Southern Miss - Some Numbers

[UNT90]

Through sis games.

Offense:

Rushing: 83.2 YPG. 117th nationally

Passing: 208.7 YPG 85th

Turnovers: 21 lost, 7 gained for the worst turnover margin in the nation. 123rd

Defense:

Rushing: 187.8 YPG. 90th

Passing: 208 YPG 33rd

Scoring defense: 40.2. 118th national. (UNT is 28th. My how far we have come since the gawdawful Dodge years).

Translation? A pretty good defensive team that has a terrible offense that will turn the ball over at the drop of an Orr.

Their QB is not mobile (16 rushes for -83 yards), completes only 56% of his passes, and has thrown 11 picks.

I saw Emmitt post that we are favored by 15 1/2 points. We should bE. We should win this thing going away.

Be aggressive.

[H-towngreen]

Be aggressive.

Not in Macs dictionary.

[GTWT]

Be smart. Use the 1st quarter to set up the 4th. Trust your defense & your game plan. Adjust to what your opponent shows you. Don't panic & don't pay attention to the folks who insist on negativity.

[UNT90]

Be smart. Use the 1st quarter to set up the 4th. Trust your defense & your game plan. Adjust to what your opponent shows you. Don't panic & don't pay attention to the folks who insist on negativity.

And don't Pay attention to those who insist that you must get down 2 scores to be successful.

This is a bad team. Beat them badly.

[GTWT]

This is a bad team. Beat them.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Do Not Underestimate USM In Spite of Their Numbers and Because Of The Fact That From Now On...................

WE ARE A TARGET!

Think Halloween Night At Apogee Stadium!

Edited October 20, 2013 by PlummMeanGreen

[FirefightnRick]

Where's that wise ass Eagle-whatever his name is that was over here talking all the smack back in '03? Think we will get a visit from him this week?

I so want to go to this game!

Rick

[MDH]

I just hope we're not looking past this one, I'm glad it's the weakest opponent on our schedule before the short week.

[Got5onIt]

Good teams beat bad teams convincingly. Which is something we haven't seen around here in a while. NT needs to go out and stomp a mudhole in USM. I do NOT want to see this team pull a Tulane and play down to a team that looks inferior in talent.

I can't believe I just wrote that about a NT football team?? Is my NT head getting too big now??

[FirefightnRick]

Good teams beat bad teams convincingly. Which is something we haven't seen around here in a while. NT needs to go out and stomp a mudhole in USM. I do NOT want to see this team pull a Tulane and play down to a team that looks inferior in talent.

I can't believe I just wrote that about a NT football team?? Is my NT head getting too big now??

Good post.

Rick

[TheColonyEagle]

It is a short week. Which is why it could be beneficial to have our starters on the bench the last qtr and a half.

Pound them early and don't let off the throttle.

Come out aggressively.

[foutsrouts]

We don't want to underestimate them. I haven't seen them play this year (or last), but they've traditionally been very tough at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball ever since the Brett Favre era. On the flip side, I hope we can take it to them early so that we could possibly see some serious backup time before we hit the big stretch run of the season. I have my doubts with conservative Mac running the show, but I'd love a big lead early, with the second half seeing some young guys on our side getting some serious PT. Especially on offense including the QB's.

[JRock]

Play Smart, Hit Hard, Avoid Penalties, No Turnovers and play to win. GMG.

[NT03]

We are their homecoming

[oldguystudent]

We are their homecoming

We're pretty much everybody's homecoming. We were homecoming yesterday. Hopefully that'll start to change.

[KRAM1]

We are their homecoming

Do players even care or know about this? Does playing in a homecoming game mean a team practices or plays differently? Does playing in a homecoming game mean that one's play is different?

I know, at some schools, it can mean a larger crowd and louder crowd, but for the players and coaching staffs....does this really matter all that much?

Would like to hear from those on here who actually played college ball as their perspective would be the one that matters.

I see this as an interesting phenomenon, and hear it discussed often, but wonder what those who actually played the game think about what difference it makes.

[UNT90]

We're pretty much everybody's homecoming. We were homecoming yesterday. Hopefully that'll start to change.

Tulsa was pusses that they couldn't have tfeir homecoming on Thanksgiving weekend.

Should made Tulane regret it. Did make La. Tech regret it. Will make USM regret it.

Insulting that 3 of our 4 conference road games were homecomings, with the 4th simply being too late in the year to make it 4 of 4.

UTSA has been playing football 3 years. Hopefully every conference road game for them was the other team's homecoming.

Yes, it DOES matter to the players and the program. Everyone knows you try and schedule an easy win on homecoming (why we were also Georgia's homecoming). You want alums coming back to campus to see a win so they will want to come back again. It's why UTEP is our homecoming, and MTSU was not.

It's an insult to the players and the program. And EVERYONE involved. knows it.

[UNT86]

Be smart. Use the 1st quarter to set up the 4th. Trust your defense & your game plan. Adjust to what your opponent shows you. Don't panic & don't pay attention to the folks who insist on negativity.

Great post.

Average first down run by quarter yesterday

1st 2.8

2nd 3.75

3rd 4.75

4th 6.5

I think everyone would agree that we are the most physical team on the field each week.

We play physical on defense, we play physical in the special teams, and we have an offense that matches.

Beat them up on defense.

Beat them up on special teams.

Beat them up on offense... and if they can take the beating, we will have a game in the fourth quarter.

If they cannot, we grind it out and sing the fight song.

First, don't beat yourself.

Power, counter, play action, move the chains, don't turn the ball over, trust your defense, play in December.

[NT03]

Do players even care or know about this? Does playing in a homecoming game mean a team practices or plays differently? Does playing in a homecoming game mean that one's play is different?

I know, at some schools, it can mean a larger crowd and louder crowd, but for the players and coaching staffs....does this really matter all that much?

Would like to hear from those on here who actually played college ball as their perspective would be the one that matters.

I see this as an interesting phenomenon, and hear it discussed often, but wonder what those who actually played the game think about what difference it makes.

I would think it benefits the away team more. Bulletin board material If you will. It can be viewed as a slap in the face

For So Miss it may mean a few extra hundred butts in the stands. For a program that is on a 19 (?) game losing streak , they are kinda desperate to get anyone to attend

Get up early & kill any hopes of a upset win. Make that stadium a ghost town by the 3rd quarter

[KRAM1]

Tulsa was pusses that they couldn't have tfeir homecoming on Thanksgiving weekend.

Should made Tulane regret it. Did make La. Tech regret it. Will make USM regret it.

Insulting that 3 of our 4 conference road games were homecomings, with the 4th simply being too late in the year to make it 4 of 4.

UTSA has been playing football 3 years. Hopefully every conference road game for them was the other team's homecoming.

Yes, it DOES matter to the players and the program. Everyone knows you try and schedule an easy win on homecoming (why we were also Georgia's homecoming). You want alums coming back to campus to see a win so they will want to come back again. It's why UTEP is our homecoming, and MTSU was not.

It's an insult to the players and the program. And EVERYONE involved. knows it.

Who did you play college ball for?

[KRAM1]

This J.O.S. between you two that takes over every damn thread is really getting a bit annoying.

Don't read 'em. Simple answer. There is an ignore button. Ying and yang...spic and span...tic and tock can be fun. But if it bothers you so much...ignore them. As UNT90 would remind you...it's a internet fan board...get over it.

Case in point...I asked for former players to respond...who was the first to respond? Just asked where he played. Seems a simple question to me...I know darn well what FANS think on the subject...I agree with UNT90 and probably every other FAN on this board, THUS I asked for a response or two from former players. Seemed fairly tame question to me.

Want me to tell you who and what annoys me? Didn't think so...get over it or ignore it...pretty simple.

[SSP]

Do players even care or know about this? Does playing in a homecoming game mean a team practices or plays differently? Does playing in a homecoming game mean that one's play is different?

I know, at some schools, it can mean a larger crowd and louder crowd, but for the players and coaching staffs....does this really matter all that much?

Would like to hear from those on here who actually played college ball as their perspective would be the one that matters.

I see this as an interesting phenomenon, and hear it discussed often, but wonder what those who actually played the game think about what difference it makes.

You know, I asked my husband about this (who did play college football for 5 years) & he said aside from a few more butts in seats and a "don't lose or it's going to be really embarrassing" kind of mentality, there's really not a whole lot of difference in homecoming and any other home game. Obviously, you schedule the worst team on your schedule for homecoming, so outside of the motivation that you shouldn't lose.... nothing really. High schools make a bigger deal.

That being said, it is kind of insulting to be scheduled for a homecoming. Tulane's win was a gift to them and mark my words it will come back and bite us before the season's over.

Edited October 20, 2013 by SSP

[UNT90]

Great post.

Average first down run by quarter yesterday

1st 2.8

2nd 3.75

3rd 4.75

4th 6.5

I think everyone would agree that we are the most physical team on the field each week.

We play physical on defense, we play physical in the special teams, and we have an offense that matches.

Beat them up on defense.

Beat them up on special teams.

Beat them up on offense... and if they can take the beating, we will have a game in the fourth quarter.

If they cannot, we grind it out and sing the fight song.

First, don't beat yourself.

Power, counter, play action, move the chains, don't turn the ball over, trust your defense, play in December.

Or..

Could it be that when our offense becomes more balanced in the second half, because we finally pass the ball realizing that we can't keep running into a stone wall, it opens up the run.

Because defenses don't know what we are going to do on every play and stop pressing their safeties up to stop the run after 3 or 12 (see: Tulane) first down passes in a row.

I would love to see a ratio of first and second down run/downfield pass stats compared between the 1st half and the second half of each of our ROAD games. That would be an interesting comparison to see if balance works better than "beating your head against a wall" -Derek Thompson after the Tulane game.

Just a thought.

[SSP]

Or..

Could it be that when our offense becomes more balanced in the second half, because we finally pass the ball realizing that we can't keep running into a stone wall, it opens up the run.

Because defenses don't know what we are going to do on every play and stop pressing their safeties up to stop the run after 3 or 12 (see: Tulane) first down passes in a row.

I would love to see a ratio of first and second down run/downfield pass stats compared between the 1st half and the second half of each of our ROAD games. That would be an interesting comparison to see if balance works better than "beating your head against a wall" -Derek Thompson after the Tulane game.

Just a thought.

This is actually true.

BUT- after MTSU.... if I were playing us, it would all depend on which team came out to play that day (making us incredibly inconsistent and unpredictable). Obviously, at this point we all know we're going to force the run in the first quarter. Sometimes it works and sometimes.....

DT looked uncomfortable passing the first half and to be honest every time he throws the ball my stomach hurts. As long as this team continues to improve every game and not fall into the same bad habits of the preseason (which are still present, but shadows)- we are on everybody's hit list for the rest of the season and surprisingly have become (with Rice) the team to beat. AND WHAT AN AWESOME SURPRISE.

Edited October 20, 2013 by SSP

[ragpicker]

Do Not Underestimate USM In Spite of Their Numbers and Because Of The Fact That From Now On...................

WE ARE A TARGET! Good observation, Plumm. Playing a night game in Mississippi anytime against anyone is not to be taken lightly. These guys may feel they have something to prove and, at any rate, they have much to gain and nothing to lose. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it a team in Mississippi that broke Walter Chapman's leg that kept him out of a close game against Earl Cambell and Texas back in the 70's?

Think Halloween Night At Apogee Stadium!