Yes, I’m still around, I was just waiting to see if the NCAA declared me eligible or not to write….What a great way to cap off the regular season. Although my name for them is always Mississippi vs. TSUN, it really doesn’t matter what you call them as long as we win. In a game that we clearly dominated, and then relaxed a bit too much, it was a satisfying victory on the road. A 31-23 win over Mississippi, let’s analyze…
Offense
When you throw 498 yards on the table and 4 TDs and a bunch of big plays, that is a pretty good start. Yet we probably left some points out there and we definitely went Nick Saban-conservative in the 4th quarter. They were basically daring us to throw with how many people they put in the box and we made them pay. Although our O-Line struggled against 8 or 9 on some plays, they held their own when the numbers were more balanced. They especially blocked well on a couple of screen plays that ended up being the difference in the game. Of the 6 who basically played this year, 4 will return. Our receivers made some nice plays on this night. Chris Smith is a big target with nice hands, his fumble was unfortunate. Bumphis made a great catch on his final one of the year. Clark and Heavens contributed and will have to step up for the bowl game. Clark made a huge block on one screen play. Our backs did as well as they could do. Ballard could not quite get to the next level but was solid, he had a very nice TD run where he bounced outside. Perkins had his coming out party, particularly receiving. Chris Relf played a very good game. His throws were confident and crisp. He had the one long run and had several 3rd down conversions when needed. In the 4th quarter, we faced a 4th and short. We elected to try a 47 yd FG and we just missed it. I think we were trying to stretch it to a 3 score lead. This call reminded me of 1997 (don’t ask me why I remember this:) when Jackie elected to try a FG when up 14-7 with Hazelwood and he missed, UM ended up scoring and converted the 2-pt try for the win (sorry to bring back that painful memory). Missing long FGs seem to always bite for some reason. I was hoping to punt but really it was a gut feel call. Outside of some turnovers, this was a great performance. Grade: A-
Defense
This was as well-prepared a group as I have seen in a while. We never let them get any big plays and we harassed them in the correct way. Masoli never got comfortable and we limited his mobility. We stuffed their run game, did Bolden even play? And we tackled better-of course, its amazing how much better you tackle against lesser competition:) Even though we allowed 23 points, we were never really out of control of the game. We left a couple of picks on the field but we were solid across the board. Grade: B+
Special Teams
Outside of the missed FG and some shorter than desired kickoffs, it was a solid performance. We recovered a muffed punt that led to points. And we never really allowed them a big return and delivered some nice licks while doing it. We had a couple of nice returns that set us up well. Nice job. Grade: B
Team
You win over Mississippi, the grade is obvious. Our coach has gotten our program to a nice level while irritating our rival, I would say job well done:) After 2 losses, we shook all that off and really played well. We were emotionally into the game and we channeled it appropriately-even though the landshark gesture got flagged, that was pretty funny. We did it with primarily Mississippi high school products (all 6 of our OL played at MS High Schools) and it clearly means more to those guys. I said several years ago that the other school’s strategy of recruiting more outside the state would eventually catch up with them, and I think this is the tip of the iceberg. We are really staking solid ground throughout the state and although we won’t get ’em all, I think we will get 70+% of them. Hopefully we can keep our coach and that is certainly my expectation. Grade: A+
Notes
The Iron Bowl has gotten a “minor” amount of attention where I live. It was really an incredible comeback or choke depending upon your perspective. Probably some of both…..Speaking of the Iron Bowl, the pregame music choices were classic in “Take the Money and Run” and “Son of a Preacher Man”. They fired some poor flunky and you can’t tell me he was the only one to know about it. Both hilarious and ridiculous about the “class” outcry, what a crock….It should be a good SECCG and I’m still not sure about the outcome, can’t wait….How do you allow an 80 yd TD with 6 seconds left in the half? Why do you only play 2 deep on that play? Wow….Over Thanksgiving at my in-laws, I was looking for a pen in a drawer and came across a Clarion Ledger sports page from April 1992. I have no idea why it was in there but I perused it. One interesting article was about a BJ Wallace 2-hitter against Auburn (those were the days, huh) but the real interesting article was about our spring football game. The main point was this was when we had Mr. Sudduth, the roughly 90-yr old tailback who scored 2 TDs in the game (I know you remember this). That was cool but the thing that really caught my eye was a discussion and friendly wager between 3 former tailbacks of who would get more yards, and you guessed it, one was named Kenny Rogers, perhaps you have heard of him recently. My oh my:)….Guess we will find out where we will end up Sunday, I’m assuming ATL and already have rooms there. If not, we move over to wherever else. Can’t wait…..We got beat by FAU last night in hoops, doesn’t really surprise me since we have been playing with fire here recently. Has it been 9 games yet?….Have a great week and Christmas season, we will be in touch as things develop!
Maroon Morning QB 