3 Things That Worry Me About Mississippi State
Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Here’s what I’m NOT worried about when we meet the Magnolia State Mutts: 1. They just can’t seem to get the ball across the goal line. Especially in the Red Zone. And I’m not going to blame head coach Jeff Lebby on this one. Lebby has pretty impressive offensive chops, having started under Josh Heupel at Oklahoma (and UCF), under Art Briles at Baylor (scandal notwithstanding), and under Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss. I think he knows how to design and call plays. But not with the roster he inherited. In Year 1 for Lebby, MSU is 79th in total offense, 91st in rushing, 58th in passing, yet 103rd nationally in red zone offense. They are coming up empty on over 20% of their RZ trips, and having to settle for field goals in another 15%. Sure, they’ve played some good competition in Arizona State, Florida, and #1 Texas. But that also includes games vs. Eastern Kentucky and Toledo. 2. They just can’t seem to keep the ball from getting across their own goal line. They allowed Toledo 7 trips inside their red area. And even Billy Napier managed to get close 5 times (and scored TDs 5 times). The Georgia offense has been almost perfect inside the opponent’s 20, scoring 15 TDs and 5 FGs in 21 attempts. (We won’t mention the one time we came up empty. Too soon.) 3. “Are we awake?” “We’re not sure. Are we…Black?” We heard from his own lips that Kirby Smart wants a rocking home atmosphere. You want to wake up the crowd and get Sanford Stadium to go bonkers? There’s a solution. Nah, it won’t happen. Coach Smart isn’t going to go for the contrived, artificial fan-pandering of special jerseys against an overmatched opponent, conference game or not. I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’ if you want to get back in the good graces of Bulldog fans… Now forgive me, as I was weaned at the nipple of Larry Munson’s scratch. So here’s what does worry me about Saturday’s contest against the Salukis from Stark-Vegas: 1. Their offense is pretty good on 3rd downs. They converted 11 first downs when Florida visited, and 8 of 17 on the road at Texas is honestly a solid performance. QB Michael Van Buren, stepping in for the injured Blake Shapen, was 3 of 6 passing on 3rd down against Texas, and converted a 3rd and long. The Texas game was Van Buren’s first collegiate start, and they’ve had a bye week to get him more comfortable with the 1s, tweak the route tree for him, and script some plays. If our offense founders in the first 30 minutes, these Bulldogs might get some confidence and continue to hold the ball and march the field. 2. The bubble screens just aren’t working. For whatever reason, this staple of both Todd Monken and Mike Bobo (and pretty much every other team out there) isn’t popping like in years past. I can’t tell if these are true bubble screens or jailbreak screens, but these are mostly unproductive or minimally product plays. It does count on a few things: that the DBs are playing soft or can’t come up in support, that the wide-out blocks effectively, and that the QB and receiver are in sync on where the ball will be caught. The opposing team should know we are going to run them, but that doesn’t mean they recognize when it will be called or that we can’t still execute for good yardage. It may be that we just don’t have the outside blocking we have in years past. And now we’re missing a veteran receiver in Colbie Young. 3. Neither Bulldog squad turns it over very much. And on paper, this shouldn’t be a very close contest. Vegas thinks the same way. So what else could cause an upset to our beloved Georgia Bulldogs? Unfortunately the answer is penalties. The current squad is getting penalized at far higher rate than other teams under Kirby Smart, and it isn’t particularly close (2017 is in the ballpark). These penalties are keeping points off the board for us, killing our momentum, and feeding the opponent free yardage and chain movers. Somehow, these Bulldogs appear to lack the discipline we’re used to seeing from Kirby Smart football teams. And it may be indicative of some deeper issues with team leadership or even position coaching. Call me crazy, just don’t call me late for dinner. Sound off in the comments below what worries you about the Bulldogs of Georgia versus the Bulldogs of Mississippi State. And as always… GO ‘DAWGS!!!
Here’s what I’m NOT worried about when we meet the Magnolia State Mutts:
1. They just can’t seem to get the ball across the goal line. Especially in the Red Zone. And I’m not going to blame head coach Jeff Lebby on this one. Lebby has pretty impressive offensive chops, having started under Josh Heupel at Oklahoma (and UCF), under Art Briles at Baylor (scandal notwithstanding), and under Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss. I think he knows how to design and call plays.
But not with the roster he inherited. In Year 1 for Lebby, MSU is 79th in total offense, 91st in rushing, 58th in passing, yet 103rd nationally in red zone offense. They are coming up empty on over 20% of their RZ trips, and having to settle for field goals in another 15%. Sure, they’ve played some good competition in Arizona State, Florida, and #1 Texas. But that also includes games vs. Eastern Kentucky and Toledo.
2. They just can’t seem to keep the ball from getting across their own goal line. They allowed Toledo 7 trips inside their red area. And even Billy Napier managed to get close 5 times (and scored TDs 5 times).
The Georgia offense has been almost perfect inside the opponent’s 20, scoring 15 TDs and 5 FGs in 21 attempts. (We won’t mention the one time we came up empty. Too soon.)
3. “Are we awake?” “We’re not sure. Are we…Black?” We heard from his own lips that Kirby Smart wants a rocking home atmosphere. You want to wake up the crowd and get Sanford Stadium to go bonkers? There’s a solution.
Nah, it won’t happen. Coach Smart isn’t going to go for the contrived, artificial fan-pandering of special jerseys against an overmatched opponent, conference game or not. I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’ if you want to get back in the good graces of Bulldog fans…
Now forgive me, as I was weaned at the nipple of Larry Munson’s scratch. So here’s what does worry me about Saturday’s contest against the Salukis from Stark-Vegas:
1. Their offense is pretty good on 3rd downs. They converted 11 first downs when Florida visited, and 8 of 17 on the road at Texas is honestly a solid performance. QB Michael Van Buren, stepping in for the injured Blake Shapen, was 3 of 6 passing on 3rd down against Texas, and converted a 3rd and long. The Texas game was Van Buren’s first collegiate start, and they’ve had a bye week to get him more comfortable with the 1s, tweak the route tree for him, and script some plays.
If our offense founders in the first 30 minutes, these Bulldogs might get some confidence and continue to hold the ball and march the field.
2. The bubble screens just aren’t working. For whatever reason, this staple of both Todd Monken and Mike Bobo (and pretty much every other team out there) isn’t popping like in years past. I can’t tell if these are true bubble screens or jailbreak screens, but these are mostly unproductive or minimally product plays.
It does count on a few things: that the DBs are playing soft or can’t come up in support, that the wide-out blocks effectively, and that the QB and receiver are in sync on where the ball will be caught. The opposing team should know we are going to run them, but that doesn’t mean they recognize when it will be called or that we can’t still execute for good yardage. It may be that we just don’t have the outside blocking we have in years past. And now we’re missing a veteran receiver in Colbie Young.
3. Neither Bulldog squad turns it over very much. And on paper, this shouldn’t be a very close contest. Vegas thinks the same way. So what else could cause an upset to our beloved Georgia Bulldogs? Unfortunately the answer is penalties.
The current squad is getting penalized at far higher rate than other teams under Kirby Smart, and it isn’t particularly close (2017 is in the ballpark). These penalties are keeping points off the board for us, killing our momentum, and feeding the opponent free yardage and chain movers. Somehow, these Bulldogs appear to lack the discipline we’re used to seeing from Kirby Smart football teams. And it may be indicative of some deeper issues with team leadership or even position coaching.
Call me crazy, just don’t call me late for dinner. Sound off in the comments below what worries you about the Bulldogs of Georgia versus the Bulldogs of Mississippi State. And as always…
GO ‘DAWGS!!!
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