Jevan Snead and Ole Miss

[Lando Calrissian]

On their opening drive, they threw a 4yd pass on 3rd & 12.

If that doesn't scream "NUTT" then I don't know what else does.

[hogcoots]

I am not convinced that Ole Mrs. schedule is as friendly as others are saying.  You take LSU and Alabama at home for instance.  They will bring a good game and likely losses.  VH stadium is not imposing and does not provide a big advantage in big games.  You turn around and have Vandy away and a team that traditionally gives MOTHO problems can be a road loss easily.  You must defend the home field advantage.  It is critical for the success of the year.  The Debs better get ready because I believe that this year's motto of "Unsatisfied" will be relevant for many years to come.

[toozakpig]

The thing I noticed was put pressure on Sneed and he will trow the ball up for grabs. Watching I could only imagine what bama's, lsu's, miss st and ark's defensive scheme's will be. We will see many exoctic bliz's taking place.

[NWAFellows]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but did you guys not almost lose to Western Illinois AND Louisiana-Monroe last year in your first two games? 

We weren't ranked #8 in the nation with a QB who was being touted as a potential Heisman candidate.

You of all people should know how Nutt operates by now. He doesn't get better from high expectations, he regresses until he's the underdog again at which point he'll rah rah the team for a huge win followed by a loss or close game at home to a Division II cupcake.

The man exudes mediocrity, he just does it in waves.

[rebelbruiser]

Difference - Our OB was not ranked#2 in the SEC and we did not have much left.  We also had not won our  bowl. 
In saying that look at your QB's stat and the one that should upset you the most is he went from having 2 interceptions in 5 games to 2 in one game

A QB of skill set should of come in as a leader and tore it up.  It should not have taken him two quarters to get into the game even if it was Memphis

Your QB had what a 55% completion rate - When USC with a freshman who played a harder team had a 79% completion rate  620 yards of offense -
That is the difference between BCS and a  bowl  - Plus look at the stable at USC - So as you all want to move up in the polls this is what will prevent you from being in the big game

You had 349 of total offense - vs - USC 620, Hogs 591, Tide 498
Mizzou - 442 Texas - 562

Your experienced offense has no excuse for not turning it on and using your second string in the second quarter

Snead was awful early on, and our O-line was shaky.  That's what happened.  Snead had one problem last year when he was struggling, and that was with his footwork, which caused him to overthrow balls.  Yesterday, all of his bad throws were because he didn't have his footwork right, and he was overthrowing receivers.

That's something he has to battle, and once he gets into a rhythm, he'll be fine.

As I said, it was Game 1.  I'll be more worried if we don't show improvement when we play South Carolina.

If you guys were as critical of Alabama last year, you'd have said they'd go 6-6 after watching them need a blocked punt and a punt return to beat Tulane by 2 TDs.  We'll play better.  We finally turned it on in the 4th quarter, and it got ugly.  I'm fine with any win, as long as it's a win.

You also have to remember, we played a team that is likely going to be bowling at the end of the season.  They weren't Va. Tech, but they also weren't a 1AA cupcake that allowed us to disguise any rustiness.  Arkansas fans of all people should understand that Memphis isn't the same as a 1AA team.  If my memory serves, you lost something like 3 straight to them before backing out on the final game of the contract.  I believe you guys technically still owe Memphis a game.

As for now, I'll enjoy people proclaiming our death after a 31 point win.  It wasn't pretty, but it was a win.

On another note, you may not recall, but our 2003 team lost to Memphis early in that season, Eli's senior year.  Our defense was anemic, and our offense failed to capitalize when it should.  We went 7-1 in SEC play with our only conference loss coming by 3 to the eventual national champions, LSU.  What you see in week 1 is not what you'll see in weeks 4, 5, 10, 11, etc.  We looked rusty.  We have an off week and a scrimmage against SELA to work out the kinks before we face a real opponent.

[rebelbruiser]

By the way, I think you should read Gary Parrish's article on our game.  I think he hits the nail on the head.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/12167250

Essentially he said, for the detractors (you and some others), you see our performance as a sign that we won't compete with anyone this year.  For the believers (me and some others), it's seen as the worst we'll play this year.  And he's right that it's probably somewhere in between.  Honestly, Week 1 is always like that, because in reality, you never know how good or bad the team you are playing is or how good or bad you are until everyone starts playing other opponents.

Example, Clemson last year was not quite as big of a win for Bama as was first believed.  They turned out to be mediocre.  And on the flip side, the loss by Clemson to Bama was not as bad of a loss as was first believed, because Bama was for real.

By the way, it should be mentioned that during the pregame, our trainer came on the radio and said that we had 8 players that were playing with the flu or flu symptoms yesterday, including Shay Hodge, our best receiver, and Johnny Brown, the starting strong safety that still managed 15 tackles.  Brown was obviously very good, but Hodge was not his usual self.

[hognc2010]

Rebelbrusier
My issue was how the Ole Miss fans are not more concern that there highly rated QB was not prepared and that is the Headcoaches fault.

Other top 10 schools turned it on outside of Oklahoma - USC had a true freshman and they did not play a cupcake.  Look at the Mizzou QB first year tore up Illni and the Illni was a much better team than Memphis.
 
My issue with your game is Sneed was not prepared and shame on the coaching staff for not working in spring and summer on the footwork.

You all will have a decent season just remember your QB did not improve that is what should concern you.  There is no reason he had NO passes to a TE.  Make sure if this trend continues in the future you will have an issue recruiting that position.

In 1998 we played Memphis we won HDN coach - And if I recall it was HDN who wanted the series to end - The time before we played was 1992 -1994 yes we lost however 1995 Razorbacks won then in 1998 won as HDN as coach then he canceled the series .

It is HDN who didn't want to play them.  Hope that helps  Doesn't he want Ole Miss to cancel your series with them??

By the way a team ranked number 8 should never look rusty they should look like winners they are are no where in comparison.

Rebel I have no issue with you or Sneed I am frustrated a coach is doing this to another young man who has potential

By the way Southeastern LA had 379 yards of passing this pastweekend.

[donewithdale]

That was definitely a Nutt influenced offense yesterday.  He may be allowing Austin to coach some.  But the overwhelming number of horizontal short passes wreaks of Nutt.  Two plays illustrate this is becoming Nuttball.  One of his favorite plays is to run the offense up to the line and quick snap.  Everytime this happens it will be a pitch to the TB.  And going back to the 2000 Cotton Bowl, if Nutt's team is backed up inside the 5, he will call max protect and send one wr deep in hopes of at least getting a penalty.  Just an observation and warning for you Reb fans.


Snead looks like a very average SEC qb just like he did much of last season.  He can't even throw a deep out due to lack of arm strength.  I thought OM's lines would be better as well.  McCluster is also small to be taking that kind of beating running so many wildcat plays.  Will be interesting to see how long he lasts vs SEC defenses.


OM should fall out of the top 10 or at least behind Okie St and Cal.

[hognc2010]

By the way, I think you should read Gary Parrish's article on our game.  I think he hits the nail on the head.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/12167250

Essentially he said, for the detractors (you and some others), you see our performance as a sign that we won't compete with anyone this year.  For the believers (me and some others), it's seen as the worst we'll play this year.  And he's right that it's probably somewhere in between.  Honestly, Week 1 is always like that, because in reality, you never know how good or bad the team you are playing is or how good or bad you are until everyone starts playing other opponents.

Example, Clemson last year was not quite as big of a win for Bama as was first believed.  They turned out to be mediocre.  And on the flip side, the loss by Clemson to Bama was not as bad of a loss as was first believed, because Bama was for real.

By the way, it should be mentioned that during the pregame, our trainer came on the radio and said that we had 8 players that were playing with the flu or flu symptoms yesterday, including Shay Hodge, our best receiver, and Johnny Brown, the starting strong safety that still managed 15 tackles.  Brown was obviously very good, but Hodge was not his usual self.

Same excuses we heard for 10 years -
I still say a Top 10 team needs to play better - Compare yourself to those not us as that is who you are being compared to because if Sneed were to get hurt you are in the same boat as Oklahoma.  Ohio State they played bad but USC, Alabama,Virgina Tech(even with the loss),Texas, Flordia - They were prepared.

Believe the excuses but you are a top ten team  and not being prepared is not right.

[hognc2010]

I did notice one thing
You do know you now have a division- We had the darkside and huggers

You have the believers and detractors  -

I personally felt sorry for Your QB

[tim9756]

So bruiser, you are predicting Memphis as a bowl team.  they are dogs to Middle Tenn. this weekend.

[rebelbruiser]

Rebelbrusier
My issue was how the Ole Miss fans are not more concern that there highly rated QB was not prepared and that is the Headcoaches fault.

Other top 10 schools turned it on outside of Oklahoma - USC had a true freshman and they did not play a cupcake.  Look at the Mizzou QB first year tore up Illni and the Illni was a much better team than Memphis.
 
My issue with your game is Sneed was not prepared and shame on the coaching staff for not working in spring and summer on the footwork.

You all will have a decent season just remember your QB did not improve that is what should concern you.  There is no reason he had NO passes to a TE.  Make sure if this trend continues in the future you will have an issue recruiting that position.

In 1998 we played Memphis we won HDN coach - And if I recall it was HDN who wanted the series to end - The time before we played was 1992 -1994 yes we lost however 1995 Razorbacks won then in 1998 won as HDN as coach then he canceled the series .

It is HDN who didn't want to play them.  Hope that helps  Doesn't he want Ole Miss to cancel your series with them??

By the way a team ranked number 8 should never look rusty they should look like winners they are are no where in comparison.

Rebel I have no issue with you or Sneed I am frustrated a coach is doing this to another young man who has potential

By the way Southeastern LA had 379 yards of passing this pastweekend.

On the TE thing, the reason there were no passes to the TE is that our starter was playing on a pulled hamstring, and he was limited in what he could do athletically.  The other TEs that played behind him were both redshirt freshmen that they didn't trust with the football.  When Harris is back to 100%, we should be throwing the ball a few more times to him.

Still, I don't expect a ton of balls thrown his way, because he's not a superb pass catching TE.  He's a very good blocking TE and a decent pass catcher.

On the Memphis note, that's coming from our AD.  Nutt has said he likes the series.  The AD had set it up to be cancelled before Nutt arrived.

If a team ranked No. 8 shouldn't look rusty, should a team ranked No. 6 or 11, or what about No. 13, or a team ranked No. 3?  All of those teams looked rusty this weekend, and most of them had to do with the fact that they weren't playing 1AA cupcakes.

[rebelbruiser]

I did notice one thing
You do know you now have a division- We had the darkside and huggers

You have the believers and detractors  -

I personally felt sorry for Your QB

Parrish was speaking nationally, as was I, not within our fanbase.  I don't know anyone that's anti-Nutt right now in our fanbase.

Whether we like it or not, most "experts" have an opinion on us one way or another, and they are either a believer or a detractor.  The only division I see in our fanbase right now are those that are expecting a national title or SEC title and those that believe we shouldn't be upset with a 9 win season and a good bowl.

[rebelbruiser]

Same excuses we heard for 10 years -
I still say a Top 10 team needs to play better - Compare yourself to those not us as that is who you are being compared to because if Sneed were to get hurt you are in the same boat as Oklahoma.  Ohio State they played bad but USC, Alabama,Virgina Tech(even with the loss),Texas, Flordia - They were prepared.

Believe the excuses but you are a top ten team  and not being prepared is not right.

How can you say that about Florida and Texas?  They played huge cupcakes.  You can't get a read off those games.  You're going to look good when you've got the opponent that outmanned at every spot.  Memphis isn't a great team, but they actually have a handful of athletes that would start at most SEC schools, which is more than Charleston Southern and La.-Monroe could say.

[rebelbruiser]

That was definitely a Nutt influenced offense yesterday.  He may be allowing Austin to coach some.  But the overwhelming number of horizontal short passes wreaks of Nutt.  Two plays illustrate this is becoming Nuttball.  One of his favorite plays is to run the offense up to the line and quick snap.  Everytime this happens it will be a pitch to the TB.  And going back to the 2000 Cotton Bowl, if Nutt's team is backed up inside the 5, he will call max protect and send one wr deep in hopes of at least getting a penalty.  Just an observation and warning for you Reb fans.


Snead looks like a very average SEC qb just like he did much of last season.  He can't even throw a deep out due to lack of arm strength.  I thought OM's lines would be better as well.  McCluster is also small to be taking that kind of beating running so many wildcat plays.  Will be interesting to see how long he lasts vs SEC defenses.


OM should fall out of the top 10 or at least behind Okie St and Cal.

You are so far out of touch with reality.  Snead has a weak arm?  You don't have a clue.

McCluster is too small?  He's the same size as Percy Harvin, and he gets the same kind of touches Harvin got.  Plus, Dex is as tough an SOB as you'll ever see.  He got the same number of touches last year and lasted the whole season.

And a team should drop in the polls after winning by 30 on the road?  I know we looked shaky, but if you're being evenhanded, then you should expect to see LSU drop in the polls too because they didn't look very good against a team that went 0-12 last year.

[RickyRoma]

How can you say that about Florida and Texas?  They played huge cupcakes.  You can't get a read off those games.  You're going to look good when you've got the opponent that outmanned at every spot.  Memphis isn't a great team, but they actually have a handful of athletes that would start at most SEC schools, which is more than Charleston Southern and La.-Monroe could say.

Classic nut/nut supporter tactic...

Talk about how great Memphis is and make excuses for your players.  Keep up the good work.

[rebelbruiser]

Classic nut/nut supporter tactic...

Talk about how great Memphis is and make excuses for your players.  Keep up the good work.

Memphis is not a great team, but they are not Charleston Southern or La.-Monroe.  Memphis actually has some SEC caliber athletes, and they had transfers that were all BCS caliber players.  They had players from Auburn, Wisconsin, Miami, LSU, MSU, and other BCS programs that transferred in after being kicked off of their other teams.  If we had opened with SELA instead of Memphis, we would've won by 40 easily, and we'd have looked better doing it.

It's one freaking week, a week when a lot of teams were playing 1AA cupcakes, and you guys are acting like you can project the whole season on it.  That's what's laughable.

By the way, this is exactly what I predicted.  It wouldn't matter if we went 14-0 this year and won the national title, this board, and your fans in particular would be talking about how bad we looked doing it.  Like every team in the country, I feel like we have things we need to work on and things we need to do better in the future, but as of today, we have a 31 point win under our belt and 2 and a half weeks to get ready for the next real test.

[stronguard]

Snead completed about 55% of his passes against Memphis and threw too many INT's.  If you look at his stats last year, he did the same thing.

I've been saying this all off season but Snead is not a big time college QB.

I'm with you.  Any QB that would transfer because they don't want to compete is probably not worth much.  I've failed to be impressed with Snead at any time.  He will be lucky to be a 2nd round draft pick after NuttyBuddy gets done with him.

We looked worse last year at this time.  It's a long year, and we have 3 weeks before we play another real opponent.  I wouldn't get too excited yet.  We played awful for most of the first 3 quarters offensively, and we still put the game away against a team that's not typically a pushover.

C'mon Bruiser.  Admit it, you're starting to get nervouse.  A little voice in your head is screaming "What if all those Hog fans were right?!?!"  Its ok man, we've all been there.  When you get ready to see the light, find me, I will personally make sure that the I told you so's are kept to a minimum.

[dhornjr1]

Never mind that Garry Parrish, his radio partner Geoff Calkins, and his other buddy from 730 Fox Sports in Memphis, Chris Vernon, are three of the biggest Nutt apologists in the Mid-South.

Vernon and Parrish would crawl 20 miles on broken glass just to sniff the tire tracks of the laundry truck that carried Nutt's jock.

[hognc2010]

Rebelbruiser you are missing the point  - 
The point your team was not ready to play.  They not us went to Memphis and thought they were going to be a cupcake

Second the same play calling we had and a good QB not ready

Third  - If those young men had the flu your coach should have never let them play. That is wrong - He had to let them play because he has no depth or convidence in the players who were not sick.  This was a very selfish thing to do playing sick kids and not thinking about the other team. 

Fourth - Compare your performance to USC, Texas and Floridia who played teams that were as good as Memphis and in the top 10.

Fifth - Many of the guys at Memphis - Didn't make grades or were walk ons at other university

Yes its freaking week one and your team was not prepared. 

[rebelbruiser]

Rebelbruiser you are missing the point  - 
The point your team was not ready to play.  They not us went to Memphis and thought they were going to be a cupcake

Second the same play calling we had and a good QB not ready

Third  - If those young men had the flu your coach should have never let them play. That is wrong - He had to let them play because he has no depth or convidence in the players who were not sick.  This was a very selfish thing to do playing sick kids and not thinking about the other team. 

Fourth - Compare your performance to USC, Texas and Floridia who played teams that were as good as Memphis and in the top 10.

Fifth - Many of the guys at Memphis - Didn't make grades or were walk ons at other university

Yes its freaking week one and your team was not prepared.

Again, I'll worry about it if we're not playing better in 3 weeks when we go to SC.  Regardless of how we played in the 2nd and 3rd quarter, that was the best game we've played against Memphis since at least 2002 if not before.  I'll take a 31 point win every day in the opener and deal with working out the kinks after that.

[RickyRoma]

Memphis is not a great team, but they are not Charleston Southern or La.-Monroe.  Memphis actually has some SEC caliber athletes, and they had transfers that were all BCS caliber players.  They had players from Auburn, Wisconsin, Miami, LSU, MSU, and other BCS programs that transferred in after being kicked off of their other teams.  If we had opened with SELA instead of Memphis, we would've won by 40 easily, and we'd have looked better doing it.

It's one freaking week, a week when a lot of teams were playing 1AA cupcakes, and you guys are acting like you can project the whole season on it.  That's what's laughable.

By the way, this is exactly what I predicted.  It wouldn't matter if we went 14-0 this year and won the national title, this board, and your fans in particular would be talking about how bad we looked doing it.  Like every team in the country, I feel like we have things we need to work on and things we need to do better in the future, but as of today, we have a 31 point win under our belt and 2 and a half weeks to get ready for the next real test.

That game was a lot closer than 31pts.  And since we're talking about it,  classy move by your "coach"  on your last possession trying to throw the ball when the game was in hand.  When you have to play your starters until the end against Memphis, you suck.  I know you think they are a BCS contender, but you can go sell it somewhere else.

[The Hogfather]

Parrish was speaking nationally, as was I, not within our fanbase.  I don't know anyone that's anti-Nutt right now in our fanbase.

Whether we like it or not, most "experts" have an opinion on us one way or another, and they are either a believer or a detractor.  The only division I see in our fanbase right now are those that are expecting a national title or SEC title and those that believe we shouldn't be upset with a 9 win season and a good bowl.

Parrish is a basketball writer from Mississippi:

Gary Parrish is CBSSports.com's college basketball columnist.

He was named a Senior Writer in July 2006 after seven years at the Commercial Appeal. There, he covered John Calipari's Memphis Tigers for five seasons and, among other things, exposed the "Albert Means Recruiting Scandal" that made Alabama's Logan Young the first booster in NCAA history to be sentenced to prison for essentially buying a prospect.

Parrish now spends his days writing columns, blogging and addressing issues in college basketball, both large and small. His hope is that he can consistently make you laugh, cry, think and better understand the sport that provides America's best postseason.

Parrish is from Mississippi.

He still lives there with his wife, son and dog

http://www.cbssports.com/columns/writers/parrish/bio

In other words, he's full of shirt....

[The Hogfather]

Again, I'll worry about it if we're not playing better in 3 weeks when we go to SC.  Regardless of how we played in the 2nd and 3rd quarter, that was the best game we've played against Memphis since at least 2002 if not before.  I'll take a 31 point win every day in the opener and deal with working out the kinks after that.

Tell me you weren't shirting your pants watching that game.....

You thought you were going to lose to Memphis in the first game of the season!  I bet you were sweating bullets.

[rebelbruiser]

That game was a lot closer than 31pts.  And since we're talking about it,  classy move by your "coach"  on your last possession trying to throw the ball when the game was in hand.  When you have to play your starters until the end against Memphis, you suck.  I know you think they are a BCS contender, but you can go sell it somewhere else.

That was our second team OL, our second team QB, our 3rd string RB, and 2 freshmen WRs that were running 3rd team.  They were all reserves, and we were trying to get them game experience.  We only attempted 1 pass in 6 plays, and it was a sack.

[RickyRoma]

the sun was in the player's eyes, it was raining really hard, it was a full moon, the other team kept saying mean things to our players, all of our good players either had the swine flu or ebola, etc...

it's not a lie if you believe it.

[donewithdale]

You are so far out of touch with reality.  Snead has a weak arm?  You don't have a clue.

McCluster is too small?  He's the same size as Percy Harvin, and he gets the same kind of touches Harvin got.  Plus, Dex is as tough an SOB as you'll ever see.  He got the same number of touches last year and lasted the whole season.

And a team should drop in the polls after winning by 30 on the road?  I know we looked shaky, but if you're being evenhanded, then you should expect to see LSU drop in the polls too because they didn't look very good against a team that went 0-12 last year.

You need to learn how to read.  I didn't say weak.  I pointed out that he could not throw a deep out without floating the ball across the field giving time for a CUSA db to get there.  Unimpressive. 

[jkstock04]

Snead was awful early on, and our O-line was shaky.  That's what happened.  Snead had one problem last year when he was struggling, and that was with his footwork, which caused him to overthrow balls.  Yesterday, all of his bad throws were because he didn't have his footwork right, and he was overthrowing receivers.

Respectfully, you just don't get it.  Snead is not the problem, I promise you.  It's the Mickey Mouse offense that Houston Nutt is accustomed to.  I promise you if Tim Tebow was playing QB under Nutt he would look awful.

I didn't watch much of the game, but I didn't have to know what is going on.  The recievers in Nutt's offense run weak weak routes making it difficult for the QB to succeed.  As stated above if it's 3rd and 12 Nutt wants to throw a 3 or 4 yard pass to the flats.  We've all been there done that. 

During the DMac/Felix years we were a badass rushing team, but if the opposing team stopped the run then the game was over with.  Remember me telling you this.

[bigdaddyhawg]

So, Rebelbruiser, you saw nothing in that game that concerned you beyond issues with the offensive line??

You weren't concerned with poorly timed TO's on third and 1's, only to run a smoke draw for no gain??

You weren't concerned that your team seemed ill prepared and played very poorly until the second half??

You didn't notice or don't really care about a very conservative offensive game called by Austin (?), as compared to how much more open your offense was during your run last fall??

None of this concerns you at all??

[bigdaddyhawg]

On the TE thing, the reason there were no passes to the TE is that our starter was playing on a pulled hamstring, and he was limited in what he could do athletically.  The other TEs that played behind him were both redshirt freshmen that they didn't trust with the football. 

Hey guys, how many times have we heard this BS??

No depth, no trusting players to do what they are on scholarship to do, etc.

It's like standing by the side of the tracks, watching a train wreck as it happens in slow motion.

[Cementhog]

Snead's footwork wasn't the issue Sunday. The issue was that his coach didn't have him prepared to play. He didn't seem to know what to do when he was flushed. IMO and this is the crux of the Nutt debate. We got too see all kinds of plays, in practice, but they never translated to the field. Just the lack of throws period. Forget about the TE's or over the middle. Snead was hyped for his ability to throw the ball and stretch the field. Where was that Sunday. Rebel I think you have great insight and comments about your team, and love for your Rebels. But even you have to admit that saying you don't throw to someone because you don't trust them is a terrible statement about you coach. Let the kid prove it on the field. You are better than that statement Rebel.

[The Hogfather]

Hey guys, how many times have we heard this BS??

No depth, no trusting players to do what they are on scholarship to do, etc.

It's like standing by the side of the tracks, watching a train wreck as it happens in slow motion.

I've come to the conclusion that rebelbruiser IS NUTT.  He doesn't just use his sayings/excuses sometimes, he uses them CONSTANTLY.

[farmhawg]

I've come to the conclusion that rebelbruiser IS NUTT.  He doesn't just use his sayings/excuses sometimes, he uses them CONSTANTLY.

Almost like reading a robert shields "column". Kick yourself in the arse after reading what he wrote.

[bigdaddyhawg]

I've come to the conclusion that rebelbruiser IS NUTT.  He doesn't just use his sayings/excuses sometimes, he uses them CONSTANTLY.

I have actually considered he may be on Hootie's staff somewhere down there, such as SID asst. or something like that, but he says he lives in Tennessee.

I suspected also for a while that Rebelbruiser might be Danny, but bruiser is brighter than Danny, so I disregarded that one.

He does have a lot of inside information, both from Hootie's time here and from OM as well.  I know anyone can get all the info. he comes up with, but it would take a lot of time to find it all.

And as you point out, he already has the whole list of excuses and justifications down pat.  I guess it's possible he's a quick learner, but he would have to take to them like a duck to water to be so proficient so quickly.

What say you, Rebelbruiser?  What are your connections down there?  Did you go across the river with Hootie and the rest of his MSM??

[Eddie Piggard]

now why does Sneads lack of footwork or improvement thereof scream incompetance, Rebel?  What the hell is the administration paying NumbNutt and his minions for if they aren't trying to make these guys better?  Do we need to send over some cinder blocks and ladders?

[rebelbruiser]

Hey guys, how many times have we heard this BS??

No depth, no trusting players to do what they are on scholarship to do, etc.

It's like standing by the side of the tracks, watching a train wreck as it happens in slow motion.

There is no rule that you have to throw to the TE.  If you don't have an athletic pass catching TE, you don't throw the ball to him a lot.  They weren't going to throw to Harris because he wasn't 100%, and it makes no sense to throw to a redshirt freshman TE when 1) it's their first game of live action, and 2) you have a stable of experienced receivers as other options.

If we had a Rufus French or a Kris Mangum or a Doug Zeigler, like we've had in the past, I'd expect us to throw to the TE.  As it stands, the only TE we have right now that I'd feel comfortable throwing the ball to was Harris, and he wasn't full speed Sunday.

It's a lot like the fullback spot.  If you have a fullback that's more of a bruiser that isn't that athletic and doesn't have great hands, you use him as a 6th blocker, but if you have a Peyton Hillis type fullback, you throw him passes and give him carries.  Just because you have a fullback doesn't mean you treat them all the same as a Peyton Hillis, and just because you have a TE doesn't mean you treat them all like a DJ Williams or Ben Cleveland.  If you did, it would be poor coaching.  You'll never see us split out our TE, because Harris isn't like DJ Williams.

Offensively, you put the ball in the hands of your best and trusted playmakers.  For us, those are guys like Brandon Bolden, McCluster, and Hodge.  Gerald Harris, when 100%, will be a viable option as well, but we shouldn't be throwing it to the TE and wasting a touch on the TE unless we feel like he's enough of a playmaker to warrant it.  Harris will get touches this year when he's full speed.  His back ups will get very minimal touches, if any, because they aren't ready to shoulder that load yet.

[razobak]

You've been saying that Snead was just rusty in the game Sunday....perhaps that is because in your scrimmages your genius (I use that term VERY lightly) of a coach had him throw eleven (11) passes the whole time.  Whereas, we had two quarterbacks get extensive reps during our scrimmages, somewhere around 50 passes a piece.  You don't get better and you don't stay effective if you don't get the practice and scrimmage reps you need to stay sharp.  Snead needs to get out of Lol Miss and needs to go pro yesterday....his stock is as high as it's going to get.  QB killa baby!

[rebelbruiser]

You've been saying that Snead was just rusty in the game Sunday....perhaps that is because in your scrimmages your genius (I use that term VERY lightly) of a coach had him throw eleven (11) passes the whole time.  Whereas, we had two quarterbacks get extensive reps during our scrimmages, somewhere around 50 passes a piece.  You don't get better and you don't stay effective if you don't get the practice and scrimmage reps you need to stay sharp.  Snead needs to get out of Lol Miss and needs to go pro yesterday....his stock is as high as it's going to get.  QB killa baby!

It's possible there may be something to that, and maybe we did spend too much time trying to develop our depth, but that's over now.  If he was just rusty, he's got just over 2 weeks to shake that rust off.  If he's clicking by the time we play SC on the 24th, then we'll be fine. 

Right now, that's the next thing I'm worried about, beating SC.  I think our defense will have an easier time against SC than they did against Memphis, because SC runs a more conventional offense, and our pass rush will play a bigger factor.  I feel like 21 points should be enough for us to beat SC.  We just have to work out the kinks on our OL and Snead needs to regain his form, like he did in the 2nd half Sunday.  If that happens, we shouldn't have a problem getting to 21.

[donewithdale]

I have actually considered he may be on Hootie's staff somewhere down there, such as SID asst. or something like that, but he says he lives in Tennessee.

I suspected also for a while that Rebelbruiser might be Danny, but bruiser is brighter than Danny, so I disregarded that one.

He does have a lot of inside information, both from Hootie's time here and from OM as well.  I know anyone can get all the info. he comes up with, but it would take a lot of time to find it all.

And as you point out, he already has the whole list of excuses and justifications down pat.  I guess it's possible he's a quick learner, but he would have to take to them like a duck to water to be so proficient so quickly.

What say you, Rebelbruiser?  What are your connections down there?  Did you go across the river with Hootie and the rest of his MSM??

bruiser is very much like BlindHogChitlin or other BAC plants from our Rivals board from the earlier part of this decade.  His spin is extremely similar to comments they used to make although he appears to believe he is providing us some kind of revelations about Nutt. 

Snead's 4th qtr improvement is as much of an aberration as his supposed improvement at the end of last season.  A qb does not get better when practice time is given to running gimmick plays that does not involve him, the power running game and a short horizontal passing game.  The last TD was against almost no coverage as the DB was playing off and to the outside and allowed the receiver to run the post without even being close until after the ball arrived.  Most any college qb at any level would have completed that with ease.

[razobak]

True.  21 points should beat SC...they looked really bad against a very mediocre NC State team Thursday night.  Of course that could also be due to first game jitters and such.  By the time you play them they'll be coming off a tough game vs. Georgia and a not-so-tough game vs. Florida Atlantic, and first game jitters should be long gone by then.  They do have a STOUT defense though...that Norwood guy is scary good.

[rebelbruiser]

True.  21 points should beat SC...they looked really bad against a very mediocre NC State team Thursday night.  Of course that could also be due to first game jitters and such.  By the time you play them they'll be coming off a tough game vs. Georgia and a not-so-tough game vs. Florida Atlantic, and first game jitters should be long gone by then.  They do have a STOUT defense though...that Norwood guy is scary good.

That's my biggest concern, whether our offense can keep the pass rush off Snead, and whether they can get to that 21 mark.  I have a feeling our defense will have a much easier time with SC's offense, because we match up better defensively against more conventional offenses.  I see us either winning easily if our offense is able to have success, or winning or losing a close low scoring game.  I don't see SC putting up a lot of points on us regardless of how much they're offense will improve by then.

[vandybuff]

Yeah, but it is the 'Dores that really frighten you, isn't it.  You can admit it -- I will not tell. 

all kidding aside, good luck to you and all the conference.

[bigdaddyhawg]

There is no rule that you have to throw to the TE.  If you don't have an athletic pass catching TE, you don't throw the ball to him a lot.  They weren't going to throw to Harris because he wasn't 100%, and it makes no sense to throw to a redshirt freshman TE when 1) it's their first game of live action, and 2) you have a stable of experienced receivers as other options.

If we had a Rufus French or a Kris Mangum or a Doug Zeigler, like we've had in the past, I'd expect us to throw to the TE.  As it stands, the only TE we have right now that I'd feel comfortable throwing the ball to was Harris, and he wasn't full speed Sunday.

It's a lot like the fullback spot.  If you have a fullback that's more of a bruiser that isn't that athletic and doesn't have great hands, you use him as a 6th blocker, but if you have a Peyton Hillis type fullback, you throw him passes and give him carries.  Just because you have a fullback doesn't mean you treat them all the same as a Peyton Hillis, and just because you have a TE doesn't mean you treat them all like a DJ Williams or Ben Cleveland.  If you did, it would be poor coaching.  You'll never see us split out our TE, because Harris isn't like DJ Williams.

Offensively, you put the ball in the hands of your best and trusted playmakers.  For us, those are guys like Brandon Bolden, McCluster, and Hodge.  Gerald Harris, when 100%, will be a viable option as well, but we shouldn't be throwing it to the TE and wasting a touch on the TE unless we feel like he's enough of a playmaker to warrant it.  Harris will get touches this year when he's full speed.  His back ups will get very minimal touches, if any, because they aren't ready to shoulder that load yet.

I'm sure you're not aware of this, but you just spent four paragraphs agreeing with me. 

No depth, no trusting players to do what they are on scholarship to do, etc.

[DeltaBoy]

Differant year, Same Team, Same ole Nuttsack!

Hooten is doomed to repeat all the mistakes he made at Arkansas at Ole Piss.

[rebelbruiser]

I'm sure you're not aware of this, but you just spent four paragraphs agreeing with me.

You do realize that the only TEs we have on our roster are Houston Nutt recruits, which would explain why we're young at TE.  The only veteran we have, our starter Harris, is a Juco transfer that was brought in to shore up a depleted position.  The only TE in our 2 deep last year that was an Orgeorn recruit was a converted guard that lost weight to play TE.

From what I hear, Allen and Epperson (2008 class), along with Z Mason (2009 class), are all athletic TEs with good pass catching ability, but each of those 3 is still inexperienced and in need of more time in the weight room.

[Jeff "hogfanintx" Anderson]

You do realize that the only TEs we have on our roster are Houston Nutt recruits, which would explain why we're young at TE.  The only veteran we have, our starter Harris, is a Juco transfer that was brought in to shore up a depleted position.  The only TE in our 2 deep last year that was an Orgeorn recruit was a converted guard that lost weight to play TE.

From what I hear, Allen and Epperson (2008 class), along with Z Mason (2009 class), are all athletic TEs with good pass catching ability, but each of those 3 is still inexperienced and in need of more time in the weight room.

Nutt generally recruits tight ends for one reason.  "block"  gotta have those on 3rd and 16 when you run that draw play for a gain of 7 yards. 

[bigdaddyhawg]

You do realize that the only TEs we have on our roster are Houston Nutt recruits, which would explain why we're young at TE.  The only veteran we have, our starter Harris, is a Juco transfer that was brought in to shore up a depleted position.  The only TE in our 2 deep last year that was an Orgeorn recruit was a converted guard that lost weight to play TE.

From what I hear, Allen and Epperson (2008 class), along with Z Mason (2009 class), are all athletic TEs with good pass catching ability, but each of those 3 is still inexperienced and in need of more time in the weight room.

Bruiser, you've missed the point here, my friend.  It's not about having young kids at some position, i.e. TE here.  It's about TRUSTING those kids!  These days pretty much everyone has young kids at some position.

He recruited them, according to what you said, right?  He put them in the freaking lineup, right?  Then he should freaking trust them with the football in their hands!  Are they paraplegics?  They have hands, yes?

If you can't trust your players in a game VERSUS MEMPHIS, when are you going to trust them??  You won't, and THAT'S THE POINT.  Don't you think opposing DC's can see that crap on film, that you NEVER use your TE's.  Don't you think that makes it a whole lot easier to cover the other guys in their passing routes?? Of course it does!

So don't come back to me with any of your weak justifications on this one.  If you've got a kid on scholarship that YOU recruited, you should be able to trust him.  If not, YOU'VE got a problem.  Either you don't have the stones to trust a player you should, or you gave a scholarship to a player who never should have had one.

[Hog Leg]

You're right.  The sky is falling.  5-7 here we come.

Again, it's Game 1.  Snead looked better after he settled down.  The defense didn't tackle well.  The O-line needs some work and possibly some shifting of players around.

We didn't play that well overall, but we're 1-0, and we will play better down the line.  All the problems we had are correctable.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but did you guys not almost lose to Western Illinois AND Louisiana-Monroe last year in your first two games?  And did you not play a little bit better than that later in the year.  Point being, teams get better, and we will get better.  If we look exactly the same in 3 weeks when we play SC, I'll be concerned.  Until then, we're 1-0, and we have 3 weeks until our next real test.  Forgive me for not panicking yet.

Hey NUMBNUTS our team last year was not ranked in the top 10 preseason, our QB last year was not all world like J Sneeze.  Our D line was not GODLY like yours supposedly is.  WTH the spin you put on shizz is just too much for me.  Pick a side already. Are yall good or not?  Fkin fence jumper...Cant wait to see you in Oxford.  Again I'll be the one telling all you reb fans to "GO TO HELL"

[rebelbruiser]

Bruiser, you've missed the point here, my friend.  It's not about having young kids at some position, i.e. TE here.  It's about TRUSTING those kids!  These days pretty much everyone has young kids at some position.

He recruited them, according to what you said, right?  He put them in the freaking lineup, right?  Then he should freaking trust them with the football in their hands!  Are they paraplegics?  They have hands, yes?

If you can't trust your players in a game VERSUS MEMPHIS, when are you going to trust them??  You won't, and THAT'S THE POINT.  Don't you think opposing DC's can see that crap on film, that you NEVER use your TE's.  Don't you think that makes it a whole lot easier to cover the other guys in their passing routes?? Of course it does!

So don't come back to me with any of your weak justifications on this one.  If you've got a kid on scholarship that YOU recruited, you should be able to trust him.  If not, YOU'VE got a problem.  Either you don't have the stones to trust a player you should, or you gave a scholarship to a player who never should have had one.

I completely understand your point, but at the same time, if you have veterans that have had enough PT and practice time to be trusted with the ball, why would you throw to guys that have had limited practice time and may not be quite ready to shoulder the load?

And no, you shouldn't trust a player to carry your team just because you recruited him.  Most players need development before you throw them to the wolves.  Eli was a great QB, but Cutcliffe redshirted him and sat him behind a senior during his redshirt year.  Why?  Because Eli still needed to develop further, and the senior QB ahead of him was better at the time.  Romaro Miller did not end up being as good of a QB as Eli, but when Romaro was a senior and Eli was a redshirt freshman, Romaro gave us the better chance to win, so he got the ball.

The guys I'm talking about are redshirt freshmen.  Do you honestly not understand that players will be more trusted by the time they are sophomores, juniors, and seniors than they will as freshmen?  Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you have depth issues behind Michael Smith last year?  If so, why didn't Petrino trust those players behind Smith to handle the football?

I know why, it's because they were young and inexperienced, and therefore they made mistakes.  Will he trust those guys more this year and next year?  Absolutely.  It's not a hard concept to grasp.  Right now you're just grasping at straws.  Anyone with sense understands that you have different players with different skill sets at different points in their careers, and therefore you'll trust some more than others with the football.  It's not a hard concept.  Just because you don't trust a guy with giving him 5-10 touches as a freshman doesn't mean you won't trust him for that many touches and more later in his career.  It only makes sense.

Apparently you're one of those that thinks throwing to the TE is a good idea no matter what your depth chart looks like at TE.

[rebelbruiser]

Hey NUMBNUTS our team last year was not ranked in the top 10 preseason, our QB last year was not all world like J Sneeze.  Our D line was not GODLY like yours supposedly is.  WTH the spin you put on shizz is just too much for me.  Pick a side already. Are yall good or not?  Fkin fence jumper...Cant wait to see you in Oxford.  Again I'll be the one telling all you reb fans to "GO TO HELL"

And...we covered the spread by 2 TDs despite playing poorly.