Mississippi State Review

The Good:

• The defense.  I could have a whole section on their play, but Washington was a beast, Rambo continues to impress, the interior line was spectacular. Oh, Jarvis Jenkins Jones was everywhere.  I am a little surprised he wasn't there to stop Nickoe Whitley from peeing on the hedges.
• John Jenkins: Body slam artist.
• Crowell's running in the first half.
• Run blocking.
• Not getting rattled on defense.  Mississippi State had over a quarter of their offensive output during the FG drive in the first quarter, with well over 90% of those yards on that little screen thing they ran.  We stayed the course, brought the pressure and didn't allow them to have anything close to that kind of drive again.
• Play calling in the first half.  We had them off balance from the start.  Crowell's running was a factor in that, but the two TD passes were perfect calls at the perfect time.  With the one to Orson, three guys were open and the first read was the easiest, since Charles had position on his defender the whole time. As for the second half, as long as we see the defense play like this and we have a 2 or more score lead, get used to it.
• Figgins and Thomas' blocking.  Carlton blocks like a much bigger player.
• Five more sacks.  

The Bad:

• Gates false start on 3rd and 6 during the long drive in the fourth.  You knew Bobo wasn't going to let Murray throw another ball. Samuel had a 7 yard run.  Walsh trotted out and missed the FG. Instead of continuing a drive that had the potential to make this a game we'd all go Yes! about, the 5+ minutes was just time off the clock.
• Conditioning.  The offensive line looked gassed in the second half. The starting tailback looked completely uninterested in fighting for extra yards in the second half.  The game isn't won getting to 100 yards of rushing, despite what some pundits go to bed wishing for.  The game is won on getting stronger as the game goes on.  We didn't do that on the offensive side of the ball.
• [insert obligatory offensive line pass blocking snark here]
• The hurry up and wait no huddle.
• Walsh's shanks.  He didn't miss a single second half warm up (that I saw).  His attempt in the second half was pure wiffage.  We all know he is a spectacular kicker.  As Blutarsky put it: "there’s a young lady out there who needs to step up and do the right thing by her man."

The Ugly:

• Murray's throws to the players in white, particularly the one returned for a TD.  The first took a decent play to come up with it. The second was a nice mental play on an ball that needed more arc. But that third one.  Wow.  About four things went wrong, the worst of which is under throwing a sideline route to a 6-3 manbeast that might be able to flatfooted jump over a truck.

Boys, we are back in this thing. No one is ready to proclaim all is awesome, but Grantham's defense is playing very well and in the SEC that will get you places.  Bobo's offense is playing competently, especially when strong plays are called.  The play calling has significantly improved, for that matter.  The players looked coached up.

What did I miss?

TD