SB Nation - Joshua Shene

Tigers Hold On Against the Rebels!

Acid Reign — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:33:37 -0000

(Head Coach Gene Chizik never shows emotion!)

War Eagle, everybody! It's the first happy football weekend for the Tigers, out of the last four! It's time now for the Acid Reign Report, on Auburn's miraculous 33-20 win over the University of Mississippi Rebels. Auburn faced a mismatch on paper in nearly every phase of this game coming in, but managed to emerge victorious by double digits! Both teams made plenty of mistakes, but Ole Miss made more. Auburn got a few fortuitous bounces, and took good advantage. Both teams had penalties, and for the first time in weeks, it was fairly even on both teams.

The Auburn defense was facing a tall order against the talented Rebel offense, and were gashed to the tune of 394 total yards. Dexter McCluster, who Auburn absolutely HAD to stop, finished with 207 total yards. McCluster paid for it in blood, though. Auburn defenders lowered the boom when they could, pounding the diminutive Rebel speedster. McCluster had to leave briefly in the second half, but came back valiantly late. Auburn made a serious effort with stunts and a few blitzes, and delivered enough hits to shake Rebel quarterback Jevan Snead off his game. Some of it was schemed but mostly, the Auburn defensive line and linebackers rose up, and beat on a young Ole Miss offensive line. Snead was limited to 16 completions on 35 attempts, with two picks by Walter McFadden, 175 yards, and one touchdown. That's a 2.1 net yards per pass average. Coverage by the secondary improved enormously, but the guys dropped nearly a half dozen possible interceptions. On the most difficult interception attempt, Walter McFadden made the play. On a ball that nearly hit the turf, and bounced off the straining hands of the Rebel receiver, McFadden snagged the carom one-handed, heels just over the boundary, and sprinted to a pick-six-touchdown! (How's that for a comma-splice?) Auburn gave up yards in chunks, including a 79 yard McCluster run. In the end, Auburn was able to turn the Rebels back every time in the 4^th quarter, holding Ole Miss scoreless to preserve the victory.

Special teams continued to run hot and cold. Clinton Durst hit great punt after great punt, till a shaky 33 yarder late. Chris Todd nailed the pooch punt of the year, coffin-cornering it out of bounds at the Rebel 1 yard line. Phillip Pierre-Louis didn't fumble a punt, but he let one go that was downed at the one, and danced like a man possessed on two others, netting only one yard with plenty of room. I fully expect that he will treat us to a Michael Jackson moonwalk, against Furman. Seriously, PPL, break it forward, please? Kick returns were decent, but kickoff net CONTINUES to be horrible. With the first return given up for a touchdown on the season, the kickoff team managed only a 33.8 yard net, even with Morgan Hull averaging kicking it to the 8 yard line. Wes Byrum continued his excellent ways, hitting on 4 extra points and a field goal. Byrum outkicked Ole Miss kicker Joshua Shene, who came into the game perfect on the year. Shene pushed a 44 yard field goal wide, and kicked an extra point into the line, which Auburn's Demond Washington scooped up and raced in for two points.

Auburn needed to stretch the field on offense. Everyone in the stadium held their breath on repeated tosses downfield, often into double coverage. Todd let it go downfield a bunch, and ended up with a great net yards per pass average, 9.6. Darvin Adams got open and made 4 clutch catches, and Terrell Zachary made a couple of GREAT ones! Tommy Trott had a terrible drop, and a magnificent TD on a ball slung up for the corner by Kodi Burns, off his back foot, being pressured. The Rebels were looking for Mario Fannin and Terrell Zachary on the reverse, but were hurt twice by freshman Travante Stallworth on that play. Ben Tate continued his outstanding play running the ball, powering for 148 rushing yards and a 53-yard back-breaking touchdown. The Tiger offense out-gained Ole Miss, 400 yards to 394. The Ole Miss defense's previous high given up for the season was 354, against Alabama.

Unit Grades, after the jump!

Defensive Line: B+. It was hardly a perfect game up front, especially given that the team gave up 394 yards. Still, there was some good pressure at times on Ole Miss, and eight tackles for loss. Auburn has been able to rotate six or seven up front all year, and it's going to help us going into Amen Corner.

Linebackers: B-. It was feast or famine in the linebacker corps. Sometimes we filled holes and blasted the runner, and sometimes we got pinned inside and burned. The swing pass to backs was KILLING the linebackers early, but adjustments were made well. A number of McCluster runs bounced off linebackers and gained a ton more yardage. Eltoro Freeman was again a force up front. He's very young , and when he gets out of position, it's ugly. It's the second week in a row that the young star has given up a 60+ yard TD run. Still, Freeman led the team in tackles, and was an inspiration. When he actually knows the defense well, he'll be really scary! The stat guys totally missed it, but Adam Herring got a few snaps, and made a huge tip on a pass when Ole Miss was in the red zone.

Secondary: B. This was a night and day improvement by this unit. Coverage was too soft early on, but as Snead started feeling pressure, the corners were able to crash the outs and hitches aggressively. When Zach Etheridge went out early, I was REALLY worried about the safeties. We lost a bit in tackling ability without Zach, but I think Mike Slade brought more speed to the equation. Ole Miss wasn't able to get it done downfield, even with that situation. T'Sharvan Bell and Demond Washington acquitted themselves well, and Neiko Thorpe made some plays. If this group continues to improve, they'll do well against Georgia and Bama.

Punting: B+. Durst hit some monster shots, but might have out-kicked his coverage some. The last kick, when we need to play for field position, was pretty poor. Durst averaged 42 yards on his six punts, but Marshay Green returned 3 of them, for 43 yards. The 29 yard Green return in the third quarter (the longest given up on the season) could have been costly, but Ole Miss fumbled it back on the Auburn 24. A net of 34.7 is a bit down, for us. I can't say enough about Chris Todd's pooch punt that went out of bounds at the one. That was a thing of beauty!

Punt Returns: D. No turnovers is an improvement. The dance moves, with room and blocking, were not. Phillip Pierre-Louis is a rookie at this gig, and I'm not suggesting we replace him. He just needs more coaching. When he learns to step fearlessly into the catch, and heads a few straight up field at a 45 degree angle or less, it will scare coverage teams to death. He's got some great (dreaded buzzword!) potential!

Kick Returns: B. This was a surprisingly solid effort. Ole Miss popped 'em up to about the 12 yard line, and Auburn returners Demond Washington and Phillip Pierre-Louis made 'em pay on field position, averaging 27 yards per return. That set us up on 3 returns outside the 35 yard line. That's pretty sweet, if we can keep that up!

Kickoffs: D-. Well, we tried kicking them deep this week, but Morgan Hull was not consistent. He managed two into the end zone, but 4 others were short. Auburn had a TREMENDOUS hit on the first return, causing a fumble that Auburn could not corral. Despite the negative on that play, Ole Miss averaged 30 yards per return, with one broken for a touchdown to pull Ole Miss within 11. Auburn did improve from a 26.0 yard net a week ago, to 33.8. I'll give a pass, this week.

Placekicking A+. Maybe I should count off on the 36-yard Byrum field goal that SHAVED juuuuusst inside the upright, but it counts 3 points, just the same. Byrum was perfect again. Foot Lauderdale has hit all 34 of his extra points, and is 13 of 14 on field goals. The only miss was from outside 40 yards. Magnificent, Sir Byrum, absolutely magnificent!

Offensive Line: B- This was a so-so performance, at best,but a winner nonetheless! Ole Miss has a great line, and depth. Auburn helped out on the scheme, giving the line help with several max-protect packages on the deep balls. Our tackles had maybe the worst day of the year trying to handle Greg Hardy and Kentrell Lockett off the edge. In this game, on 3^rd and +7, it was probably better to just run a draw. It would have saved Chris Todd some hits! Still, the Ole Miss ends had only 8 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks. We lost the guard/center gap a couple of times, letting Jerrell Powe roar inside for tackles in the backfield. On a D-line that had Jerrell Powe, Lawson Scott, Kentrell Lockett, and Greg Hardy, Ole Miss only produced 9 tackles. No holding penalties for the line, and only one false start on Mike Berry. And of course, one delay of game on an early snap, courtesy of indecision by Roger's Redding's Buffoons.

Receivers: B. After the catch drought the past three weeks, one HAS to love 7 catches for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns from the starters. Travante Stallworth ran two key reverses for first downs, and Kodi Burns was actually used as a receiver on a nice motion in, reverse out catch for 8 tough yards. There were some bruising blocks downfield, too. Some of the best plays downfield weren't catches, but rather swat-downs by Terrell Zachary on deep balls he wasn't going to be able to catch. Todd chunked it deep for Zachary multiple times, and Zachary did a good job of protecting his QB on those. Tommy Trott had a BAD drop on one pass, but made up for it with a NICE over the shoulder catch on a Burns loft in the end zone.

Running Backs: B. There was some hit and miss on blitz pickup, but enough success to allow Todd to set up to go deep multiple times. There was some good screen offense early, from Mario Fannin and Eric Smith. Ben Tate does some awesome running in traffic. His 148 yards on the day gave him 1067 yards in nine games. He's on pace to finish the regular season with 1422 yards, which would be the third best rushing season in Auburn history, behind only Bo Jackson and Rudi Johnson. Ben's rapidly approaching some rarefied air, around these parts!

Quarterback: C+. Super improvement from the past couple of weeks, but there was some shaky play as well. First off, the Wildcat was pretty much totally useless, except for Kodi's beautiful heave for a TD. Neither Burns throw was proper form AT ALL, but the one we needed got there for six. Rushing out of the Wildcat was snuffed, as nine or ten Ole Miss defenders attacked the line when they recognized Burns in the shotgun. Todd made some big throws, but it was scary. There were two deep throws where Terrell Zachary really made him look good, and a coverage bust that allowed Darvin Adams free for a TD. Todd made an absolutely awful decision late, giving up a 20 yard sack-fumble when we were trying to run the clock down. Luckily, two negative plays, a hold and a sack forced Ole Miss to punt for a touchback. Is Todd's arm OK? At times, he overthrows, at times he bounces it. Against a scary front and linebacking corps, Todd did OK, except for the fumble.

Auburn came up with a great win today! I didn't hold out much hope after the LSU effort, but these Tigers don't quit! We needed to go downfield on offense, play hard against Dexter McCluster, and rattle Jevan Snead. Auburn accomplished all three things, and came up with a win a little bigger than I predicted back in July. No, Ole Miss fans, we didn't score 34 like I thought we would, but we'll take 33!

The win over Ole Miss makes Auburn bowl-eligible at 6-3, and gives the team a great lift going into Homecoming against Furman. If Auburn can continue the improving play in Athens, an 8 win season is still within reach, and if we win that one, we'll host Alabama with a rising swell of confidence! Black Friday might be the end of the Tide's unbeaten run, if we continue to play well and the breaks fall like they did today!

War Eagle, everybody! WAR EAGLE! Ain't it grand? Nothing like winning!

TLV #86 - Greg Hardy Edition

The Ghost of Jay Cutler — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:04:43 -0000

You know, like his jersey number? Fine, whatever, just click the jump.

You've been soaking it all in for the last few months now. Whether propagated by ESPN, your drinking buddies, or every body's favorite Ole Miss Rebel sports blog, you've become inundated with the idea that this upcoming Rebel football season could be one of the greatest ever. There's talk of finally making the trip to Atlanta for the SEC championship game, an SEC Title (ok maybe not so much), and a Heisman Trophy for Jevan Snead (slow down, dreamer).

And why not? These Rebels have talent all across the board, a coaching staff as competent as any we have had in Oxford in decades, and a very favorable schedule. Despite the best efforts of our Rebels' detractors, this is a damn good football team.

But, how good?

When people think of the greatest Rebel teams of recent memory, two should readily come to mind: this one, and the 2003 version of our Rebels. As most of you should recall--we understand if you don't--2003 saw a Rebel team led by Eli Manning fall a lousy three points short of a berth to a very winnable SEC Championship game. A few miscues throughout the season kept the 2003 Rebels from legitimately running the table. That was a good Rebel squad; there is no doubt about it. However, despite the high level of success achieved by Eli and company, they were not nearly as complete a squad as we will see on Saturdays this fall.

Yes, we are suggesting that the 2009 Rebels are better than the 2003 Rebels.

While difficult, if not impossible to prove before the season starts, let's do our best to objectively look the upstart 2003 Rebels and the talented 2009 Rebels position-by-position. Go:

Defensive Line: Strong Advantage 2009

By far the easiest assessment to make, the 2009 Rebel defensive line will go down as one of the most effective unit of angry-ass skull smashers to ever play ball in Oxford. The 2003 unit wasn't too bad, but they certainly weren't a strength of the team.

Linebackers: Slight Advantage 2009
The linebackers in 2003 left a lot to be desired in terms of speed. While Patrick Willis was technically on the team, he was having a year of eligibility thrown away on special teams in David Cutcliffe's seniority-based depth chart. Patrick Trahan, Allen Walker, and Jonathan Cornell form a solid unit, and there's a little more depth here than people think.

Secondary: Slight Advantage 2009

Texas Tech's BJ Symons passed for 661 yards against the 2003 Rebel secondary. That is the third highest passing total of any quarterback in any college football game EVER. While the 2009 secondary may be better--because it couldn't be worse--it's certainly not by much. It's funny to say this, considering how much Ole Miss fans despised him, but Von Hutchins was a good corner. He was just undercoached in a terrible, terrible defensive system.

Special Teams: Push
Johnathan Nichols, when not playing LSU, was perfect. Joshua Shene is the conference's best placekicker, but he still hasn't shown that he can be what Nichols was. What 2009's special teams may "lack" in kicking, it more than makes up for in athleticism and innovation. Remember, Special Teams Coordinator, James Shibest, won National ST Coordinator of the Year in 2008. He can scheme with the best of them.

Offensive Line: Strong Advantage 2003

Three of Eli Manning's five blockers are still playing ball in the NFL. Enough said. If the 2009 unit still somehow had Michael Oher, this would be a push.

Running Backs: Strong Advantage 2009

In 2008, the combination of Brandon Bolden, Cordera Eason, Dexter McCluster, and Enrique Davis was the 2nd most effective rushing attack in the SEC. The 2009 Rebels return every single one of them. In 2003, the Rebels struggled to find an identity when running the football, causing many once reasonable fans to urge Cutcliffe and Company to let Eli throw on every single down.

Wide receivers: Slight Advantage 2009

Yes, we know that we're all supposed to be good Rebels and fawn over Chris Collins, Mike Espy, and Bill Flowers. They were all good receivers, but imagine replacing two of those three with Shay Hodge and Dexter McCluster. Yeah, thought so.

Quarterbacks: Slight-to-Strong Advantage 2003

Well that was an easy choice. Jevan Snead is good; there is no doubt about that. He is big, strong-armed, and became a very good decision maker towards the end of last season. He has also shown great leadership abilities and proven to be fearless, even when facing superior competition. However, he's not a Manning. Eli Manning was the 2003 Rebels. Quick, without looking, how many other skill players from the 2003 Rebel squad were drafted into the NFL. If you answered zero, you're correct. Jevan Snead has already lost one of his offensive companions, speedy wide-receiver and overall badass Mike Wallace, to the 3rd round of last year's NFL draft, and will likely join a few others when he eventually makes that jump. Eli Manning was truly a once-in-a-generation type of player surrounded by an experienced roster of "pretty" goods and "alrights." Jevan Snead is a once-in-a-decade type player surrounded by several "goods" and a few "very goods." If these quarterbacks were to switch places, the 2003 Rebs would have ended up with an 8-5 record whereas the 2009 Rebs would be the preseason pick to win the SEC. I know it's a wild and crazy hypothetical, but what in the hell else are we supposed to be doing with nearly a month left in the offseason?

Wow. In looking back up at that, I never realized how truly woolly we Cuppers had become. Yeah, we're calling it: the 2009 Rebs are, when all positions are considered, better than the 7-1, Cotton Bowl Champion 2003 Rebs. Enjoy the rest of your summers while you can because, come September 6th, we will all be waist-deep in the throes of insane fandom. This season is sure to be one of the most interesting Oxford has ever seen and we are more than happy to share it with you.

Blogging About Bloggeurs. It's Bloggerific.

Juco All-American — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:39:55 -0000

Joshua Shene via Commercial Appeal

View full size photo »

Yesterday, Chris Low gave his thoughts on the recent SEC Coaches All-SEC teams.

Low had some interesting points, and he seems to be serving himself up a helping of the fine red and blue Kool-Aid. Drink it in, Chris. That's the nectar of ~~the gods~~ Chuck Rounsaville.

Low's article praises a bevy of Rebels, so I just wanted to take a minute to discuss some of the points he made.

It's the second year in a row that Tebow wasn't a unanimous selection on the preseason team picked by the coaches. He also wasn't a unanimous selection as the first-team quarterback by the coaches at the end of last season.

Remember, coaches can't vote for their own players. So what that means is at least one other coach besides Florida's Urban Meyer voted for somebody other than Tebow as the first-team quarterback.

In other words, somebody else voted for Ole Miss' Jevan Snead.

Don't blame Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt, either. He can't vote for his own player.

None of this is a knock against Snead, who's one of the best quarterbacks in the country. But how does anybody -- especially a coach in this league -- watch Tebow play the last few years and not vote for him as the first-team quarterback?

It must be a conspiracy ... only joking.

You hear that Razorback fans? Joking. He doesn't ACTUALLY think there's a conspiracy.

Now that that's out of the way, I totally agree with Low. Snead does not deserve to be picked over Tebow in terms of which is the better or more accomplished player. Snead is a great quarterback, but Tebow has a chance to go down in history as the best college quarterback ever to play the game. I don't think that even wiley ol' Jaylon Snead would argue with this. Tebow deserved unanimous first-team recognition, and he didn't get it.

Honestly, Lane Kiffin probably voted for Snead in an effort to downplay Tebow's accomplishments for future recruits or some crazy shit like that. That guy is nucking futs.

Alabama's Leigh Tiffin is a solid kicker, but it's hard to make a case for him being selected over both Ole Miss' Joshua Shene and Florida's Jonathan Phillips.

I thought that was a little strange too, but then I realized that I know as much about kicking mechanics as whoever Ed Orgeron had coaching special teams (see: NOTHING). Maybe Tiffin is a phenom, but with the departure of Ryan Succoup, you would be hard pressed to show me a better place kicker in the SEC than Joshua Shene.

Also, Ole Miss linebacker Patrick Trahan has to at least be on the third team. Watch him light it up this season.

Really? We're already doing this? He HAS to AT LEAST be on the third team? Are you suggesting that you could conceive of him being first or second team? Last season, Trahan had 29 tackles, good for eleventh on the team. I know that he came on strong at the end of the season, but Trahan only performed really well in one SEC game. Trahan's seven tackle, 1 sack performance against Mississippi State wasn't even incurred against a coach who had a vote in this poll. Why would he be considered by other coached around the leage as a top talent? The number of Trahan's SEC tackles outside of the MSU game: 6. Six tackles. Maybe that's why SEC coaches didn't vote for him.

I'm predicting a big year for Trahan as well, but the SEC coaches' poll isn't about predictions as much as it's about what has been proven. Trahan hasn't proven anything to those coaches.

And if you want some perspective on how unproven the quarterback position is in this league (other than Tebow and Snead), check out the third-team selections: South Carolina's Stephen Garcia and Kentucky's Mike Hartline wound up in a tie.

Between them, they've combined for 15 touchdown passes, 16 interceptions and 12 starts.

Wow. Just wow. If this doesn't prove my last point, I don't know what does. I don't think that anyone in the world thinks Garcia or Hartline will perform better than, say Jordan Jefferson or Ryan Mallett. But, regardless, the coaches didn't vote for Jefferson or Mallett. They've got a lot of hype but little followthrough thusfar. One cannot bemoan Garcia and Hartline's combined 12 starts and turn a blind eye to Mallett and Jefferson's combined five.

Simply put, coaches aren't going to vote for you based on your star counts. You've got to do something, anything, on the field for those votes.

As an aside, the fact that Hartline and Garcia were voted as third-teamers should be cannon-fodder for the QB-rich Big 12. That's alright though. The SEC will just have to keep winning BCS National Championships.

UK Football: Statistically Speaking

Ken Howlett — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:34:07 -0000

More photos » by Al Behrman - AP

Rich Brooks telling Miami, OH's Michael Haywood that he is doomed to begin the '09 season 0-1. Or something along those lines.

Browse more photos »

With Tru having posted his thoughts on the football 'Cats non-conference schedule, I thought it time to take a statistical look at last year's team. This should give everyone an idea of what areas UK needs to improve on in order for Rich Brooks & Company to have a successful 2009 campaign.

At times the numbers don't provide pleasant reading material, but in the interest of reality, I recommend a perusal for the serious football fan. So, hold all of your calls, cancel your meetings and lock the door, because here come some stats galore!

** UK's SEC rank in parenthesis

Kentucky Opponents

Points Per Game -- 22.6 (6th) 21.5 (8th)

Comments: Kentucky needs to see an improvement in the number of touchdowns they score (a keen insight indeed). There were five SEC teams that averaged over 30-points per game: Florida (43.6), Mississippi (32.1), Georgia (31.5), LSU (30.9), and Alabama (30.1). If UK harbors hopes of being competitive in the SEC, they need to add at least half-a-touchdown to last seasons 22.6 points-per-game average -- Florida led the SEC last year by only allowing 12.9 points per game (Bama was second, allowing only 14.3 points per game). For the Bobby Petrino-bashers out there: Arkansas finished dead last in the league by allowing 31.2 points per game.

First Downs -- 212 (8th) 209 (5th)

Rushing Yards -- 1657 1810

Average Per Rush -- 3.7 3.8

Average Rush Yd's Per Game -- 127.5 (8th) 139.2 (9th)

Comment: A weak spot for the defense last year; stopping the run: Last season the two top SEC rushing performances came against UK -- Alabama's Glen Coffee rushed for 218-yards against the 'Cats, and Arkansas' Michael Smith ran for 192-yards. For comparative purposes: Alabama, at 74.1 yards per game, and Ole Miss at 85.5 yards per game, led the SEC in rush defense in '08. Offensively, Florida led the SEC in rushing last season with 231.1 yards per game; 45 more yards than the second best rushing team.

Running Back Rushes -- 404 ----

RB Average Per Rush -- 4.03 ----

Comment: The top four running backs in the yards-per-rush category are back for UK: Moncell Allen (5.3 yards per carry on 38 rushes), Derrick Locke (4.8 ypc on 63 rushes), Alfonso Smith (4.2 ypc on 74 rushes), and Randall Cobb (4.0 ypc on 79 rushes).

Rushing Touchdowns -- 18 15

Comment: Randall Cobb is tied with eight others for most points scored in a game last season (in the SEC), with 18-points, after his three rushing touchdown performance versus Georgia. Also due to that outburst, Cobb tied six others for most rushing touchdowns in a game with three.

Passing Yardage -- 2,234 2,511

Comment: Running back Alfonso Smith was the only Wildcat to record a 100-yard receiving game last year.

Att - Comp - Int -- 415-227-13 359-188-12

Comment: Mike Hartline's 47 pass attempts versus Middle Tennessee last season was the SEC high (in a tie with S. Carolina's Chris Smelley) in the category, and Hartline's 28 completions in the same game also led the SEC.

Completion % -- 54.7 52.4

Comment: Although Mike Hartline and Randall Cobb were sub-par passers last season, the wide receivers deserve at minimum, partial responsibility for the 54.7% completion percentage. The too-numerous dropped passes ebbed back to an acceptable number toward the end of the year, but through the first seven or eight games it was a freak show. On the year, Hartline was 172-311 (55.3%) for 1,666 yards, nine touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Randall Cobb posted these numbers: 52-99 (52.5%) for 542 yards, two touchdowns, and five interceptions.

Average Yards Per Catch -- 9.8 13.4

Comment: Pathetic. It's no secret, UK has to throw the ball down the field!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Average Pass Yards Per Game -- 171.8 (8th) 193.2 (9th)

Comment: Vanderbilt was the SEC's worst passing team last season, recording only 122.6 yards per game through the air, while Georgia led the SEC with 277.7 yards passing per game. There were only 10 300-yard passing games in the SEC last season; Arkansas' Casey Dick and Georgia's Matt Stafford were responsible for six of them.

Touchdown Passes -- 11 18

Total Offense Yardage -- 3,891 4,321

Average Yards Gained Per Play -- 4.5 5.2

Comment: UK's 4.5 yard per play average will go up dramatically if and when they begin throwing the ball down the field. Sounds familiar ...

Average Yardage Per Game -- 299.3 (9th) 332.4 (11th)

Comment: The defense, while performing better than the offense, was not the high-caliber unit I and many others thought it might be. Example: Versus the non-conference portion of last years slate, UK held the opposition to only 255 total yards per game. But, against the SEC that number ballooned to 377 yards allowed per game -- Florida, Georgia and Ole Miss averaged at least 400 yards of total offense last season. Defensively, Tennessee and Alabama tied for the leagues stingiest defense, allowing only 263.5 yards per game.

Touchdowns Scored -- 36 36

Third Down Conversion % -- 31% (12th) 33% (6th)

Comment: I thought all year long that the defense was doing a good job of stopping the opponents on third down, particularly, third and long. As many know, third and long, for many, many of UK's past opponents has represented a golden opportunity to trash the UK secondary. Not anymore. On the flip side, the struggles of UK's offense last year are glowingly obvious in the 31% third down conversion rate. Of course, it helps not to be facing 3rd & eight nearly every offensive series. In other words, UK had a real problem gaining real estate on first down last season. THAT has to change -- Florida led the SEC with a third down conversion rate of 51.6%.

Red Zone Scores -- 32 of 43 (10th) 26 of 33 (5th)

Comment: If a team doesn't run the ball well, they don't usually have good red zone numbers, and UK wasn't very effective on the ground for most of the season.

Red Zone Score % -- 74% 79%

Red Zone Touchdowns -- 22 of 43 (10th) 21 of 33

Red Zone Touchdown % -- 51% 64%

Comment: Fifty-one percent is exceedingly low. UK needs to run the ball more effectively, and make some field goals, then that number will begin to climb.

Red Zone Field Goals -- 10-17 (10th) -----

Comment: This number is unacceptable. To make only 58.8% of ones red zone field goal attempts is beyond putrid. UK faces a schedule full of close games, and having a competent kicking game is an absolute necessity -- UK's 17 red zone field goal attempts were the second most in the SEC.

Overall Field Goals -- 14-25 (9th) 9-23

Comment: Only two SEC kickers made over 70% of their field goal attempts last year: Joshua Shene of Ole Miss was 13-17 (76.5%), and LSU's Colt David made 12-16 (75.0%).

Time of Possession -- 29:27 (11th) 30:33

Comment: In this category, less than three minutes separates the SEC leader and the 12th place team.

Average Penalty Yards Per Game -- 43.2 (3rd) 52.7 (2nd)

Comment: Discipline counts -- Georgia was penalized an average of 72.7 yards per game, worst in the SEC. The Dawgs also gave up 35 first downs due to penalties. Ouch. Perhaps this is one of the reasons Georgia underachieved last year.

Kick Return Average -- 26.4 (1st) 20.9

Comment: Special-teams coach Steve Ortmayer is a happy man. Last season Derrick Locke and Winston Guy led the SEC in highest kick return average for one game: Locke returned two kicks for 127 yards (63.5 avg,) and a touchdown versus WKU. Guy returned three punts for a total of 146 yards (48.7 avg.) versus Georgia. Departed defensive back David Jones also returned a kick-off for "six" -- A 99-yarder against ECU in the Liberty Bowl. With both Locke and Guy returning, danger lurks Will Robinson ...

Punt Return Average -- 9.4 (8th) 9.7

Punt Average -- 41.7 40.9

Comment: Tim Masthay led the SEC by averaging 45.1 yards per punt. He also recorded the second longest punt in the SEC last year with his 72-yard boomer against Mississippi State.

Net Punting -- 38.4 35.7

Sacks By -- 32 (3rd) 13 (1st)

Comment: Obviously, excellent work by both the offensive and defensive lines -- Arkansas quarterbacks were sacked a total of 45 times. Whirlpool anyone? Ole Miss led the league with 38 sacks.

Tackles For Loss -- 86 55

Comment: Outstanding differential.

Pass Breakups -- 45 46

Pass Breakup % -- 12.5 11.1

Fumbles - Lost -- 19 - 8 27 - 14

Comment: UK's defense is beginning to beget a trend. It's been three straight years that the UK D has created many more turnovers than the opposition. Kudos to defensive coordinator Steve Brown for turning a historically UK negative, into Big Blue opportunity.

Turnover Margin -- +5 (4th)

Comment: Florida led the league with a +22.

First Quarter Points -- 34 101

Comment: Wow!! Set wake-up calls for an hour earlier.

Second Quarter Points -- 71 71

Third Quarter Points -- 78 41

Fourth Quarter Points -- 111 66

Comment: Last year UK outscored their opponents by 82 points in the second half. Impressive.

Final Thoughts

It doesn't take a Bear Bryant football mind to recognize that UK needs to improve in almost all areas, with the exception of kick returning: Pass better, run better, kick better, block better (for the running backs), and finally, defend the run better. There is no shortage of motivation for this staff to use to gain the hearts and minds of the players (and if there is, I'll be happy to fax over this post).

The simple fact is, though, last year was seen by many to be a rebuilding year for Kentucky. Most prognosticators predicted a "gloomy and doomy" sub-six win season for the 'Cats. But bowling they went, in spite of their youth, injuries, and uneven play. Kentucky fans expect more this year, they expect arced growth.

We'll begin delving into the possibilities, probabilities, and plausibilities of preseason prognostications over the next several weeks. Crank it up, football is almost here.

Thanks for reading, and Go 'Cats!

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.