It's a long one. Sorry.
Saturday sucked. No way around it. Frankly so did September 28th (Kentucky) and October 12th (LSU). Those are games that Ole Miss should have won (or so we say and think). This board has talked a lot about how our schedule set up perfectly for a playoff run. It did. And we didn't deliver. But lets take a step back for a minute and think about the last year.
Who would have known (other than REAL insiders which I'm not) last Thanksgiving that we would completely revamp our D the way we did and that it would be one of the best in the country? Or that we would put together what we figured would be a solid O with more playmakers (hard to argue we didn't fall a bit short here)? The expectations really ratcheted up given our returning players, portal adds, and schedule once winter rolled into spring and then summer. So why can't we do it again next year?
Think about the schedule. Our hardest game this year was at home (UGA). Our hardest game next year is on the road (UGA). I would have said that LSU and UF would be our second and third hardest this year given DV and the Swamp. We get them at home next year. I'm not sold on LSU but UF....they're going to be good. Likely top 15-20. I'd rather have them at home next year. Sure we go to OU and they had a lot of people hurt this fall but they don't particularly scare me. I'd much rather play them on the road next year than USCe (who's looked great since we whipped them) who like UF I expect to be very good.
My point; barring mass chaos we're out this year. But in some ways, given what we've seen this year, one can make an argument our schedule sets up better in 2025. Win three of our four road SEC games (OU, UK, State with UGA a toss-up), win our four at home (USCe, Arky, UF, and LSU) and take care of non-con. Our strength will also be better. Trade two s**t non-con for Tulane and Wazzu. Both are better than Wake and ________ (insert Furman or your choice here).
We get a solid class signed which barring disaster we will, get better on O line and RB via portal and fill-in where needed and keep our key playmakers and we'll be fine. Sure....lots of if's but no different than going into this year. Plenty of if's a year ago now.
We aren't dead. Just really disappointed. Frankly I wouldn't be surprised if we're better next year. And let's be honest. As disappointing as this year is it beats the shit out of being irrelevant in mid-October which we would have been without the playoff. Let's kick that State ass and get started on 2025.
Thoughts?
Happy Thanksgiving RG friends!
Saturday sucked. No way around it. Frankly so did September 28th (Kentucky) and October 12th (LSU). Those are games that Ole Miss should have won (or so we say and think). This board has talked a lot about how our schedule set up perfectly for a playoff run. It did. And we didn't deliver. But lets take a step back for a minute and think about the last year.
Who would have known (other than REAL insiders which I'm not) last Thanksgiving that we would completely revamp our D the way we did and that it would be one of the best in the country? Or that we would put together what we figured would be a solid O with more playmakers (hard to argue we didn't fall a bit short here)? The expectations really ratcheted up given our returning players, portal adds, and schedule once winter rolled into spring and then summer. So why can't we do it again next year?
Think about the schedule. Our hardest game this year was at home (UGA). Our hardest game next year is on the road (UGA). I would have said that LSU and UF would be our second and third hardest this year given DV and the Swamp. We get them at home next year. I'm not sold on LSU but UF....they're going to be good. Likely top 15-20. I'd rather have them at home next year. Sure we go to OU and they had a lot of people hurt this fall but they don't particularly scare me. I'd much rather play them on the road next year than USCe (who's looked great since we whipped them) who like UF I expect to be very good.
My point; barring mass chaos we're out this year. But in some ways, given what we've seen this year, one can make an argument our schedule sets up better in 2025. Win three of our four road SEC games (OU, UK, State with UGA a toss-up), win our four at home (USCe, Arky, UF, and LSU) and take care of non-con. Our strength will also be better. Trade two s**t non-con for Tulane and Wazzu. Both are better than Wake and ________ (insert Furman or your choice here).
We get a solid class signed which barring disaster we will, get better on O line and RB via portal and fill-in where needed and keep our key playmakers and we'll be fine. Sure....lots of if's but no different than going into this year. Plenty of if's a year ago now.
We aren't dead. Just really disappointed. Frankly I wouldn't be surprised if we're better next year. And let's be honest. As disappointing as this year is it beats the shit out of being irrelevant in mid-October which we would have been without the playoff. Let's kick that State ass and get started on 2025.
Thoughts?
Happy Thanksgiving RG friends!
Last edited:
