SB Nation - Ashlee Palmer

Post-Game: Memphis State

Whiskey Wednesday — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 07:11:07 -0000

by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

"Hi, I'm Jevan Snead, and hopefully, I'm really hung over right now."

Good riddance, Memphis. We beat you by 31, and we weren't happy about it, except for the fact that we won't be playing you again for several years. And haters from Arkansas, Memphis, MSU, and wherever else: we didn't play like a top 10 team today. We know that. But when the polls come out this week, guess what? We'll be in the top 10. You won't. I'm convinced that we have a team that can play at a top 10, even top 5 level, but that obviously didn't happen this week. So what went wrong? What went right? Click that jump button, playa...

First off: if we ever decide to renew this wretched little series, we could move the game to December 1, and it would still be 95 degrees with bright sun and 300% humidity in the Liberty Bowl. Ugh.

Second: Selling beer is a bad idea at Ole Miss games. Don't crucify me, because it's freaking true. Did I have a couple before the game? Absolutely. Did I have a couple back in Oxford later tonight? Absolutely. But for the 21 year-old kids in the section around us, buying beer at a football game was such a damn novelty that the spectacle that is Ole Miss football was completely ignored, and the sport of the day devolved into a marathon relay of beer runs. The fishing shirt-clad fellow next to us had his girlfriend run her pretty self down into the tunnel to fetch beer roughly 42 times during the game. I was both annoyed, and a little bit jealous. A beer-fetcher like that is one to hold on to, friends.

But seriously, there's no need for beer. Let me know if you're having trouble getting alcohol into the stadium, and I'll let you in on a little trade secret: carry half of your booze in your girl's purse, and the other half in your bloodstream. There, that wasn't so hard now, was it?

A sociological side-note, the Memphis fan demographic is experiencing a dramatic shift. Fewer and fewer faded jerseys, jean shorts, mullets and the like. More and more gelled/dyed hair, man-capris, visors, with a few sets of faux-rich frat getups mixed in. It's as if they finally realized that they were trashy, but couldn't decide whether to imitate USM or Ole Miss as a remedy. Either way, you all still look ridiculous.

As for the football game: well then, where do we start?

Jevan Snead will be fine, I've decided. Last year, he needed some time to shake off the rust, had a shaky start against Memphis, a burst of brilliance against Wake, then slowly climbed out of mediocrity until hitting his stride late in the season. Obviously he needs to keep things simple, to worry about just getting the ball in the hands of his playmakers, and work hard to get himself mentally right. Call Nutt a QB killer if you want, but he's a coach first, not a QB psychologist. Snead has the potential; he's already displayed it against major opponents last year. He's just got to get his head stable. He'll be alright, but still, it's safe to say that we're all glad that Bama isn't next week.

Running backs were fine. Bolden looked like he wasn't even trying. Enrique lit a fire under himself. Andy Hartmann made some fantastic blocks. Moving on...

The receivers were pretty underutilized today. Most of the problem was the vanilla playcalling, coupled with Jevan finding his security blankets in Hodge and McCluster when he wasn't hitting the throws like he wanted. Glad to see that Jesse Grandy will have a chance as the main motion guy in the Wild Rebel. I think that's his strong suit, and his best chance to make plays without taking many hard hits. Shay Hodge is still amazing. If I were an offensive coordinator scheming against Memphis, I'd have thrown it up to Hodge a lot more than we did.

The line... I can't decide what to think. Snead was sacked only once by a Memphis D that wanted to hit him pretty badly, and that one sack was a result of him holding onto the ball for way too long. Bradley Sowell might be plenty serviceable after a few more games. I don't think it's time to do anything drastic until he starts totally blowing blocks. Speaking of missing blocks, John Jerry was sub-par today. Having never played offensive line, I can't imagine the cohesion necessary to have a solid pass-blocking line. This line will have to gel quickly, but I think we'll be alright, especially when we put Rishaw Johnson back in his starting slot. Having Brandon Green, AJ Hawkins, Bobby Massie, and others as subs makes me feel pretty good. We need to stay injury free, but those guys will all be decent reserves this year.

The defensive line... We saw their potential, but it was a little frustrating when it seemed like they were overeager to fly into the backfield for a sack, only to see the running back slicing through the rest of the defense behind them. A little discipline from the D line goes a long way against a spread team. Jerrell Powe looks possessed; he's going to be awesome. Lockett showed that the attention he got last year in Hardy's absence was totally merited. He did overpursue a few times, but he made it obvious that he'll be tough to block 1-on-1 all year. Marcus Tillman was more dynamic than I've ever seen him. He had 7 tackles and showed speed in backside pursuit of the Memphis running backs a couple of times. Lamark Armour played, and wasn't bad at all. Good to know that we have four tackles we can use, and a fifth when Justin Smith returns.

I wanted to see more big plays out of the linebackers, but I guess this wasn't the offense to do it against. DT Shackleford is headed towards a great career. He's instinctive and he can run and hit really well. He will continue to steal time from Cornell, especially if the arm tackles continue from the starters. Allen Walker had a few good plays in run support. Since he was recruited as a safety, I keep wanting him to make plays in the passing game like Ashlee Palmer did, but I haven't seen it yet. Patrick Trahan didn't look like an elite linebacker today. Too early to tell for sure, but for now, we have three solid SEC starters, at least two good SEC backups, but no stars at linebacker.

The defensive backs played with swagger. This was a great performance, and the play of Jeremy McGee and Marcus Temple was really surprising. Johnny Brown led the team in tackles with 15, though that's probably a bad thing. It's encouraging that the secondary was good without any huge plays from Kendrick Lewis. Cassius Vaughn had a stellar play against Singleton where he got a good read on the ball, made a nice jump, and kept his hands in Singleton's grill until the pass fell to the ground. A solid, solid play against a huge guy like him. Fon Ingram listened to Coach Kennedy (who was probably yelling at someone, somewhere), and Justified His Existence. A great (if lucky) read, and a fluid catch and return.

OK, Spirit readers, you got us. Andrew Ritter is really good. He kicked the crap out of it when he was supposed to, kicked it high for the coverage team when he was supposed to. He's good. There, we said it.

The officiating, which I usually gripe about, was consistent and fair. There was that one laughable pass interference call on a play where the ball had already hit the ground, and the Memphis receiver initiated the contact. That was pretty terrible. Other than that, the refs did a good job of not letting the game devolve into whatever limp-wristed, no-contact slap-fight that Georgia was forced to comply with at T. Boone Pickens stadium. Yes, Big XII, if we aren't allowed to hit you hard, you'll probably win. Congrats.

One last thing before I turn in for the night: Memphis fans, you are pathetic. After the Tigers scored to make it 24-14, a good section of your crowd near the north endzone started an "overrated" cheer... While down by ten, late in the game, knowing full well that you were going to lose. That's weak shit, Memphis fans. You're bitter, obnoxious, irrelevant, and small. By claiming that a team is overrated when they're beating you by ten in your own shitty stadium, when this is the most important game of the year to you, what are you saying about yourselves? Anyways, thanks for the win; I guess we'll play another soft game, then go on to some nationally relevant college football. Have fun doing whatever it is you do between now and basketball season.

That's all for tonight. Let me know what you think (unless you're an Arkansas fan), and don't miss the Roundtable tomorrow.

Goodnight, and Hotty Toddy.

Post-Spring Previews: Ole Miss

Gamecock Man — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:52:43 -0000

The fourth week of the season brings the heavily hyped Ole Miss Rebels to Columbia for a Thursday night game. The Rebels open the season against Memphis and Southeast Louisiana, so they should be undefeated and ranked fairly highly for this game. If we beat NC State and UGA (keep your fingers crossed), we will likely also come in as a top 15 team, setting up an early season matchup of ranked SEC squads. In any event , this will be a huge game for both teams; for Ole Miss, it's a necessary hurdle to prove they're ready to meet expectations, and for South Carolina, it's an opportunity to establish ourselves as a surprise team.

Let's see how we stack up against Ole Miss.

Offense

Quarterback

The Rebels return junior quarterback Jevan Snead. Snead is widely regarded as having one of the best arms in college football and could very well be the top overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft if he has a good year. While I have high hopes for Stephen Garcia this year, it would be hard to say that any signal caller not from Gainesville, Austin, or Norman doesn't have a strong disadvantage against Snead, who comes into this season as a dark horse Heisman contender.

Verdict: Strong advantage Ole Miss

Running Backs

Ole Miss returns a plethora of talent for what should be a tailback by committee approach. Cordera Eason, Brandon Bolden, and Enrique Davis are all backs that can run for both speed and power, and all will see time on the field. And none is was the Rebels leading rusher last year. That honor would go to Dexter McCluster, who is a receiver but lines up under center in the "Wild Rebel" formation, from which he often runs the ball. McCluster is the fastest of this group. All of these options are good news for Houston Nutt, a master at coordinating effective running attacks. I expect a much improved running game for the Gamecocks this year, but it won't be as good as what Ole Miss brings.

Verdict: Slight advantage Ole Miss

Wide Receivers and Tights Ends

Although they lose Mike Wallace, the Rebels return a set of big play receivers in McCluster, Shay Hodge, and Markeith Summers. This group has tons of speed and Ole Miss as a team averaged over 15 yards per completion last year. That's scary against our young secondary. I like the Rebels here.

Verdict: Slight advantage Ole Miss

Offensive Line

This is the big question mark for what is an otherwise star-studded Ole Miss offense. Star left tackle Michael Oher and both guards are gone, leaving big shoes for the new crop of players to fill. The Rebels have talent coming to play, including tackle Bradley Sowell, who will take over for Oher. However, they won't have much time to gel before playing us (again, we're their first big-time opponent), and an injury to Sowell or right tackle John Jerry could spell disaster. I would say we have a slight advantage here if our guys continue to improve.

Verdict: Slight advantage South Carolina

Defense

Defensive Line

Although they lost Peria Jerry to the NFL from a unit that led the SEC in tackles for a loss, Ole Miss has what is probably the league's best defensive line. Greg Hardy and Jerrell Powe are the two everyone is talking about, but Marcus Tillman and Kendrell Lockett are also pretty good. I like our defensive line a lot this year (although I worry about depth), but I think Ole Miss has a slight advantage here.

Verdict: Slight advantage Ole Miss

Linebacker

Ole Miss graduates its best players at the linebacker positions, Tony Fein and Ashlee Palmer. The Rebels do return some solid players with significant experience, such as Patrick Trahan. However, this is a question mark area for them; they certainly don't have anyone like Eric Norwood. If we can hold their linemen at bay, I like our chances to run the ball against these guys as well as to set up mismatches in the short to mid-range passing game.

Verdict: Strong advantage South Carolina

Secondary

Although they return some experience at these positions, there are concerns here for the Rebels, as Ole Miss's secondary was the weak link in an otherwise stout Ole Miss defense last year. This isn't to say they're a horrible unit. They played well at times, such as in the Cotton Bowl against a high-flying Texas Tech offense. However, Ole Miss was usually a team you could pass against if you could protect your QB long enough; don't forget, this is a team that Chris Smelley more or less torched. While we have some questions here due to departures, we have some talented players returning and some good incoming talent that should give us a slight advantage here.

Verdict: Slight advantage South Carolina

Special Teams

The Rebels return one of the conference's better placekickers in Joshua Shene. Their main return guys last year were Marshey Green and the departed Mike Wallace; both of the punt and kickoff return units were better than average last year, but losing the speedy Wallace leaves a hole to fill. Their coverage units were also pretty good. With a lot of question marks to answer after losing Ryan Succop, Captain Munnerlyn, and coach Ray Rychleski, I'd say we're at a disadvantage here until we prove otherwise, although I do like our return units when Chris Culliver has the ball.

Verdict: Slight advantage Ole Miss

Head Coach

In the wake of Ole Miss's surprising 2008, pundits everywhere have proclaimed the greatness of Houston Nutt and have derided Arkansas for ever letting him get away. I can't say I agree with this sentiment. Nutt is certainly a good coach and has no peer in terms of motivating his teams to win big games. However, he has some shortcomings that have kept him from the top despite the fact that he had the talent in place with his last two Arkansas teams to win the SEC. First of all, the guy seemed afriad of the forward pass at Arkansas, even when he had Mitch Mustain under center. To his credit, he seems to be embracing post-1960s football these days at Ole Miss. Second of all, his bickering with coaches and off-field shenanigans cost him Mustain, a few other players, and talent offensive coordinator Guz Malzahn for the 2007 season, which could have been a big one for Arkansas. Finally, although he brought some good players to Arkansas, for the most part he's been a very average recruiter, unless you call signing 35+ players this past year at Ole Miss the sign of recruiting prowess. Lest we forget, Nutt's success in Oxford has come courtesy of Ed Orgeron's recruiting talents. This isn't to say that Nutt isn't a better coach than Orgeron; he is. I just don't think he's the genius everyone is saying he is right now. A couple of years ago, before he upset number one LSU in Baton Rouge, nobody was saying this stuff. I'd call comparing him to Spurrier, who has a great legacy but hasn't produced as of late, a push.

Verdict: Push

Overall

My general impression when comparing these teams is that we should have a slightly better defense than Ole Miss, while they should have a much better offense than us. This isn't necessarily to say that we won't have a good offense this year; the fact is, Ole Miss projects to have a truly great one if they live up to expectations. The thing I like about how we match up against them, though, is the Ole Miss offensive line / USC defensive line matchup. We should be able to get some pressure on these guys, which could be key to keeping them from scoring 30+ against us. Of coure, the battle between our o line against their d line will be important, as well; if we can't contain Hardy and Powe, we could be looking at one of those five sacks, four turnovers games we've grown accustomed to. The other thing I like about this game is that it's in Columbia on a Thursday night. All in all, I think the Rebels are probably a slightly better team than us, but I think we'll manage to pull out an upset here.

Prediction: Gamecocks by a field goal

P. S. This prediction has homer written all over it; expect this game to be brutally tough to win.

Cowboys Should Feel Defensive

Jim Vance — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:30:01 -0000

The Cowboys became America's Team because Tom Landry was a winner and innovator. Landry has been credited with developing the 4-3 defense and the variant ‘flex'. Landry brought back the ‘shotgun formation' and situational substitutions and also began the use of offensive motion.

Remember when the offensive linemen raised up in unison before taking the three point stance? Tom Rafferty told me that was intended to give the O-line one more good look at the defensive alignment. That was vintage Dallas Cowboys innovation - no one else did that.

Where is the innovation that made the Cowboys America's Team ? Where is that ‘out of the box' thinking that forced the other teams to innovate just to catch up? I haven't seen much of it lately.

Bullet Bob Hayes was known primarily for being a track star (yes he did play some football) and his speed stretched opposing defenses. Opposing D coordinators had to account for this Cowboys innovation and thus the zone defense was developed.

Cornell Green was a college basketball star that the Cowboys converted into a defensive back. Green became an All-Pro cornerback. These were innovative personnel decisions that gave the Cowboys the winning edge.

In this 2009 NFL Draft I would like to see the Cowboys think 'out of the box' again and do an OOPS! That is an Out Of Position Selection with some of the later round picks.

We have numerous selections in this upcoming draft, no first rounder, and I believe Jerry will certainly try to package some of those picks for a move up, if the right player is available. If this happens, we will have fewer picks and likely we will have fewer third and fourth round picks since these will be used as currency for the trade up. We may have to get very creative to get contributing players with our remaining low level picks.

I'm suggesting these two picks as OOPS players who might fall in the draft because of size-concerns, but could make a change of position at the next-level.

5th Round - Inside Linebacker - Mitch King, Iowa, DE. Many say he's too small for the NFL as a defensive lineman. (6'2" 275lbs / 4.7 40 time) This guy was impressive at the Senior Bowl practice and game. He has a non-stop motor and has been successful using his hands and quickness to get off blocks. Some will say he doesn't have a position in the NFL - too small for D Line, too big for LB. Look how NFL players continue to get bigger over time. Brandon Jacobs would have been a lineman fifteen years ago. I'd love to see Jacobs get stood up by Ron Brace then blown backwards by a 275 pound linebacker. King is projected as a second or third rounder but I think his size may cause him to drop later where someone will take a chance on him. I hope it's us, I like this guy.

7th Round/FA - Safety - Ashlee Palmer, Ole Miss, LB This player, like Mitch king (capitalize), is said to be too small to play his college position at the next level (6'2" 223 lbs / 4.59 40 yards). He is active and is all over the field with speed and quickness and he has pretty good ball skills. Palmer got some attention at the Senior Bowl. He's not without his blemishes but I think we pick this lad up in the last round or possibly as a free agent to get ourselves a quick ball hawking safety.

These two players earned a trip to the Senior Bowl despite being somewhat undersized at their position in college. Both can step back one level in the NFL and have the size at these new positions to make an impact. I would like to see the Cowboys take a chance on these fellows. If I'm wrong I can always say oops!

Are there any other oops players that might be in our positions of need?

Super Bowl Trivia; Curt Warner is not the only QB to start for two different teams in a Super Bowl. Can you name any others?

Previewing Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss: Linebacker

Seth C — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:00:07 -0000

LINEBACKER

Player	Ht/Wt	Class	Position	Tackles	TFL	Sacks
Bront Bird	6'3"/220	So.	LB	58	3	1
Marlon Williams	6'0"/224	Jr.	LB	65	3	2
Brian Duncan	6'1"/238	So.	LB	90	2	0
Victor Hunter	5'11"/256	Jr.	LB	20	1	0
Ashlee Palmer	6'2"/222	Sr.	LB	48	5	1
Allen Walker	6'1"/215	So.	LB	37	3	2
Jonathan Cornell	6'1"/225	So.	LB	42	4.5	3
Patrick Trahan	6'3"/225	Jr.	LB	24	3.5	1
Lamar Brumfield	6'0"/224	Jr.	LB	20	2	0
Tony Fein	6'2"/245	Sr.	LB	51	5	0

Texas Tech

Brian Duncan is focused.

I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the resurgence of the Texas Tech linebacking corp. At some point during last year's offseason, Ruffin McNeill determined that it was imperative to send out on the field more athletic linebackers than we've seen in the past. The result was the emergence of Brian Duncan, who should have been named to some of the all-conference teams, led the team with 90 tackles, 59 of which were solo tackles. Duncan is by far and away the best linebacker that Texas Tech has had, perhaps since Zach Thomas. Duncan's been on a tear of late as he's had 7, 11, 11 and 5 tackles over his last 4 games and had a huge interception against Baylor.

McNeill prefers to play a traditional 4-3 defense, despite the Big 12's move towards more offenses running the spread. That typically means that Marlon Williams, for most of the season, was covering the opposing team's slot receiver. I think there was a movement towards the latter part of the year to move away from Williams in the slot, preferring a bigger safety or defensive back, which in turn limited Williams time on the field. Against Kansas, Williams had 4 tackles, but over the next 3 games (Texas, Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma) Williams had 2, 2 and 5 tackles, before returning to form with 9 tackles against Baylor. In my opinion, Williams is much better playing the run than the pass and he excels against more traditional teams, which is Ole Miss.

As the season moved on, it seemed like Bront Bird became that linebacker that tended to initially cover a team's tight end or slot receiver. Bird, a former safety in high school, seemed to struggle a bit in pass coverage and much like M. Williams, Bird is better suited playing the run. Bird tends to run very hot or cold in terms of involvement, but I think that's partly because of playing time, not necessarily the inability to make a play. Bird will have one game where he makes 10 tackles and then not show up in the boxscore.

Victor Hunter is the bowling ball run stopper. He is your goal-line stand guy that tries to plug the middle of the field. He doesn't see a ton of playing time (i.e. due to the number of spread offenses), but he's effective at what he does.

Mississippi

Ashlee Palmer is excited.

The SEC is not typically a spread-offense conference, it's more traditional in offensive schemes (for the most part). The difference between the linebackers for Ole Miss and for Texas Tech is that the Ole Miss defensive line does a ton of the dirty work, leaving the Rebel linebackers to make a few tackles each game, which is a good thing.

While perusing the Ole Miss linebacker stats, it's apparent that they each contribute 3 to 4 tackles a game. Leading linebacker tackler Tony Fair's last 4 games were 2, 2, 5 and 2 tackles. Ashlee Palmer: 4, 1, 3 and 0. Granted, 2 of these last 4 games were absolute blow outs, but it's still interesting to note that this is a collective effort. If there is one linebacker that has the ability to take over a game, it's Palmer, who had a very nice stretch early in the year with 5 tackles against Florida, followed up with 9 against S. Carolina an 8 against Alabama. Keep in mind that Palmer was the player that the Ole Miss staff thought might not make it because of grades, but was eventually fully reinstated.

Of course, the difficult part about playing Texas Tech is that the Ole Miss linebackers may be completely taken out of the entire game play because Texas Tech will run 4-wide more times than not. You'd have to think that the Ole Miss staff will have, at the very least 5 defensive backs at any given time, probably more, and as a result, the linebackers may get squeezed.

With that being said, these linebackers are part of the same defense that is #6 in the country at stopping the run, and although the defensive line deserves quite a bit of the credit, I think it would disingenuous to not credit the Rebel linebackers as well. Collectively, these guys get it done.

I'd love to hear from Ole Miss fans to find out what they think we'll see in terms of matchups during the Cotton Bowl.

Conclusion:

I think this is a pretty close matchup and interesting to look at the numbers. Only a few of the Texas Tech linebackers see much playing time, while Ole Miss prefers to rotate, at the very least 6 linebackers, that each make a some impact during every game. Ultimately, the Ole Miss has a better defense and despite my thinking that we may not see the Rebel linebackers receive much playing time, they still get my vote.

Previous Matchups

Quarterbacks :: Running Backs :: Receiver :: Offensive Line :: Defensive Line :: Linebackers :: Secondary :: Special Teams :: Coaching

Matchup	Advantage
Quarterback
Running Back
Receivers
Offensive Line
Defensive Line
Linebacker

Poll

Who do you favor in this matchup of linebackers?

Texas Tech

84 votes

Mississippi

84 votes

168 votes | Poll has closed