bowl game

[felicianareb]

Perhaps we had our bowl game last week. Or maybe we just plan on becoming bowl-eligible the hard way. Yeah... that's right... we'll beat Alabama or LSU on the road... yeah... that's right...yeah... that's right... yeah... that's right... ditto...ditto...ditto... etc....etc....etc....etc....

[smokedraw]

We should be a lock for 3 more wins Arky, L-M, & State. We probably lose to Bama and LSU while Auburn is a toss up.

[lewindha]

We should be a lock for 3 more wins Arky, L-M, & State. We probably lose to Bama and LSU while Auburn is a toss up.

Did you watch the game I watched today? I'm not counting anything but the ULM game at this point. And they did knock off Bama last year.

[RealisticReb]

We should be a lock for 3 more wins Arky, L-M, & State. We probably lose to Bama and LSU while Auburn is a toss up.

We are NOT a LOCK to win any game! I repeat, we are NOT a LOCK to win any game!

[MageeRebel425]

We should be a lock for 3 more wins Arky, L-M, & State. We probably lose to Bama and LSU while Auburn is a toss up.

We are NOT a LOCK to win any game! I repeat, we are NOT a LOCK to win any game!

I would be very happy if we can just make it to the new orleans bowl....

[parrotreb]

We should be a lock for 3 more wins Arky, L-M, & State. We probably lose to Bama and LSU while Auburn is a toss up.

We are NOT a LOCK to win any game! I repeat, we are NOT a LOCK to win any game!

I would be very happy if we can just make it to the new orleans bowl....

Pretty sure that we will get invited to the Egg Bowl. Beyond that, dicey at best.

[RebelConvert]

We are NOT a LOCK to win any game! I repeat, we are NOT a LOCK to win any game!

I would be very happy if we can just make it to the new orleans bowl....

Pretty sure that we will get invited to the Egg Bowl.

Even that is questionable sometimes

[oxfordrebel]

Three theories:

1. This team can only play well when facing a ranked opponent.
2. This team can only play well on the road.
3. This team plays to the level of their opponent and every game becomes a toss-up.

I tend to go for 2 or 3 (more 2) because we played badly against Samford. We haven't put together one good performance at home yet. The best performance I've seen at home thus far was the 1st Qtr this past Saturday and the 1st Qtr against Vandy. Both were dominating performances and both times we had the ability to land a knock-out punch on the other guy and they rallied.

How bizarre is this? It's like being on the road in a hostile environment pumps these guys up and they play great ball, but being at home they seem to roll over.

Call me crazy but I think we beat LSU this year. Outside of that we MUST beat State, ULM, and Arkansas. I think we beat Arkansas unless this team plays to the level of competition.

The biggest issues I see right now on the offensive side are 1) inexperience at the QB position (which is to be expected in only his 7th collegiate career start) and 2) turnovers. Jevan will come around and has the potential to be the best we've ever seen. But he's got a ways to go. The turnovers are tough and two really crucial ones in recent losses were by Dex. It's really hard to get on him because both were incredibly hard hits. I'm not a bit surprised he lost that one Saturday and the one into the endzone against Vandy...well, those things happen unfortunately. Of course the scoop and score off of Snead this past Saturday hurt really bad. That goes without saying.

On the defensive side...who knows? Did the pass rush not get on the bus when they left Gainesville last week? At times they did a great job getting into the backfield, but they have to keep the pressure coming. And when was the last time we successfully defended a wide receiver screen? I swear I hate that play! If I were coaching against the Rebels I'd do that all game long because you know you're going to pick up 8 - 10 (or more) yards every single time.

Offensive playcalling was okay I thought with one exception. Late in the game we were running up the middle on almost every single 1st down and several 2nd downs. Each time we'd get, at most, 2 yards. That makes for a tough situation. Good thing we were somewhat effective in converting 3rd downs in those situations. Perhaps I'm wrong, but we just were not pushing their d-line. If it's not working time to try something else, right? Maybe they saw something there. Anyway, other than that I though the playcalling continued to be good and it came down to execution.

Overall I think this team is right on the brink, but still an off-season away from being a major player in the West.

[tool_army]

I think there's one thing that people are missing out on with the Arkansas game, and since I live in Northwest Arkansas, surrounded by what seems like a billion Hog fans, let me explain it to everyone.


The Ole Miss game will be Arky's national title game. They will play at a whole other level in that game. Their fans have been talking about the Ole Miss game more than they talked about the Texas game, more than they talked about the LSU game. This is a BIG deal up here. I will have a line of people wanting to put me to shame if/when we lose that game.

It should also be noted that we've only won 1 time in Fayetteville. In fact, most of the time, when we play up here, it's pretty ugly.


I'm not down on the team, but those banking on the Hog game being a win, might be a little out-of-touch with reality.

[oxfordrebel]

I think there's one thing that people are missing out on with the Arkansas game, and since I live in Northwest Arkansas, surrounded by what seems like a billion Hog fans, let me explain it to everyone.


The Ole Miss game will be Arky's national title game. They will play at a whole other level in that game. Their fans have been talking about the Ole Miss game more than they talked about the Texas game, more than they talked about the LSU game. This is a BIG deal up here. I will have a line of people wanting to put me to shame if/when we lose that game.

It should also be noted that we've only won 1 time in Fayetteville. In fact, most of the time, when we play up here, it's pretty ugly.


I'm not down on the team, but those banking on the Hog game being a win, might be a little out-of-touch with reality.

See, I'm well aware of everything you've said here. Problem is, while I know Arkansas can be a dangerous team, and I've been in attendance for two of the ugly games in Fayetteville that you mention, I still don't think the Hogs can get it done. While the Hogs desperately want to win that game, so do the Rebels. When it all comes down to it, I think the Rebs win. It's going to be a tough game, but they just don't have the players to run the offense Petrino is forcing down their throats. Rather than play to the team's strengths this year and possibly next year, Petrino is going to run the spread or die. Taking that analogy a step further, right now they're on life support...

[bleuwolfe]

Three theories:

1. This team can only play well when facing a ranked opponent.
2. This team can only play well on the road.
3. This team plays to the level of their opponent and every game becomes a toss-up.

I tend to go for 2 or 3 (more 2) because we played badly against Samford. We haven't put together one good performance at home yet. The best performance I've seen at home thus far was the 1st Qtr this past Saturday and the 1st Qtr against Vandy. Both were dominating performances and both times we had the ability to land a knock-out punch on the other guy and they rallied.

How bizarre is this? It's like being on the road in a hostile environment pumps these guys up and they play great ball, but being at home they seem to roll over.

Call me crazy but I think we beat LSU this year. Outside of that we MUST beat State, ULM, and Arkansas. I think we beat Arkansas unless this team plays to the level of competition.

The biggest issues I see right now on the offensive side are 1) inexperience at the QB position (which is to be expected in only his 7th collegiate career start) and 2) turnovers. Jevan will come around and has the potential to be the best we've ever seen. But he's got a ways to go. The turnovers are tough and two really crucial ones in recent losses were by Dex. It's really hard to get on him because both were incredibly hard hits. I'm not a bit surprised he lost that one Saturday and the one into the endzone against Vandy...well, those things happen unfortunately. Of course the scoop and score off of Snead this past Saturday hurt really bad. That goes without saying.

On the defensive side...who knows? Did the pass rush not get on the bus when they left Gainesville last week? At times they did a great job getting into the backfield, but they have to keep the pressure coming. And when was the last time we successfully defended a wide receiver screen? I swear I hate that play! If I were coaching against the Rebels I'd do that all game long because you know you're going to pick up 8 - 10 (or more) yards every single time.

Offensive playcalling was okay I thought with one exception. Late in the game we were running up the middle on almost every single 1st down and several 2nd downs. Each time we'd get, at most, 2 yards. That makes for a tough situation. Good thing we were somewhat effective in converting 3rd downs in those situations. Perhaps I'm wrong, but we just were not pushing their d-line. If it's not working time to try something else, right? Maybe they saw something there. Anyway, other than that I though the playcalling continued to be good and it came down to execution.

Overall I think this team is right on the brink, but still an off-season away from being a major player in the West.

I vote for #2, with #3 a close second

Home: start HOT get the crowd in it, then lose focus & coast, so Big Mo goes to the other side of the field, then its OMG we're losing, try to rally- press too hard, force plays, etc....... Maybe when its HOME and they get up early, they think they are better then they really are, dk. Do know it sucks.

As some of us have been saying, they have not learned how to win yet, and HOME is where all of the ghost of seasons past live. Those ALMOST wins that weren't .......

[Tcounty]

How bizarre is this? It's like being on the road in a hostile environment pumps these guys up and they play great ball, but being at home they seem to roll over.

.

Could it be they play-up to all the noise, and it's quiet at home? You know 1\2 the stadium not making a sound the ENTIRE GAME!!!!

We have no home field advantage at all. Thats not on the players or coaches, it's on the people who come to a social instead of a football game. Way too many people there just to be "seen".

[oxfordrebel]

How bizarre is this? It's like being on the road in a hostile environment pumps these guys up and they play great ball, but being at home they seem to roll over.

.

Could it be they play-up to all the noise, and it's quiet at home? You know 1\2 the stadium not making a sound the ENTIRE GAME!!!!

We have no home field advantage at all. Thats not on the players or coaches, it's on the people who come to a social instead of a football game. Way too many people there just to be "seen".

Then you have homecoming against an SEC opponent and we don't even sell out. Nebraska plays a I-AA and sells out every single game and has since the 60s!

[parrotreb]

How bizarre is this? It's like being on the road in a hostile environment pumps these guys up and they play great ball, but being at home they seem to roll over.

.

Could it be they play-up to all the noise, and it's quiet at home? You know 1\2 the stadium not making a sound the ENTIRE GAME!!!!

We have no home field advantage at all. Thats not on the players or coaches, it's on the people who come to a social instead of a football game. Way too many people there just to be "seen".

Then you have homecoming against an SEC opponent and we don't even sell out. Nebraska plays a I-AA and sells out every single game and has since the 60s!

The Grove was sold out. It was SRO. You have to remember what is important. Football is, and always will be, secondary to the social functions and aspects of the Grove on game day.

We need to decide - either try to be a football school or recognize Ole Miss for what it is, a school (including alumni) waiting on a party to break out. When people talk about a football game at Ole Miss, typically the first thing anyone mentions is the Grove, not the football game. The game is third or fourth after the women and everyone being so nice.

If Nutt really wants to understand the true motivations behind the vast, vast majority of OM football "fans," let him ask for one game, they donate the money the "fans" would have spent on their Grove activities to the QB club for the football team's use in getting a project done that the atheltic department won't fund. See how well that goes over.

I like the Grove but it is not the reason we have a football team. Or, at least, it's not supposed to be.

[Tcounty]

As crowded as it is, I try to avoid it now.


It's sad that Vandy has more of a home field advantage than we do.