First and 10: Hey, SEC ADs, how do you like Mike Leach now?
1. I don’t want to get on a soapbox, but …
It’s a gimmick offense, it won’t work in the SEC.
You can’t protect the quarterback from those vicious SEC defensive linemen.
You can’t run the ball.
You can’t score in the red zone.
And on and on and on.
“You know how many times I’ve heard you can’t do this or that?” Mike Leach says.
Not anymore. Not now that Leach and his Air Raid offense at Mississippi State officially jumped into the SEC meatgrinder last weekend – about 15 years too late – and obliterated all of those simplistic and shortsighted reasons it wouldn’t work.
In one sweltering afternoon on the Bayou against LSU, Mississippi State became the first team since 1998 to beat a defending national champion in the season-opener.
Leach’s Air Raid offense set the SEC single-game record for most passing yards in a game (623) – the first time it hit the field.
Leach’s Air Raid offense was led by KJ Costello, a graduate transfer quarterback from Stanford – who lost his job last season.
Leach’s Air Raid offense had never beaten a top 10 team on the road in 18 previous seasons at Texas Tech (10 years) and Washington State (8 years) – then did it in its first SEC game.
Leach’s Air Raid offense had all of 6 weeks of preparation because of the COVID shutdown – then snapped LSU’s 16-game winning streak.
“I don’t know if any individual could visualize this taking place,” Costello said during a postgame zoom call.
One individual could: The same guy who for years has been seen as the odd man out, the quirky (you say quirky, I say entertaining) coach whose offense might produce highlights but won’t ever produce significant victories.
The same guy who for two decades has so sharply refined the passing game, the NFL eventually took notice and now a majority of the teams run Air Raid principles.
Four verticals. The Mesh concept. Double slants. Post Wheel. Shallow High-Low.
The rage in all of football at every level now – the Run-Pass option – has been Air Raid lifeblood since Leach was offensive coordinator at Kentucky in the mid-1990s.
Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs last year used an Air Raid-fueled offense to win the Super Bowl – all while NFL analysts celebrated the “innovative” offense coach Andy Reid had built.
Joe Burrow used RPO principles in last year’s national championship run at LSU to produce the greatest single season in college football history. Joe Brady, LSU’s pass game coordinator, used it for 1 season at LSU to land a $2 million-a-year job as the Carolina Panthers’ offensive coordinator.
LSU coach Ed Orgeron had the wherewithal to realize after the 2018 season that he needed to take drastic steps to change LSU’s stagnant offensive history. He hired Brady, and less than a year later, won a national title with an overwhelming offense that was taboo in the SEC for so long.
How fitting then, that Leach’s first game as a head coach in the big, bad SEC finished with him surgically dismantling the league’s hierarchy so completely, the broadcast crew for CBS had a hard time explaining it.
It was then that I reached out to 2 former administrators in the SEC and asked why Leach never seriously received consideration.
One former AD: “I don’t think I could’ve sold it to our president. Wait, I know I couldn’t have.”
Another former AD: “I guess looking back now, in hindsight, maybe a lot of us should’ve taken a second look.”
2. Staying within the family
It is here where we stop to give credit to former Tennessee AD John Currie, who had the foresight to take a chance on hiring Leach.
And was fired himself before he could consummate the hiring.
“A strange deal,” Leach says of his near marriage 2 years ago with Tennessee. “It was done until it wasn’t.”
Look, I don’t want to say the SEC is an incestuous coaching fraternity (it is), or that going outside that fraternity means risking your livelihood (it does), but take a look at the career paths of the 2 men involved in Tennessee’s last coaching search:
— Former Vols coach Phillip Fulmer led a coup to get Currie fired, get himself named AD, and then hired an assistant coach (Jeremy Pruitt) and paid him $4 million a year (see: incestuous).
— Currie, who was one of the top young AD’s in college sports when Tennessee hired him 9 months earlier, was shipped off to Siberia (a consultant at Texas, an adjunct professor at Columbia) before Wake Forest last year hired him as AD.
It was clear that Leach didn’t fit the staid ideals of what an SEC coach should be, and Fulmer would make sure of it.
Just like athletic directors all over the SEC, who since 2001 when Leach took his first job at Texas Tech, time and again pushed back against the idea of unique change (and eventually, Leach’s track record of winning at outposts Tech and Wazzu) for the idea of “fit.”
You know, “fits” such as Guy Morriss, Jim McElwain, Bret Bielema, Robbie Caldwell, Matt Luke, Mike Sherman. Do I need to go on?
Yeah, Leach is quirky. And he had a few skeletons (the handling of Adam James’ concussion that allowed Tech to fire Leach because he was getting too powerful; the tweet of a fake video of former President Barack Obama that cost Washington State University $1.6 million in committed future donations) to go along with a penchant to speak his mind.
But not once have his teams run afoul of NCAA bylaws. In fact, his teams were on the high end of academic success at Tech and Wazzu – after inheriting questionable situations in both programs.
In 18 seasons before arriving at Mississippi State, his teams won at least 9 games 7 times, at least 8 wins 12 times, and had only 3 losing seasons — all at Wazzu, maybe the heaviest coaching lift of all in FBS.
His offenses are consistently among the top 5 in the nation, and his quarterbacks typically among the top 5 in the nation in passing. He puts fannies in the seats and points on the scoreboard. What more could you ask for?
Now he has his first big win in the SEC. In his first game.
3. The misunderstood man, The Epilogue
Here’s the issue with hiring Leach: Until you’ve sat down and talked with him at length, he’s more a carnival sideshow than one of the greatest offensive minds of our generation. He thinks differently about everything and isn’t afraid to speak up. That rubs many the wrong way.
So instead of focusing on his many successes on the field – like many administrators in the SEC should have done – it was always about what they didn’t understand.
At the top of that list was the Air Raid, this complicated jumble of offense that looks like bugs scattering after you’ve kicked over a rock.
“Nothing, and I mean nothing, could be further from the truth,” says Anthony Gordon, Leach’s record-setting quarterback in 2019. “It’s about being better than the other guy. That’s the simplest way I can explain it.”
There’s nothing confusing about a system that uses 7-10 plays and runs them out of 70 or so formations. Leach’s philosophy is based on two distinct and unwavering ideals: repetition and execution.
Run the same 7-10 plays in practice over and over and over – until it’s the same as breathing. Everyone knows their job (down to specific steps and breaks for receivers, and time and anticipation for quarterbacks), and everyone practices over and over until the execution is flawless.
That’s the secret to Leach’s offense: He knows you know he only has 7-10 plays, but his players will out-execute yours more times than not. The ball will be thrown and it will be at the exact position it needs to be for the receiver – running in stride – to catch and beat the defensive back. Or thrown to a spot where the receiver sits in a zone — or as Leach likes to say, “throw to the green area” of the field.
Just like those dewdrops Costello threw to Osirus Mitchell and JaVonta Payton, who constantly got behind LSU defensive backs to make big plays. Or the throw to tailback Kylin Hill, who got loose on busted coverage and Costello threw to the green. Or those perfectly-timed out throws that can’t be defended.
There are always rough spots and adjustments for any new coaching staff, and there will be for Leach in the SEC. But the fact that he got his team ready to play on the road against the defending national champions – despite the distractions of COVID and the resulting postponements of practice and offseason conditioning since March – is a credit to a system that has only slightly changed since his first game at Texas Tech in 2001.
On the day he fired Joe Moorhead, Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen reached out to Leach to gauge his interest. There would be other interviews, and other coaches who turned down the job, including New York Giants coach Joe Judge and Louisiana coach Billy Napier.
Cohen kept going back to Leach, and kept calling around to make sure it was the right move. He spoke to Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback and Mississippi native Gardner Minshew and got rave reviews, and spoke to NFL personnel who admitted much of the credit for today’s passing game goes to Leach.
A week after he hired Leach, Cohen admitted that he spoke with numerous “high-power” athletic directors that said they should’ve hired Leach.
“Powerful comments,” Cohen said. “Saying, ‘I had the opportunity, and I didn’t do it.’”
Cohen didn’t make the same mistake. All it took was one game to prove it.
4. Retracing the steps
Before we get all sideways on start to panic about LSU, let’s delve deeper into the 3 biggest issues facing the Tigers: quarterback, offensive line, secondary.
Derek Stingley, the best cover corner in the nation, missed the game because of an illness. He was replaced by FCS transfer Darren Evans who joined the team a little more than 3 weeks ago. Cornerback Jay Ward missed 2 weeks in camp because of an injury, and looked slow in reaction time.
The offensive line is inexperienced and struggled in both the run game and pass protection. That’s a difficult combination to overcome for first-year starting quarterback Myles Brennan, who had very few snaps of significance in his previous 3 years at LSU.
Brennan didn’t play all that poorly. He missed some throws and was late on others. But he was sacked 7 times and was constantly harassed, and timing and throwing with anticipation is difficult enough in your first start without having to deal with shaky protection.
Burrow held onto the ball too long during the early stages of his first season as a starter, and he had a solid line in 2018 and the best line in the nation in 2019. And now? A new passing game coordinator (Scott Linehan), a new offensive line and a new quarterback.
This was going to take time to fit the pieces together no matter who showed up in Tiger Stadium for the opener. It just happened to be a team that took advantage of every potential problem.
5. The Weekly Five
Five picks against the spread:
- Texas A&M at Alabama (-9.5)
- Auburn (+4.5) at Georgia
- South Carolina (+19.5) at Florida
- Arkansas at Mississippi State (-17)
- Ole Miss (+7) at Kentucky
Last week: 3-2.
Season: 3-2.
6. Your tape is your résumé
An NFL scout breaks down a draft eligible player. This week: Florida TE Kyle Pitts.
“He’s a move tight end. He has a chance to be a better blocker – you can see it sometimes – but you’re getting a guy that can go get the ball. In this league, you almost have to have a guy that can not only be a matchup problem, but that can stress a defense after the catch. The two best in this league – (Travis) Kelce and (George) Kittle – scare the hell out of you after the catch. Pitts has that athletic ability and the speed to be that type of player.
“He’s also a guy that I think can put on 10-15 pounds and be a monster, an absolute beast to defend. He’s really tough to defend down the seam with those long arms and ability to go get the ball at all angles. He’ll have to do a better job getting off the jam in this league, but that’s not unlike a lot of guys at that position when they transition.”
7. Powered up
This week’s SEC Power Poll, and one big thing:
1. Alabama (1-0) vs. Texas A&M: There were coaches on staff who believed Jaylen Waddle was the team’s best receiver last season. He just needed consistency and motivation. He has both now.
2. Florida (1-0) vs. South Carolina: Gamecocks missed numerous deep throws in last year’s loss, the same deep throws Ole Miss hit for more than 300 passing yards.
3. Auburn (1-0) at Georgia: The interior lines – the 2 greatest questions in 2020 – held up in their first test against top-tier SEC lines (that’s right, UK’s lines of scrimmage are strong).
4. Georgia (1-0) vs. Auburn: Who cares who plays quarterback. If Georgia can’t run the ball with consistency against Auburn, the entire game will look a lot like the first half blunder against Arkansas.
5. Mississippi State (1-0) vs. Arkansas: Look, I don’t want to go there, but I will. The Bulldogs have a very real chance of beginning the season 4-0 before traveling to Alabama on Halloween night.
6. Tennessee (1-0) vs. Missouri: Vols haven’t played a team of significance since last October, and haven’t lost since (7 consecutive wins). Why should this be any different?
7. LSU (0-1) at Vanderbilt: Fix the pass protections, get everyone healthy in the secondary, win a feel-good game on the road.
8. Texas A&M (1-0) at Alabama: It’s Year 3 for coach Jimbo Fisher in College Station, and we’re about to see how far the Aggies are from competing at the highest level of the conference.
9. South Carolina (0-1) at Florida: Collin Hill is the right choice at QB. But the Gamecocks are a long way from fixing what’s wrong in the secondary – with an elite passing team up next.
10. Kentucky (0-1) vs. Ole Miss: I don’t know how much better QB Joey Gatewood will be if he’s ruled eligible by the SEC. I do know that Terry Wilson isn’t all the way back as a runner in UK’s zone-read offense.
11. Ole Miss (0-1) at Kentucky: Rebels hired Lane Kiffin because he knows quarterbacks and knows how to score points. That was obvious in a wild shootout loss to Florida. That defense, though. Woof.
12. Missouri (0-1) at Tennessee: Doesn’t matter who plays quarterback (Shawn Robinson or Connor Bazelak) if the Tigers can’t improve a woeful defense that gave up 9-of-14 3rd-down conversions.
13. Vanderbilt (0-1) vs. LSU: Ted Roof has been a nice addition as new defensive coordinator, but the Commodores are still woefully inefficient offensively.
14. Arkansas (0-1) at Mississippi State: A brutal way to return to the SEC for QB Feleipe Franks: against the best defense in the nation (Georgia) and behind an offensive line that struggles to protect. MSU got 7 sacks vs. LSU.
8. Ask and you shall receive
Matt: How is it possible for Georgia to go from riches to rags at quarterback? I thought Kirby (Smart) was such a great recruiter? How did they end up with a walkon playing in the season opener!
Caron Lightly
Newnan, Ga.
Caron: At one point this offseason, Georgia had Wake Forest transfer Jamie Newman, USC transfer JT Daniels and one of the top pro-style quarterback recruits (Carson Beck) on campus. Newman opted out, Daniels still hasn’t been medically cleared from ACL surgery and Beck isn’t ready to play.
That left Smart with few options against Arkansas, and it began with redshirt freshman project D’Wan Mathis. It took all of 20 minutes to realize the moment was too big for Mathis (and not that it will be moving forward). So Smart moved to undersized former walk-on Stetson Bennett, who frankly, played well considering the circumstances.
The hope is Daniels will be medically cleared to play in time for this weekend’s game against Auburn. Yet even if he is, that’s a tough spot for a guy who hasn’t thrown a pass in a real game since the first game of 2019.
Expect Bennett to start the Auburn game, and if it goes well, he might just be in it for the long haul. And if it goes poorly? Better hope 1 of 2 things: Daniels is cleared, or Mathis – who has some dynamic ability — has a short memory.
9. Numbers game: 8
The Alabama defense, underachieving in big games in 2019, had 8 tackles for loss against Missouri – 1 more than its biggest number in 2019.
The return of LB Dylan Moses is critical, both on the field and as the captain calling defensive alignments. Christian Harris, an elite talent who didn’t play freely in 2019 because he was so concerned with making the right play calls and getting others in position, is primed for a huge season.
It also helps that defensive coordinator Pete Golding, a fan punching bag because of the defensive slippage in 2018-19, is getting support from defensive analyst Charlie Strong, the former head coach at Texas, Louisville and USF, and Urban Meyer’s defensive coordinator on 2 national championship teams at Florida.
10. Quote to note
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn on the Tigers’ offense under new coordinator Chad Morris:
“It was real smooth. Very smooth. There were some great adjustments from Chad, too. We’re excited about the direction we’re headed.”
It’s partly because it really looks like the days of SEC daunted defenses are days gone bye. Not just LSU, but FLA’s defense was chasing all day long, as well as conference wide. A ton of yards and points were being put up on SEC defenses in several games this weekend.
Which makes it a sad day. My Saturdays will certainly get easier if indeed the days of SEC defense is gone. There is nothing more boring than a game without some good hard-hitting defense.
I’m thrilled to see MSU vs Georgia later in the season. I’m really curious to see if the days of the Elite Defense is over and if they can only slow teams down now. Georgia is arguably the best defense in the nation so if MSU tears my bulldogs a new one then we know the answer.
Yeah man there are still good defenses, but the number of dominating ones in the conference seems to be dwindling over the last few years.
I for one enjoy not nodding off while the Gators are offense. If the cost is a defense that has some work to out in, so be it. I’ll take what we saw on Saturday over any game the Shark F….. or Muschamp put in at any point of they’re tenure.
Offense is good, that’s for sure.
1. It is a gimmick offense. That doesn’t mean that it won’t work.
2. As far as whether or not it will work, the jury is still out. One game isn’t enough against which to judge its effectiveness against the SEC. The air raid has been tried in the SEC before, with mixed results indicating that it CAN work, but whether it will work this year or not, let’s see how it pans out. It was a great performance against a team known for good defenses, but we don’t know how good this year’s LSU defense is yet so lets not make assumptions based on a limited set of data.
3.
Lsu defensive losses are definitely a factor. But its not like they were reduced to Arkansas or Vandy. The record is still very impressive.
Florida had a lot of success with the Fun ‘N Gun long before the Air Raid came to the SEC. I’m sure it can work, or at least bring about some amount of success. The LSU game somewhat validates that. Now, does MSU still win the game if Death Valley was packed with fans? Who knows?
Why is anyone doubting PFF’s fifth ranked QB in the entire nation, Stetson Bennett? (he’s tied with some guy named Kyle Trask)
Why is anyone doubting ESPN’s second ranked QB in the entire SEC by QBR, Stetson Bennett? (he’s sitting one spot above some guy named Kyle Trask)
You did notice Matt, the Dawgs ran the ball well in the second half, right, once Stetson settled everyone down and Arkansas had to respect the pass and couldn’t put 9 men into the box?
Why is no one talking about how badly Florida’s defense looked giving up 620 yards to a brand new Ole Miss offense? Do Floriduh fans really think two players will make a difference, or that Grantham who once again earned his 3rd down monicker, will?
Look, will Bennett continue to play that well? Who knows. I do expect Daniels to start as soon as he’s cleared.
But those problems on defense Floriduh has: no pass rush, bad LB play, disjointed secondary, bad tackling… those aren’t quite so easily fixed.
Oh, so now Stetson is the new best SEC quarterback. Maybe Trask should learn from him and study all of Stetson’s tape. All 2 quarters of lights out qb play.
Corch, you are brilliant. Stetson for heisman, Walter camp award, offensive player of the year and so on. Heck, probably the Ray Guy award while he’s at it.
ESPN says Stetson Bennett is better than Kyle Trask.
PFF says Kyle Trask is only as good as Stetson Bennett.
Take it up with them, not me, ‘turd. LOL.
Well, now that ESPN said it that means it’s truth value is absolute. Stick with ESPN I’ll stick with what I see.
It’s Arkansas. Curb your enthusiasm.
Gonna light y’all up in November.
Also, I want to send a shout out to The Great Pumpkin:
THANK YOU FAT PHIL FOR HIRING DUMB AS ROCKS JEREMY PRUITT INSTEAD OF MIKE LEACH!!!
The writer sure has some pent-up hatred for Coach Phil Fulmer.
Give it about 2 more years and Vol Nation will join him.
We will know whether Leach can keep executing his offense after 3 weeks. Sec defensive coordinators are famous for forcing change in schemes. Leach isn’t used to that yet.
LSU was an anomaly. Too much attrition on the roster and coaching turnover. Kudos to State but LSU and Brennan have a long way to go. Most defense’s looked bad Saturday including my Gators but lack of practice won’t be an issue after week 3.
What we learned is LSU might be worse than alot of people thought, and UGA will most likely have 2 losses by the time the cocktail party rolls around!
Yeah that 4-touchdown victory was troubling. In contrast, Florida won by a massive two touchdowns!
If you think that 4 TD win against Arkansas was impressive then good luck the rest of the season.
The same could be said for a 19 point win over Missouri.
We won the 2nd half 32-3. Our offense should get better. If our defense also improves, hold on to your hat.
Maybe you didn’t watch the game, but Arkansas looked alot better. Odom has done a great job on that defense already. UGA caught some breaks and the score looks like they kicked a$$. They didn’t.
Missouri was never in it against Bama and the Tide shut it down up 35-3….. UGA went in at half 7-5 with Arky…
LMAO
You won’t see that first half UGA team the rest of the season. They figured out what they need to figure out on the line and with the penalties. QB may be a different thing but once the o line figured out the run fits, Bennett wasn’t in 3rd and 12 all days
You won’t see a team the caliber of Arky the rest of the season either… Well maybe Vandy lol
Yeah, UGA was lucky to play Arkansas week 1 or else they would have had a bigger hole to dig out of. That being said, UGA worked through their issues with personnel and penalties, found an OL group that works, and the freshmen that contributed settled in nicely in the second half. Like I said, you won’t see that first half team again this year.
Sure… Let’s go with that..
Georgia w/2 losses before arriving in Jax…Agreed. Lots of uncertainty surrounding the QB position. Mathis looked totally lost.
Bennet played better than most expected.
Everyone keeps repeating MSU won “on the road” against the “defending national champions”.
No one can deny this is technically true, but they say it as if Death Valley was rocking with 100k fans and as if Burrow, Chase, Stingley, Edwards-Helaire and a dozen other 2019 Tigers are still on the team.
Great win for Leach and MSU. Let’s not go overboard just yet.
Leach may not have had a full offseason to fine-tune his offense, but the same can be said of LSU coaches and their defense.
Better prepared defenses await.
(I’m aware Stingley is still on the team. He was out against MSU)
Stingley may have got sick on purpose, Lol.
One more thing, it’s definitely trendy to predict MSU will be unbeaten heading into the Alabama game. C
If you’re that sold and convinced of Leach’s genius, predict they’ll be unbeaten after that game.
Just like a dawg to come up with some excuses.
You had better curb your enthusiasm becasue those Air Raid Dawgs might run your Red Clay Hounds out of Athens,
People seriously need to pump the breaks about Leach and his offense. Yes, Saturday was a very big win. But that wasn’t 2019 LSU they faced off against. As the season wears on, tape accumulates and defenses have more to study and learn from. Not to mention roster depth becomes a large factor (especially this season). Let’s see how Leach’s offense is performing in November and in the 2021 season before running victory laps.
The record is still impressive. Think how many offenses have played lower tier sec teams and never achieved those numbers.
Indeed. I was at the 1993 game in which Zeier broke set the record of 544 yards.
That record survived Wuerffel, Peyton, Couch, Eli, Lorenzen, Manziel, Murray, Tebow, Newton, Burrow, and Tua, just to name a few.
Just be happy y’all play them late. Hell I’m happy the Gators don’t see them at all.
Oh I am, absolutely.
“ He just needed consistency and motivation. He has both now.”
Yes, Waddle inarguably proved that he is now utterly consistent. After one game.
Good grief.
Can’t understate the performance of Costello. That guy looks like an elite QB. Any system looks better when you have a smart, accurate, athletic QB. The air raid can work on the SEC but we need to see more games first. It’s possible that LSU just simply wasn’t ready, or maybe they’re not very good.
A little of both, or a lot of both. They’re talented, but it looks like growing pains. Should get better as the season progresses, but they have a lot of work to do.
LSU has elite talent though, seems like Bo Pelini might be to blame.
He believes in man coverage, and man coverage usually works for LSU. I don’t know if they spent much time practicing zone coverage, but they really needed to switch to zone coverage. Don’t know how much difference it would have made, but they were out of position to make tackles.
I tend to put it on LSU. They obviously were not ready for that game. I don’t think Miss State will make much noise in the SEC this year. It looks like another year of Alabama and then everyone else.
I wonder if Morehead watched the game and said yeah maybe State did make the right call after all.
— Former Vols coach Phillip Fulmer led a coup to get Currie fired, get himself named AD, and then hired an assistant coach (Jeremy Pruitt) and paid him $4 million a year (see: incestuous).
— Currie, who was one of the top young AD’s in college sports
This is a complete mischaracterization of events and Matt Hayes you are a complete dullard. Did you forget Leach was like the 4th or 5th coach he tried to hire? Did you forget he tried to hire Greg Schiano after going to the Bahamas while Florida hired Dan Mullen out form under him? Did you forget that he tried to hire Dave Doreen before going off the radar before trying to hire leach?
Oh but he was “one of the top young AD’s in college sports”…
Mullen was not leaving MSU for Tennessee. He only went to Florida because that’s where he got his start and that was his dream job
Florida was trying to hire Chip Kelly. When he turned them down for UCLA they went with their second option Dan Mullen. Dan Mullen was Currie’s first choice, thought he had it wrapped up, and went to the Bahamas with the basketball team. Not surprised that you didn’t hear about that down in cow town.
Admit it. Y’all jelly, and pissed at Fulmer and his good ol’boy BS. It’s alright you can say it, were all family here.
If Fulmer were part of some good ole boy system he would still be the coach. If John Currie weren’t an incompetent boob he’d still be AD
There was skepticism when Urban Meyer installed his “spread” offense at Florida…they said the SEC defenses will eat it up..but it worked well enough to win two(2) nattys.
Mike Leach’s “air raid” offense will work in the SEC. fothe the spread and air-raid will work If the team has the right mix of elite talent.
To me, this game seemed to show how all the players/coaches lost at LSU has depleted their team roster & robbed them of quality assistant coaches.
Oops ! Bad typing…omit “fo”.
It will work to some extent. The question is whether it will continue to work to the extent that it did Saturday. LSU was not ready for that game. Other teams will watch the film and put a better defensive product on the field.
I was all in for the Leach hire when I found out about it. I like Pruitt so far and am fine with that hire right now but I was always intrigued by the crazy pirate. They beat an LSU team decimated by graduation and leaving early for the pros. Im not sure if it will hold up in the long run but it is what it is today, a great win over the defending national champs. They are fun to watch too.
Corch I saw you in a TN video in an earlier article, dancing in UT Garb in the stands in Columbia. How did you get in that game.
Mike Leach is going to win even more Nation Titles with his Air Raid offense now that he’s in the SEC.
After all, he did it at Kentucky, Texas Tech, and Washington State.
Oh wait….
Between his time at TT and WaState, he exactly 2 conference championships with those crappy Big 12 and PAC12 defenses. And still sits at 7-8 in bowl games.
Mike Leach is most successful when he has the right QB and this week’s game was enabled by the fact that he was able to bring such a QB with him. Wait until the good defensive teams get more SEC tape to watch.
Correction…. Zero conference championships. If the Air Raid offense can’t win the PAC12 and BIG12, why will it win in the SEC?
Oh, it will be fun to watch and Miss St will be some teams they are not used to beating but I don’t they need to make hotel reservations in Atlanta yet.
We will be undefeated going into the Alabama game. I guarantee it. Texas A&M isn’t stopping Costello. Would love to see a top 10 MSU vs Alabama matchup. We will most definitely lose that game, but we will put up a good fight I think losing similar to the 2014 and 2017 games. After that game, I think we can win out or drop the UGA game. I don’t know if UGA’s defense can stop this offense, mostly because whenever they face an elite offense they seem to wilt. UGAs offense is also concerning. 8-2 is most likely with 9-1 being a real possibility and 10-0 being very hard to obtain because of Alabama but still somewhat reachable with Alabama’s defense looking un-Alabama as of late.
Alright alright, lets pump the breaks a bit. MSU had an amazing game and looked incredible but to already start predicting a 8-2, 9-1 season is a little pre-mature. Leach always had average to good teams at other schools but to think he’ll be elite in his first season in the SEC is pushing it a bit. Only time will tell I suppose.
It’ll be fun watching Leach drop a nickel on y’all.
Phil Fulmer has always looked like an idiot to SEC fans, it was confirmed for the rest of the world Saturday. ADs have been fired for less. Truly happy for Miss St. and also happy as a Gator fan UT passed on the Pirate. Leach and Miss St are going to be appointment viewing for as long as he coaches there, and the recruits will follow the hype. Leach will be out recruiting the rest of the SEC West, ie everyone not Bama/LSU in less than 1 cycle, mark it down they’ll be fighting for an SEC title in less than 5. Go Gators.
what happened saturday to confirm it? You, corch and a few other morons calling him an idiot is more telling about you that it is him. And that idiot has a head coaching NC ring on his finger which is more than all the current coaches in the SEC East and half the west, so he may know a little about football. maybe he is an idiot about the cost of gator meat in gainesville. yeah that must be what you meant. Dumba$$
I love Mike Leach and was excited when we were about to hire him. However, you can not base everything off of one game against a team who had two returning starters with a new DC. All of that said, I would love to see Leach succeed in the SEC.
“14. Arkansas (0-1) at Mississippi State: A brutal way to return to the SEC for QB Feleipe Franks: against the best defense in the nation (Georgia) and behind an offensive line that struggles to protect. MSU got 7 sacks vs. LSU.”
Behind an offensive line that struggles to protect? Georgia got 3 sacks and 3, QB hurries, 4 total TFL’s for the game. Hmmmm…
Not a spotless performance by the Hogs’ Oline, but not one I would exactly characterize as a “struggle”.
Off topic but what’s up with Todd Gurley? 50 attemps and his long is only 16yds, averaging 1 (ONE!) yd per reception, and down to a pitiful 43% reception rate. Mercy.
His knees are shot. Injury-caused arthritis. I don’t expect him to last the season, and expect him to retire.
It’s sad. It’s all back to his ACL tear against Auburn in his last game for the Dawgs.
Injuries suck, I dont care who the kid plays for. I wish him well in whatever he does.
I thought he was a clean bill though signing this off-season. Sorry to hear he’s hurt again.
“why Leach never seriously received consideration”
we all know why, because the Pirate wouldn’t apologize for a whiny punk be-atch on his team whose DAHDee happened to work for Espun. Pathetic pencil necked skirt wearing geek admins are skurd of the Dizney Rat owned channel.
Connor has met his match with a long drawn out article that means nothing.
I was happy when Currie hired Leach. I was pissed when he wasn’t finalized. JP may turn out well too, but to me Mike Leach had more success at places nobody could win. The primary reason he could get his team ready to play in so little time with so few practices is the concept of using 7-10 plays and running them out of 70 or so formations.
Pirate made serious runs at the Bewvo/Yoklahoma from Lubboc in the south div 12 and turned Washedup St into an actual somebody in the PAC. Dude is dambd near a miracle worker.
No Stingley on top of Shelvin and the Draftees
That was completely different D from last yr literally almost every starter replaced in week 1
MSU carved up LSU for the same reasons that Ole Miss rolled up 600 yards on Florida’s defense: first game rust, no film study of the opponent, brilliant offensive coordinator, elite older quarterback, substitutes pressed into duty in the secondary and offensive talent. Unlike Arkansas and Missouri, Ole Miss and MSU have more than a little talent on their offenses.
Strip away the window dressing and the only real differences with Leach’s offense are substitution of swing and screen passes for the running game and wider splits on the offensive line, to open up throwing lanes in the middle and to increase the distance edge rushers must travel to reach the quarterback. There’s nothing magical about it. While I do think there’s a good chance MSU starts 4-0, Alabama’s and Georgia’s defenses should bring Leach’s offense down to earth.
MSU probably has the most talent Leach has ever had on a roster. Not elite by SEC standards, but far more talented that Texas Tech and Wazzu ever were. MSU beat LSU on both lines of scrimmage. Like Florida’s defense, LSU’s defense will be much better this week.
And it’s really a shame that MSU and Tennessee aren’t playing each other this year.