we play all of the top 5 and one of the next 3.

We'll see. It's hard to make peer comparisons because other teams run different types of defenses than we do. But our d-line will be fine.

 

[patdog]

Agree. Not worried about the DL. I'm worried about OT, and the strength of the schedule. At least we get a cupcake for our road P5 OOC game.

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

The last time I was optimistic I got Jo Mo'd. I should know better than this.

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

Our defensive line is the strongest unit of the team and will be one of the best in the SEC. There are guys in the 2nd unit that would start at other schools.

 

[GloryDawg]

I've gone from 6-6 to 7-5 but our schedule is just too tough to project more. I hope I am wrong.

Here is how I see our schedule.
1. OOC games wins
2. AL and GA lose. However no way GA is as good as they were last season. That game will be close.
3. LSU we should have won, we shot ourselves in the foot way too many times. LSU is basically the same team but lost the best players. They have the same problems as last season
4. A&M is A&M. We beat them last season. We seem to be able to play them good and win half the time. Plus their coach sucks.
5. Arkansas was really a two horse team last season. One of those horses is in the NFL. As far as I am concern we won that game and it took a really bad call at the end for them to win at home.
6. KY. We beat that *** last season. They had a good record because of the weak *** schedule. They are the same team.
8. Auburn just not that good. They have the same staff that allowed Miss State to erase a 25 point lead.
9. Ole Miss. They lost the one guy who made them good plus 14 other starters. You can bring in who you want but that is a lot of guys to replace.

State has a good chance to have a really good season. They could have easily been a 9 to 10 win team last season and we have a **** load of guys coming back.

 

[Cooterpoot]

No, bottomline we are not good enough in the trenches to be very good. If we had a good offensive line our offense could be really good but we have too many holes. Dline will get pushed around by running teams.

We had the 3rd best rushing defense in the conference last year and return everybody.

 

[Dawgg]

Reminds me of 2010 or 2013 in that regard, a lot of pieces to work with but just a brutal schedule.

I remember Nick Saban talking about that 2010 season, saying something to the effect of “it’s tough when the five best teams in the country are in your division”. It was after the New Year’s Day massacre when the SEC ran the Big Ten out of the building in the Outback, Citrus, and Gator Bowls.

That year, the final rankings were:
1. Auburn (won BCS)
8. LSU (won Cotton Bowl)
10. Alabama (won Citrus Bowl)
12. Arkansas (lost Sugar Bowl - later vacated)
15. Mississippi State (won Gator Bowl).

I firmly believe you could have dropped that Mississippi State team into any other conference or division and they would have won that conference or division. Outside of Alabama, nobody played Auburn better that year.

 

[Ralph Cramden]

I am only disappointed that this group faces such a brutal schedule. Winning 10 would be amazing considering our opponents. This will be the best team we have had in about 6 years. Tons of returning talent. I feel like the left tackle position is the only real question mark bit we have 2 highly rated guys battling for that job. Surely the winner will be able to handle it. Im trying not to get too wooly but I'm pretty optimistic. If not this year, when ?? I see every game winnable except of course Bama and to some degree Georgia

 

[aerodawg.sixpack]

We had the 3rd best rushing defense in the conference last year and return everybody.

I swear some people think if there isn’t a sure fire 1st round draft pick on the DL then we are terrible. It’s like expectations are based off name recognition and emotional feelings rather than actual data.

It’s just like the people that still say the “as much as the defense in on the field” with a Mike Leach team and not realizing that we literally led the league in time of possession last year. Just heard a guy say that on some preview again recently.

 

[GloryDawg]

Agree. Not worried about the DL. I'm worried about OT, and the strength of the schedule. At least we get a cupcake for our road P5 OOC game.

I'm worried about the OT's as well. Hopefully two guys will step up. As far as the schedule goes the conference schedule is no more tougher than years past Kind of use to it. Like you said at least our OOC P5 is not that good. Last year we were facing NC State who was good.

 

[aTotal360]

It's the burden we bear.

 

[Bill Shankly]

Listening to T&L this morning, listening to a little of the sec football podcast breakdown on us, and just realizing what we have returning...I'm starting to sprout a little wool.
Mike Leach has had two players who were three year starters at QB since he's been a HC. Both of those qb's won 9 games.
We return 96% of the passing yards
100% of the rushing yards
69% of the receiving yards
86% of the tackles
74% of the tackles for loss
78% of the sacks
82% of the interceptions
State added a legit kicker after losing games by 2, 3, and 3 points. We know about the 2 point loss to Memphis, missed a field goal in the 3 point loss to LSU, and missed 3 field goals in a 3 point loss to Arkansas.
State added highly rated talent to a bad secondary. They signed the best JUCO corner in the nation, a 4* from Bama, a 4* from Michigan, a 4* from FSU, and a JUCO all-american from West Virginia.
All of the starting front 7 (6 in State's defense) return if you count Jett as the starter over Brule. That front 7 also adds a huge talent in Trevion Williams and brings back the guy who was going to be the anchor of the DL in Jordan Davis who has NFL talent.
Every playmaker on offense returning has been in the system for three years except RaRa, who will have two years.
The only concern, and it could be a big one, are the tackle spots. The middle of the line will be good to very damn good. We can only upgrade at RT and the LT just has to be a good SEC OL.
I just got even woolier typing this.

0% of the starting offensive tackles returning. Second toughest schedule in the nation. I'm still in the 6-6 camp.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

You & horshack have been gold today with your one liners which I’m using as my signature for a while…