December 5th, 2010 at 4:52 PM ^
Wow, meant to say Times-Union. I am an idiot. Apologies
December 5th, 2010 at 5:08 PM ^
That 8-4 record seems scary (given our abilities and their impressive schedule), but Miss State ranks 91st in passing yards and 16th in rushing yards -- this means they are unlikely to torch our secondary.
December 5th, 2010 at 5:14 PM ^
You forgot...EVERYONE torches our secondary.
December 5th, 2010 at 5:19 PM ^
Not everybody. Just most people.
Their rush defense, FWIW, is 20th and pass efficiency defense is 50th.
Here is their NCAA stats page.
http://web1.ncaa.org/football/exec/rankingSummary?year=2010&org=430
Their QB, Chris Reif, is a legitimate dual threat: he ran for 683 yards and threw for 1508.
December 5th, 2010 at 5:28 PM ^
Well look at Zach Frazer's #s this year and that game
Frazer went 18/37 for 205 and a ton of drops
The 205 yards for him are by far the most he's thrown for in a game this season.
But I get what you are saying.
December 5th, 2010 at 6:52 PM ^
Comrade CF. Since I am not well briefed on Mississippi State Football, I would like to ask if you have any intel on their offensive line. I am curious that if they have a good run game, if they have meat mashers and three headed trick ponies like Wiscy. I don't want to see that again. Civilians on our side of the iron cutain rejoice because of the lack of passing Miss St. fields, but Wiscy only had to pass on us once in the 2nd half of our contest with them. Is Mississippi St. comparable to Wiscy at all or is this just a red scare?
December 5th, 2010 at 6:02 PM ^
I think we get more credibility if we beat them because we already beat Florida and if we played the Vols they would say we won because they have a first year HC. PLus I think MSU has played good against some of the SEC elite. It is nice to play someone we haven't played before. Or atleast in my lifetime. This should be a good game to watch and atleast we get a New Years Day bowl instead of a 10:00pm Tuesday night bowl.
December 5th, 2010 at 4:53 PM ^
December 5th, 2010 at 4:53 PM ^
New opponent. I like games like this.
December 5th, 2010 at 5:01 PM ^
Let's extend our 20-5 record agains the SEC! (tOSU is 7-11)
December 5th, 2010 at 4:54 PM ^
http://jacksonville.com/sports/2010-12-05/story/source-michigan-mississippi-state-picked-gator-bowl
The Times-Union has learned from sources within the selection committee that the Gator Bowl will invite Michigan (7-5) from the Big Ten against Mississippi State (8-4) from the Southeastern Conference for the 66th Gator Bowl on Jan. 1 at EverBank Field
December 5th, 2010 at 5:27 PM ^
to a win. Clearly, the game should have ended when Wangler got hurt with Mich up 9-0. After a 200 yd passing performance by the Winger in the first quarter.
December 5th, 2010 at 7:17 PM ^
December 5th, 2010 at 4:56 PM ^
Guess we'll see in a few hours here. This seemed all but locked up for UM/UT.
MS State is a team I don't think I want to play. They have a good defense and an underrated offense. Chris Relf doesn't look like much but he gets it done.
December 5th, 2010 at 5:00 PM ^
which means another chance for UM to beat a good team. This is an opportunity for Rich to state his case. The team will be rested and healthy.
December 5th, 2010 at 5:03 PM ^
December 5th, 2010 at 5:04 PM ^
Let's not go there today.
December 5th, 2010 at 5:07 PM ^
December 5th, 2010 at 5:13 PM ^
If Miami doesn't have a coach by New Years, they're in trouble.
Seriously, Miami can't afford him or his staff. They want to be a national champion on the cheap, and the secret about South Florida having a lot of really great athletes is out (see: Robinson, Denard).
December 5th, 2010 at 5:19 PM ^
December 5th, 2010 at 5:24 PM ^
Ask Howard Schnellenberger. A lot of folks weren't recruiting too heavily there in the early 80s. He basically won a national title with Jim Kelly (PA) and 21 South Florida kids--many of whom were passed on by the more traditional powers.
December 5th, 2010 at 5:28 PM ^
December 5th, 2010 at 5:40 PM ^
The best Miami coaches have been able to leverage under recruited guys from South Florida to build teams and then use that success to keep the best guys home. Expanded national recruiting by the big-time powers all the way down to schools like Central Michigan has made that harder and harder.
Yeah, I noticed a lot of Florida guys play D-1 ball. They have the highest number of FCS players per capita in the country.
December 5th, 2010 at 6:10 PM ^
December 5th, 2010 at 6:19 PM ^
Bryant McKinnie was a nobody recruit from JC, Santana Moss was a walk-on, and I think Ken Dorsey was a pretty meh recruit too. I can't find the article, but IIRC, 8-9 of the Canes stars on the 99-01 teams were relatively under-the-radar guys that Davis managed to find.
December 5th, 2010 at 6:35 PM ^
December 5th, 2010 at 5:20 PM ^
December 5th, 2010 at 5:26 PM ^
If you're going to leave to coach a new team, you're going to do what Rodriguez did if you can--leave early and work on recruiting. It's a business, and the coaches are paid to succeed at their current school, not for what they did at the previous school. That just gets you in the door.
December 5th, 2010 at 5:35 PM ^
keep AC secret all that time. Fort Schembechler indeed!
December 5th, 2010 at 4:55 PM ^
Would have preferred Tennessee, but OK. Beat them instead.
December 5th, 2010 at 4:56 PM ^
Well, I'm glad Mississippi State couldn't afford Cam Newton.
December 5th, 2010 at 4:58 PM ^
Needed that laugh! Thanks!
December 5th, 2010 at 5:21 PM ^
December 5th, 2010 at 5:00 PM ^
Their offense is another story, based on the games I saw them this year. Relf has a really strong arm but he is inconsistent.
Personally, I don't mind the matchup, although I would prefer UT. On the plus side, New Year's Day bowl bitches!
December 5th, 2010 at 4:59 PM ^
Well, I was hoping for UT so we could wear our home unis, but I'll take the Gator Bowl under any circumstances over the Insight Bowl vs. Nebraska.
December 5th, 2010 at 4:59 PM ^
Miss State isn't a gimme by any means. They haven't beaten anyone good, but they took Auburn to the wire (17-14) and Arkansas to overtime. The really nice thing about them is that their pass offense sucks, which makes Michigan competitive.
That said, they played in the toughest division in college football this season and won eight games. Sorry to the homers, but LSU, Alabama, Auburn, and Arkansas is a murderer's row this year.
December 5th, 2010 at 5:03 PM ^
They are going to run run run and run some more. Our LBs will need to be flying all over the field
December 5th, 2010 at 5:29 PM ^
Yeah, but it's better than watching our DBs run all over the field. The DBs inspire Hindenburg thoughts...
December 5th, 2010 at 5:32 PM ^
Sagarin's calculations put it at 6 points on a neutral field. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbt10.htm
http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/_/id/344/mississippi-state-bulldogs
But I expect us to be a more explosive team with Denard given more than a month to heal.
December 5th, 2010 at 5:02 PM ^
Miss St. is tough, but I like out chances against another spread team.
December 5th, 2010 at 5:04 PM ^
December 5th, 2010 at 5:04 PM ^
December 5th, 2010 at 5:05 PM ^
It's actually fine, I just felt like typing that for once...
And LOL @ Val's comment at the bottom of the article...
December 5th, 2010 at 5:06 PM ^
I'm pretty sure Lloyd Brady had a say in this.
December 5th, 2010 at 5:09 PM ^
I like this more than Tennessee.
December 5th, 2010 at 5:11 PM ^
Not sure how I feel about this. I'm hoping that this will play out like the last time we lost our last two games preceding a bowl game against Dan Mullen.
December 5th, 2010 at 5:13 PM ^
Would have much preferred Tennessee. Makes sense why they'd pick MSU tho. Should be some great offense in this game. Love the Cam Newton joke a few posts up btw.
<br>
<br>I assume we haven't ever played them, anyone know?
December 5th, 2010 at 7:46 PM ^
Michigan has never played Mississippi State.
December 5th, 2010 at 5:14 PM ^
a very young and inspiring offensive minded coach and a very poor national following. Of all SEC teams we could conceivably face (UF, UT) this is the worst match up for both on and off field reasons IMO.