and deservingly so, but this will be the first year under Croom that we have had a decent offensive line and a decent QB with a year's experience under his belt. We still don't have the speed at the skill positions to make big plays or take a screen pass 80 yards, but there should be enough talent to produce a ranking somewhere in the 75-80 range in total offense. It's a big year for Croom/McCorvery and Croom's version of the WCO. Another year in triple digits (especially if we don't get 7 wins) and I will agree that it's time for a change. As it stands now, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and I do believe this offense prepares college players for the NFL better than the spread.
There has been a lot of complaining about our offense...
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and deservingly so, but this will be the first year under Croom that we have had a decent offensive line and a decent QB with a year's experience under his belt. We still don't have the speed at the skill positions to make big plays or take a screen pass 80 yards, but there should be enough talent to produce a ranking somewhere in the 75-80 range in total offense. It's a big year for Croom/McCorvery and Croom's version of the WCO. Another year in triple digits (especially if we don't get 7 wins) and I will agree that it's time for a change. As it stands now, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and I do believe this offense prepares college players for the NFL better than the spread.
not one that I agree with necessarily but solid. Why don't you explain yourself further? Your post is the type of ****** post I can't stand. Explain yourself.
dawgstudent said:
Fact is he really doesnt have an opinion of his own, so resorts to the sixpack way of just calling the person names
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the only thing we're missing is the wide receivers. HOPEFULLY, Smith can be Mr. Reliable again and Riley and Bell can live up to the hype and do what the coaches signed them to do. I think Riley is a big X-factor with the offense along with Brignone, who I personally think is going to be a badass.
All of our starting linemen have experience. Gates, Sherrod, Strauder, Jenkins, Melichar, those guys are solid. And ****, even the guys who haven't played have to get their feet wet sometime. But damnit, losing Brown does effing suck.
All of our starting linemen have experience. Gates, Sherrod, Strauder, Jenkins, Melichar, those guys are solid. And ****, even the guys who haven't played have to get their feet wet sometime. But damnit, losing Brown does effing suck.
the ranking part of the post. I mean, even a bad offense should gain in ranking and get better with experience. Rising to a ranking of 80? I don't see that as unrealistic. I think that ranking is grossly inadequate and I am not willing to give our coaches any type of benefit of the doubt when I anticipate that kind of production.
It is year 5 of this experiment. You, me, us should expect higher than 80 ranking and 2 deep at every skill position.
Thanks to yuku it has taken me quite a bit of effort to reply to your thoughtful post so I'm not going to comment much more on the subject.
But I will say that I caught a good bit of grief from Coach34 and Stormrider (who has since changed his tune) in addition to countless others for giving Croom the benefit of the doubt a couple of years ago when they were mindlessly calling for his head. Last year, we were rewarded with an 8 win season, a bowl game, and I think we can all agree that Croom has turned the corner in recruiting. So yes, I am willing to give them 1 more year with a decent line and a decent QB to see if this offense can work.
In response to Porkchop below and the ranking of 80, we have to keep our stats in perspective considering A) we play in the best defensive conference in the country and B) our best player is a workhorse RB who lacks breakaway speed and needs 25 carries a game. Those 2 factors make it almost impossible for us to be a top 30 offense. When we are able to bring some playmakers on the outside like we appear to be doing in recruiting then my expectations will go up.
But I will say that I caught a good bit of grief from Coach34 and Stormrider (who has since changed his tune) in addition to countless others for giving Croom the benefit of the doubt a couple of years ago when they were mindlessly calling for his head. Last year, we were rewarded with an 8 win season, a bowl game, and I think we can all agree that Croom has turned the corner in recruiting. So yes, I am willing to give them 1 more year with a decent line and a decent QB to see if this offense can work.
In response to Porkchop below and the ranking of 80, we have to keep our stats in perspective considering A) we play in the best defensive conference in the country and B) our best player is a workhorse RB who lacks breakaway speed and needs 25 carries a game. Those 2 factors make it almost impossible for us to be a top 30 offense. When we are able to bring some playmakers on the outside like we appear to be doing in recruiting then my expectations will go up.
After a successful year last year, it is a big year for those two to prove to recruits that last year was not a fluke and that we will continue to get better. Is it really that hard to understand?Coach34 said:
he recruits. Hes the one that didnt sign a qb one year. He is the one that couldnt land ANY high school wr. This is HIS offense. Hes the one that hired a buddy as an OC that didnt know the offense. Hes the one that said it takes four years to learn the offense yet a freshman beats out his golden boy and if said golden boy hadnt have gotten hurt would still be playing.
There will be no benefit of the doubt from me. This is his baby, and a retarded one at that. There is NO excuse for being in the 100's for 4 straight years. That is pathetic.
There will be no benefit of the doubt from me. This is his baby, and a retarded one at that. There is NO excuse for being in the 100's for 4 straight years. That is pathetic.
we are really making major headway in recruiting, fans are finally able to be realistically optimistic, etc, yes I would say it is probably the big year for Croom. Another good season and he probably signs a very good class and silences doubters. A bad year could spell the beginning of the end.
disaster of an offense that we have put out there under Croom AND of course we will be better offensively, statistically at least. BUT it will have NOTHING to do with better playcalling or more imaginative blocking schemes. We will run some new gimmick schemes that our coaches learned but do you think they know enough about it to develop and draw up successful stuff within these stolen systems that they learned over a 3-4 month period? I don't think so. Once we run out of successful plays we will revert back to our UCF gameplan.
We have a little more experience, that's a big plus. But where we really have the edge is in our schedule. The first 2 games of the season we could be looking at 2 400+ yard games offensively. We play two teams who certainly have a 98 ranked (Tech) and worse. Then we have Vandy, UK, and GT. Compare that to the defenses of UK, West Virginia, and South Carolina of last year. We should get in the 80-90 range on our schedule alone. For the offense to be acceptable, we need to be no WORSE than 70.
On a defender stargate side note, I had to stop playing NCAA Football 09 on Legend mode as QB at Mississippi State. As most of you know, you can't choose the play, only audible. On all my third and longs, the computer (Woody) kept calling draws up the middle. It really is in the game.
We have a little more experience, that's a big plus. But where we really have the edge is in our schedule. The first 2 games of the season we could be looking at 2 400+ yard games offensively. We play two teams who certainly have a 98 ranked (Tech) and worse. Then we have Vandy, UK, and GT. Compare that to the defenses of UK, West Virginia, and South Carolina of last year. We should get in the 80-90 range on our schedule alone. For the offense to be acceptable, we need to be no WORSE than 70.
On a defender stargate side note, I had to stop playing NCAA Football 09 on Legend mode as QB at Mississippi State. As most of you know, you can't choose the play, only audible. On all my third and longs, the computer (Woody) kept calling draws up the middle. It really is in the game.
No **** dumbass, that is what makes this year so big for them. To prove last year wasnt a flukeCoach34 said:
I agree with almost everything you say. I think we will be more successful on offense because of better OL play in spite of losing Brown. I think we have a group of linemen who can better play with the SEC defenses. I thought they were the most improved group on the team last season from start to finish. I don't think we will be even a top 50 team on offense unless Dixon really runs wild this season because we still have a decided lack of depth at WR. If we can get lucky and have a couple of WR step up to make defenses play even a little bit honest, I think we have a 8 win season and reap the full rewards of our commits this recruiting season.Columbus Dawg said:
I do love hearing how our defense won't be as opportunistic this season with such certainty. I will be laughing loudly if they happen to pick up more turnovers and scores than they did last season.
the Liberty. Our offense finishes at the same spot, in the 100's. Personally, I would be satisfied with the overall season, not thrilled like last year. But, I would expect someone to get fired/retired on the offensive side of the ball. Even though the season as a whole is a success doesn't mean you shouldn't try to make changes to get better. Even if we won 7-9 games for the next 20 years with a 110th ranked offense every year, wouldn't you be wondering what could have been?
Put another way, if you have a successful business overall but one or two guys aren't pulling their weight and hurting your profit margin (number of wins, championship contention status), don't you let them go?
Put another way, if you have a successful business overall but one or two guys aren't pulling their weight and hurting your profit margin (number of wins, championship contention status), don't you let them go?
I am much more concerned about the record than I am offensive rankings. However, I agree that somebody needs to go with the offense doing that poorly. And it probably needs to be Woody. At a certain point (I would have said last year), you have to say that he is responsible for recruiting his players, coaching said players to execute plays, and produce offense. If you just keep a guy around that ranks that dismally in his key area of responsibility, it just sends the message that he really isn't accountable for results in his specific area.
Roy, I knew this thread would change direction because so many of you have a one track mind and are unable to understand the why or do a little thinking outside the box. Did you know that this is the first year that the entire team is made up of Croom recruited players? And do we really need to rehash the hurdles he had to overcome with his first recruiting class (only 4 remain btw). Do we need to remind Coach34 how truly awful the offensive line was that Croom inherited from the great Jackie Sherrill? Since he likes to quote stats from those years. Remember starting Calvin Wilson and Mike Gates as true freshmen because we had no other options. Does it matter to you that the state of MS hasn't produced any D1 QB's since Croom took over and the only WR worth mentioning is Shay Hodge? Do you really think that he wanted to go to war with Mike Henig and Will Prosser and can you fairly judge an offense with that kind of talent? I say all of that to get back to my original point which was that this season will give us a much better evaluation of the offense and a much better indication of whether it will or will not be successful long term. If we are in the 100's again, then we can talk change.
Coach is right, after 4 years of ****** offense why is anyone going to give Croom the benefit of the doubt. It is this attitude that allowed Polk to ruin our baseball program and is going to let Croom get away with never scoring any damn points.
Right there with you. Winning may be all that matters but as long as we have a bottom tier offense winning will just be a once in a while happening. As for the recruiting getting better, that won't matter if we keep running the same plays over and over and over.Roy Munson said:
offense here for the past 4 years. We are talking about one of the absolute worst in all of college football for the past 4 years. Hell, I don't even need to look it up. Over the last 4 years, I'm sure we average out to be one of the bottom 5 worst offensive teams in the nation.
All of your "reasons" are excuses. Were you making excuses for Sherrill as well?
Croom does a lot of things well. Coaching an average offense is not one of those things.
All of your "reasons" are excuses. Were you making excuses for Sherrill as well?
Croom does a lot of things well. Coaching an average offense is not one of those things.
" Do we need to remind Coach34 how truly awful the offensive line was that Croom inherited from the great Jackie Sherrill?"
You mean like draftee David Stewart? McNeil? How many lineman have been drafted since? Didnt Norwood get a 1,000 yards that season on less carries than Dixon last year?
"Remember starting Calvin Wilson and Mike Gates as true freshmen because we had no other options."
I remember Sherrod starting last year as a true freshman for the same reason...in Year 4
All you keep doing is making 17'ing excuses. We won last year in spite of Crooms and his offense. Even with this easy-*** schedule, it will be a miracle if we finish above 90th in offense, and that is unacceptable
You mean like draftee David Stewart? McNeil? How many lineman have been drafted since? Didnt Norwood get a 1,000 yards that season on less carries than Dixon last year?
"Remember starting Calvin Wilson and Mike Gates as true freshmen because we had no other options."
I remember Sherrod starting last year as a true freshman for the same reason...in Year 4
All you keep doing is making 17'ing excuses. We won last year in spite of Crooms and his offense. Even with this easy-*** schedule, it will be a miracle if we finish above 90th in offense, and that is unacceptable
but you can do that. And to be honest, coaches do that all the time. Most head coaches do have a "their head will roll before mine" attitude.
Of course, it's not a good practice to constantly make all the decisions for someone because, as you point out, you really can't hold them responsible for the results. So, at the end of the day, you lose control by having too much control -- if that makes sense.
Of course, it's not a good practice to constantly make all the decisions for someone because, as you point out, you really can't hold them responsible for the results. So, at the end of the day, you lose control by having too much control -- if that makes sense.
Our defense will be quick and fast for all the shiny new spread offenses and our smash mouth offense is gonna barrel over the little quick defenses. It's gonna be a good year for State football.
period! No excuse to why. We made a option qb gain 35 lbs to be a drop back passer and wasted him and jerious. Hell, the offense we had in 04 was/is better than any we have had so far. Not to mention the 04 team would have beaten the **** out of every team we had up to last year. There are dozens of teams with less talent than us that put up some offensive numbers. We just dont do anything to put our players in the best situation. We dont do anything to take our strengths against their weaknesses. We do the same thing against every team in every situation. Perfect example is omarr and jerious. God bless those 2 for giving up their careers...they were wasted. I dont know what or how it would have turned out if we played to jerious and omarrs strengths, but i do know that it would have been better than making them something they werent. We should have done everything we could to get the ball in jerious's hands and on the outside...
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