Ole Miss played like a team that had other things on its mind, but turned it on enough in the 3rd quarter to post a 35-3 win over a hapless Louisiana-Monroe team in front of an announced crowd of 60,752 (maybe 45,000...maybe) that reflected the lackluster play of the team.
When I write this weekly post, I try to put myself in the shoes of my fellow RG members and ask myself, "What would I want to read about when reflecting about the game this past weekend?" Well, when I posed that question in my head, the answer was, "NOTHING about that game, let's talk about what lies ahead!" That said, I am going to speak briefly (question actually) about a few things related to the ULM game, then focus on the MSU game and the postseason possibilities.
ULM game
Most of the things that I saw in the ULM game were things (and players) that I DIDN'T see. The lethargic start by the team forced the starters to have to play much longer than most all Red and Blue supporters hoped. This resulted in not being able to give our starters some rest and play some guys that needed some game action.
Walker Howard didn't get any snaps. Sanders only got 8 snaps. Judkins and Bentley had to play deep into the 2nd half. The OL had several guys play 60 or more snaps. How do you develop depth and continuity as a unit, a weakness that was exposed at Georgia, when the backups get minimal snaps?
Same for the WRs. The starting WRs played extensively. Ayden Williams with only 9 snaps? Cayden Lee, whom I predicted when he signed would be a freshman who would get substantial playing time, only got 8 snaps, but showed a flash of the future with his TD scamper on a short pass. The exclamation of this game for me was when Dart hit Watkins in stride for a TD on a post route and Watkins,... WATKINS... inexplicably missed the ball completely, as it hit him in the facemask and fell to the ground. He NEVER misses a pass. Prieskorn played 70 snaps. Wolfe didn't play at all. Is he hurt again? Kyrin Heath didn't play either. Is he hurt?
On defense, our only 5-star player, Perkins, only playing 16 snaps...against ULM? Did he get hurt? Josh Harris only got 4 snaps? Deshawn Gaddie, who has been in the game at some critical times this year (LSU and aTm come to mind) only played 18 snaps. I am not at practice, the locker room, in day-to-day interactions, etc. but this game was a microcosm of the mind-boggling process our staff uses to determine playing time. It is something that is obviously above my pay grade.
The game was frustrating to watch, for sure. Giving credit where due, ULM had a good game plan, They played to keep it close, bled the play clock and were able to keep our offense off the field for much of the 2nd quarter after our D had got 3 straight 3 and outs to start the game. Our offense did nothing with the early stops. We missed a FG, scored a TD, and turned the ball over on downs in the red zone with our possessions in the 1st and only had a 7-0 lead when it should have been at least 17-0.
That said, we had drill at Camp Shelby the weekend that ULM played USM, so I attended the game, which was USM's military appreciation game (The loudest cheer from our group was when we watched the aTm kick get blocked on one of our guy's phone!) so I KNEW that ULM had no chance of winning the game, that it was just a matter of time before we stretched the lead. CLK and staff knew that too, which befuddled me when it got to 28-3. Why didn't we pull everyone at that point?
MSU game
With all due respect to the Clarion Ledger, who coined the term "Egg Bowl" in 1977, I have come to the conclusion that, while we need to make sure we don't lose focus on the importance of the MSU game, as happened during the CHDN years, we should not make it out to be a be all to end all type game like MSU does. Therefore, I refuse to refer to the game as the "Egg Bowl". My relatives who are MSU fans (I have several, unfortunately) are typical. They care nothing about any other game when compared to their zeal for our game and root for anyone and anything that is against Ole Miss (openly pulling for Missouri to beat Florida while watching at my house, for example).
I would love to see us advocate for moving the game to the middle of the schedule and playing LSU at the end, ala Michigan vs Michigan State/Ohio State. I look forward to the LSU game. It is fun. We lose more than we should (not this year though) in the game, something that we have got to rectify, but it is a fun rivalry.
I absolutely DREAD the MSU game. It is something that I just look forward to getting over with. If I am being totally honest, it takes some of the joy out of Thanksgiving. I wish that weren't the truth, but it is.
As for the game, we should be prohibitive favorites to win. We are the better team. We have better players at most every position. That said, I think it is important for me to stress a couple of points:
A. Most of the players for both teams are the same as last year, we had the better team last year, and we all know how that turned out. (the most upset I have EVER been by an Ole Miss loss, for several reasons that we all know, so I won't rehash here) Bottom line, the best team doesn't always win. We have to look no further than last year for an example.
B. They have had a couple of key guys return from injury, just in time for our game. (Not sure of Marks's status, but I would bet he plays)
C. Their guys will play "lights out" against us. They always do. They will be amped. They are playing for a bowl game (that bowl streak is VERY IMPORTANT to them). They (and their fans) will say and do ANYTHING to cause us to lose focus. They will want to drag us down to their level and make it a slugfest. I would not be surprised if a pregame fight occurs.
D. A lot of our guys have never been to Starkville as an Ole Miss Rebel. CLK "THOUGHT" he had been there while an assistant at Alabama. He stated after the game in 2021, "I get it now". They will ring those bells throughout the game, they will push the envelope on the public address system, and they will dare the league office and the officials to do anything to them.
E. Will CLK make adjustments in the run game to offset their anticipated alignment (they took away the inside zone last year by playing 1 and 2 tech with their DTs last year and we didn't adjust) to open up the passing lanes? We made their LBs look like All-SEC players last year by simply being hard-headed! Will Jayden Williams be able to play? His return would really help our OL issues.
Postseason Possibilities
I found myself watching several games Saturday that I would normally have no interest in, such as Louisville - Miami, Penn State - Rutgers, Missouri - Florida. None of the teams that could have "helped" us did, much to my chagrin. I really want a bowl game against a "sexy" opponent such as Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame, etc. I think the possibilities are still there, but Miami and Florida really had a chance to catapult us into the NY6 conversation and just failed to make it happen. Bottom line, the Nettleton legend and I plan to attend whatever bowl game we get. There is plenty of time to talk about all of that in due time. All focus should be on MSU right now!
Poll of Readers
I got a call today from a fellow military guy ( he actually used to work for OM ROTC) who has a couple of tickets to the MSU game on Thursday (His wife isn't going). He asked if I would be interested in going. What do my fellow RGers think? Full disclosure of my dilemma:
A. I was a senior at Ole Miss in 1991-1992 (umgrad92) when the game returned to campus for the first time, in Starkville. I attended the MSU game every year in Jackson from 1977 (F-I-R-E, FIRE Ken Cooper was the chant in the bathroom after an 18-14 loss in the rain) until 1990 (I loved Dog Brewer!) so I bought a student ticket to attend ($15), but I decided that it wasn't worth it to go to Starkville due to the predicted bad weather. We lost 24-9 to Jackie Sherrill's first MSU team. I vowed to NEVER attend the MSU game in Starkville after hearing some of the tales from my friends who did attend. Too much to type here.
B. I relented on my vow in 2001. It was Eli's sophomore year. MSU was bad (Rosebowl's prediction season). We had beat LSU to go 6-1 (I was there) and then lost to Arkansas in 6OT. We needed to win to go to a bowl game. I went with one of my assistant coaches who had tickets. We sat right by the Ole Miss band (those are loud seats, just saying). It was a miserable night. We got beat, and on the way back to the car, a kid who couldn't be more than 12 came up to me and rang his cowbell right our face, screaming, "GTHOM!" His father was right there, seemingly encouraging the behavior. I just looked at him and told him what a horrible example he was setting. Ended up having to walk away from a confrontation. I vowed, "NEVER AGAIN!"
C. I AGAIN (gluten for punishment) broke my vow in 2013. One of my assistant coaches ( a different one) had 2 tickets and asked me to go. I was excited about the CHF era, the 2013 class, etc. So, I went. We were again the better team, but we played like crap, Dak came back from a "career-ending" nerve injury to play, which made the place a zoo, and Bo fumbled going into the end zone to tie in OT, then gets "tea bagged" by Nico Whitley (sp) while lying on the turf. Getting out of there was a nightmare. We endured several "episodes" of verbal harassment on the way out. I could have easily gone to jail that night. Thankfully, I was sober as a judge so my desire to remain off the front page of the paper outweighed the desire to avenge the verbal vitriol being spewed by those fine folks. I AGAIN made the vow "NEVER AGAIN!"
So, RGers, that is the backstory. I have purchased tickets to Scott Field to attend the MSU game 3 times (actually went twice). We are 0-3. We had the better team the last 2 times. I now have an invitation from a good friend to go back to that scene again. He even said, "It should be better this time than the last time" when I told him about my previous experiences. What is your opinion? If I can figure out how to do it, I will make a poll. If I can't, let me know what you think in the comments. LFG! Beat MSU!
When I write this weekly post, I try to put myself in the shoes of my fellow RG members and ask myself, "What would I want to read about when reflecting about the game this past weekend?" Well, when I posed that question in my head, the answer was, "NOTHING about that game, let's talk about what lies ahead!" That said, I am going to speak briefly (question actually) about a few things related to the ULM game, then focus on the MSU game and the postseason possibilities.
ULM game
Most of the things that I saw in the ULM game were things (and players) that I DIDN'T see. The lethargic start by the team forced the starters to have to play much longer than most all Red and Blue supporters hoped. This resulted in not being able to give our starters some rest and play some guys that needed some game action.
Walker Howard didn't get any snaps. Sanders only got 8 snaps. Judkins and Bentley had to play deep into the 2nd half. The OL had several guys play 60 or more snaps. How do you develop depth and continuity as a unit, a weakness that was exposed at Georgia, when the backups get minimal snaps?
Same for the WRs. The starting WRs played extensively. Ayden Williams with only 9 snaps? Cayden Lee, whom I predicted when he signed would be a freshman who would get substantial playing time, only got 8 snaps, but showed a flash of the future with his TD scamper on a short pass. The exclamation of this game for me was when Dart hit Watkins in stride for a TD on a post route and Watkins,... WATKINS... inexplicably missed the ball completely, as it hit him in the facemask and fell to the ground. He NEVER misses a pass. Prieskorn played 70 snaps. Wolfe didn't play at all. Is he hurt again? Kyrin Heath didn't play either. Is he hurt?
On defense, our only 5-star player, Perkins, only playing 16 snaps...against ULM? Did he get hurt? Josh Harris only got 4 snaps? Deshawn Gaddie, who has been in the game at some critical times this year (LSU and aTm come to mind) only played 18 snaps. I am not at practice, the locker room, in day-to-day interactions, etc. but this game was a microcosm of the mind-boggling process our staff uses to determine playing time. It is something that is obviously above my pay grade.
The game was frustrating to watch, for sure. Giving credit where due, ULM had a good game plan, They played to keep it close, bled the play clock and were able to keep our offense off the field for much of the 2nd quarter after our D had got 3 straight 3 and outs to start the game. Our offense did nothing with the early stops. We missed a FG, scored a TD, and turned the ball over on downs in the red zone with our possessions in the 1st and only had a 7-0 lead when it should have been at least 17-0.
That said, we had drill at Camp Shelby the weekend that ULM played USM, so I attended the game, which was USM's military appreciation game (The loudest cheer from our group was when we watched the aTm kick get blocked on one of our guy's phone!) so I KNEW that ULM had no chance of winning the game, that it was just a matter of time before we stretched the lead. CLK and staff knew that too, which befuddled me when it got to 28-3. Why didn't we pull everyone at that point?
MSU game
With all due respect to the Clarion Ledger, who coined the term "Egg Bowl" in 1977, I have come to the conclusion that, while we need to make sure we don't lose focus on the importance of the MSU game, as happened during the CHDN years, we should not make it out to be a be all to end all type game like MSU does. Therefore, I refuse to refer to the game as the "Egg Bowl". My relatives who are MSU fans (I have several, unfortunately) are typical. They care nothing about any other game when compared to their zeal for our game and root for anyone and anything that is against Ole Miss (openly pulling for Missouri to beat Florida while watching at my house, for example).
I would love to see us advocate for moving the game to the middle of the schedule and playing LSU at the end, ala Michigan vs Michigan State/Ohio State. I look forward to the LSU game. It is fun. We lose more than we should (not this year though) in the game, something that we have got to rectify, but it is a fun rivalry.
I absolutely DREAD the MSU game. It is something that I just look forward to getting over with. If I am being totally honest, it takes some of the joy out of Thanksgiving. I wish that weren't the truth, but it is.
As for the game, we should be prohibitive favorites to win. We are the better team. We have better players at most every position. That said, I think it is important for me to stress a couple of points:
A. Most of the players for both teams are the same as last year, we had the better team last year, and we all know how that turned out. (the most upset I have EVER been by an Ole Miss loss, for several reasons that we all know, so I won't rehash here) Bottom line, the best team doesn't always win. We have to look no further than last year for an example.
B. They have had a couple of key guys return from injury, just in time for our game. (Not sure of Marks's status, but I would bet he plays)
C. Their guys will play "lights out" against us. They always do. They will be amped. They are playing for a bowl game (that bowl streak is VERY IMPORTANT to them). They (and their fans) will say and do ANYTHING to cause us to lose focus. They will want to drag us down to their level and make it a slugfest. I would not be surprised if a pregame fight occurs.
D. A lot of our guys have never been to Starkville as an Ole Miss Rebel. CLK "THOUGHT" he had been there while an assistant at Alabama. He stated after the game in 2021, "I get it now". They will ring those bells throughout the game, they will push the envelope on the public address system, and they will dare the league office and the officials to do anything to them.
E. Will CLK make adjustments in the run game to offset their anticipated alignment (they took away the inside zone last year by playing 1 and 2 tech with their DTs last year and we didn't adjust) to open up the passing lanes? We made their LBs look like All-SEC players last year by simply being hard-headed! Will Jayden Williams be able to play? His return would really help our OL issues.
Postseason Possibilities
I found myself watching several games Saturday that I would normally have no interest in, such as Louisville - Miami, Penn State - Rutgers, Missouri - Florida. None of the teams that could have "helped" us did, much to my chagrin. I really want a bowl game against a "sexy" opponent such as Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame, etc. I think the possibilities are still there, but Miami and Florida really had a chance to catapult us into the NY6 conversation and just failed to make it happen. Bottom line, the Nettleton legend and I plan to attend whatever bowl game we get. There is plenty of time to talk about all of that in due time. All focus should be on MSU right now!
Poll of Readers
I got a call today from a fellow military guy ( he actually used to work for OM ROTC) who has a couple of tickets to the MSU game on Thursday (His wife isn't going). He asked if I would be interested in going. What do my fellow RGers think? Full disclosure of my dilemma:
A. I was a senior at Ole Miss in 1991-1992 (umgrad92) when the game returned to campus for the first time, in Starkville. I attended the MSU game every year in Jackson from 1977 (F-I-R-E, FIRE Ken Cooper was the chant in the bathroom after an 18-14 loss in the rain) until 1990 (I loved Dog Brewer!) so I bought a student ticket to attend ($15), but I decided that it wasn't worth it to go to Starkville due to the predicted bad weather. We lost 24-9 to Jackie Sherrill's first MSU team. I vowed to NEVER attend the MSU game in Starkville after hearing some of the tales from my friends who did attend. Too much to type here.
B. I relented on my vow in 2001. It was Eli's sophomore year. MSU was bad (Rosebowl's prediction season). We had beat LSU to go 6-1 (I was there) and then lost to Arkansas in 6OT. We needed to win to go to a bowl game. I went with one of my assistant coaches who had tickets. We sat right by the Ole Miss band (those are loud seats, just saying). It was a miserable night. We got beat, and on the way back to the car, a kid who couldn't be more than 12 came up to me and rang his cowbell right our face, screaming, "GTHOM!" His father was right there, seemingly encouraging the behavior. I just looked at him and told him what a horrible example he was setting. Ended up having to walk away from a confrontation. I vowed, "NEVER AGAIN!"
C. I AGAIN (gluten for punishment) broke my vow in 2013. One of my assistant coaches ( a different one) had 2 tickets and asked me to go. I was excited about the CHF era, the 2013 class, etc. So, I went. We were again the better team, but we played like crap, Dak came back from a "career-ending" nerve injury to play, which made the place a zoo, and Bo fumbled going into the end zone to tie in OT, then gets "tea bagged" by Nico Whitley (sp) while lying on the turf. Getting out of there was a nightmare. We endured several "episodes" of verbal harassment on the way out. I could have easily gone to jail that night. Thankfully, I was sober as a judge so my desire to remain off the front page of the paper outweighed the desire to avenge the verbal vitriol being spewed by those fine folks. I AGAIN made the vow "NEVER AGAIN!"
So, RGers, that is the backstory. I have purchased tickets to Scott Field to attend the MSU game 3 times (actually went twice). We are 0-3. We had the better team the last 2 times. I now have an invitation from a good friend to go back to that scene again. He even said, "It should be better this time than the last time" when I told him about my previous experiences. What is your opinion? If I can figure out how to do it, I will make a poll. If I can't, let me know what you think in the comments. LFG! Beat MSU!
