I tried to watch Florida last night and envision Mississippi State running the same plays.
Certainly, that’s what the Starkville folks are hoping by hiring Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen as head coach.
I think State will have some Florida elements next year, but so much of what Florida did this year was related directly to having Tim Tebow at quarterback.
Tebow’s running, lowering the shoulder for the extra yard, made the difference in the second half. Having Percy Harvin along for the ride didn’t hurt either. Finally Tebow’s jump pass for the touchdown clinched it. That play was well-guarded by the Oklahoma defensive back, and Tebow, after leaping, fired a strike.
Tebow is a special athlete that doesn’t come along in every recruiting class. That’s why State’s offense will have elements of Florida next year, but it will be hard to have the full deal.
I’d look for more plays from the MSU tight end next year. Lots of quarterbacks can take a shotgun snap, go with the motion to the right, and flip the shovel pass to the tight end going the other way.
— PA
djrebel.wordpress.com 
January 9, 2009 at 12:16 pm |
I don’t think Mullen will have a Fla. offense at all. As you said, Fla offense is the Wild Tebow formation. MSU doesn’t have an athelete close to Tim Tebows caliber. Look for a O type offense that can’t really produce much at least for the first couple of years. I don’t think Mullen is the mesiah.
January 9, 2009 at 12:27 pm |
You’ve got to get players in to execute, but I do expect a different look at State next year.
— PA
January 9, 2009 at 2:03 pm |
Haven’t he and Myers ran something similar to that everywhere they’ve been together? I understand we don’t have a Tebow. But I do see him running something very similar. The tight end has been underused for years in Starkville. And we’ve had some good ones. It would be nice to see that changed.
January 9, 2009 at 2:07 pm |
I think the tight end is underused in a lot of places.
— PA
January 9, 2009 at 2:30 pm |
I saw Ole Miss start utilizing their tight end a little more towards the end of the season, especially in the Cotton Bowl. It worked out pretty good.
January 9, 2009 at 2:55 pm |
Gerald Harris made his catches count. Seven on the year and four of them for touchdowns.
— PA
January 9, 2009 at 3:11 pm |
If Mullen can find a QB( I do not think there is one on campus) the State offense will be so much better than Crooms.
January 9, 2009 at 3:17 pm |
Do you think Russell is that guy?
January 9, 2009 at 3:27 pm |
Don’t think Russell will be ready next year!
January 9, 2009 at 4:03 pm |
No, definatly not next year. Relf is a big kid with similar size to Tebow. Not sure his head is in the right place though.
January 9, 2009 at 4:04 pm |
Why do you think Mullen has been unable to develop Tebow or anyone else into an NFL ready QB?
January 9, 2009 at 4:42 pm |
I think it’s because he’s a college style qb. Exactly like many other qb’s before him. I don’t think it’s Mullen’s fault. That’s like asking me why Nutt couldn’t turn matt jones into a nfl qb.
January 9, 2009 at 4:58 pm |
What about Alex Smith?
January 9, 2009 at 5:32 pm |
What about him?
January 9, 2009 at 5:35 pm |
I know all you’re trying to do is down grade Mullen and his accomplishments. I’m pleased with the hire, and only time will tell if it’s a good one. Is that what you’re looking for?
January 9, 2009 at 5:46 pm |
I am not trying to downgrade Mullen. Cutcliffe gets a lot of credit for developing quarterbacks but who has he sent not named Manning. I could develop a Manning. Mullen may be a great head coach and he may be a good offensive coach but I haven’t seen any proof that he can develop quarterbacks. I think to expect that from him at MSU just because he coached Tebow is probably unreasonable.
January 9, 2009 at 5:58 pm |
Nobody does CR. Have a good weekend.
January 9, 2009 at 5:59 pm |
(shaking head and laughing as I leave)
January 9, 2009 at 6:04 pm |
I tire of all the MSUX talk on an Ole Miss blog.
January 9, 2009 at 6:27 pm |
Mr. Moore, may I add one more comment here about Mississippi A&M. That offense down there has got itself in such a state of non production that it will take years for them to get it updated to compete with great teams as the Rebels.
As I remember it, the rebels have a big winning edge over the Gators. Not only in Eli days; this season with Snead, but back in years.
January 9, 2009 at 6:56 pm |
JB, with that avatar I’d be a fool to mess with an outlaw like you. Also love the a & m reference.
January 9, 2009 at 7:33 pm |
last night, one of those stupid commentators said after tebow got flagged for unsportsmanlike….”if that’s true, it might be the first thing tebow has ever done wrong in his life”……
……………..????…………………..
for real, people….get over this guy already.
January 9, 2009 at 9:18 pm |
Look for Russell to Red shirt, if he stays with state. Mullen will not have talent first year. He don’t want to put that boy through that. By the way I have successfully installed a PS3 to the internet (Santa brought it to the boys) and we are playing NCAA 09′ online. There is a group of us from Ms (some state and some OM). I am ColoradoReb on there as well. Never thought a forty year old man would be playing PS3 and Wii but we’re having lots of fun with them. The kids like to challenge their dear ole dad. Get one get online and get ready state boys.
January 9, 2009 at 10:59 pm |
Mullen will do a fine job at Mississippi State. It will take a little while to get his style of player there. I don’t know about Relf, the only thing I’ve seen is half-dollared size whites in his eyes when Hardy and Jerry were laying the wood in this year’s Egg Bowl. That means nothing about his future. No one, not even Tebow could have succeeded with the offensive line blocking like they were on that day. That, I feel, will be the key to Mullen’s success. Not getting a QB, getting some guys in the trenches that can runblock on EVERY play. That is what Florida did with an elderly, experienced line. They run block every play b/c they don’t know when Tebow will run or pass, they just have to watch being down field. We don’t really know what Mullen is going to do, just like we didn’t know what Ed Orgeron would do or what Lane Kiffin is going to do. The only reason we knew what we were getting in Houston Nutt was b/c he had been in the same conference, same division, same stadiums that he coached in this year. And let’s be honest, none of us ever expected to end up 9-4 with this team and a Cotton Bowl victory with the #15 team in the country at the end of the season. This team, as well as this coaching staff exceeded my expectations, and I hope they continue to do so. That means as Ole Miss fans, we MUST keep some perspective in our expectations going forward. Aim high, but react with dignity when 18 year olds don’t do what they are “supposed” to do.
January 9, 2009 at 11:50 pm |
That true to m4, its impossible to be a great qb if no one is blocking. The one thing about OM that I think Nutt brought was getting our great players in the best shape they could be in.
January 10, 2009 at 12:01 am |
I couldn’t agree more with that Matt. You got some Om folks above who are the folks who everyone enjoys to laugh at. Like the Oxford Eagle guy. Some folks just can’t enjoy success without making an idiot out of themselves.
January 10, 2009 at 12:08 am |
And creb. O brought the playeres. Yall ran off the guy who was getting the recruits in whether you want to admit it or not. You’re living on borrowed time so to speak.
January 10, 2009 at 12:23 am |
Guess we’ll have to play the games and find out. I’ll agree I don’t see recruiting this year looking as good as the past three. I do see a proven successful coach that kids will play for. O was a good guy and great recruiter, but he couldn’t coach. We’ll see how much of Urban is in Danny boy soon enough. You can have Tebow but if you can’t design a offense around his playing style, he’s only fair. Can Mullen adapt to coach a kid around the kids talents? Thats the big question.
January 10, 2009 at 12:26 am |
O was the recruiter. I don’t know who’s been telling you these untruths. O was the recruiter. Don’t let that State bunch fool you into believing anyone but O was the main man. He doesn’t sleep he recruits so much.
January 10, 2009 at 7:20 am |
What a lot of people don’t understand is even though O recruited a lot of good players,a lot of them didn’t qualify therefore bringing down the high rankings of the classes.
January 10, 2009 at 8:28 am |
As far as I know most of the guys yall had on the field the other day were O recruits. I think Oher was a Cutcliffe guy. Look, yall have a great coach there’s no doubt. I hope our coach can have similar success. Nobody on this board knows if that will happen or not.
January 10, 2009 at 10:47 am |
M4 I admire you, you have taken a line for the USAF. “Aim high”.
January 10, 2009 at 3:42 pm |
Its good to see ole miss and state fans talking without putting each other down.
January 10, 2009 at 3:50 pm |
Glad to see ole miss and state fans have a good talk with out putting each other down
January 10, 2009 at 10:28 pm |
Great point umreb74. PA will tell you all that I was a big critic of Orgeron on a lot of points, but mainly signing a ton of 5 stars and them not being on the football field come Labor Day, EVER.
Draws, you are right, most of the playmakers from last Friday were O’s recruits, even Oher was signed by Orgeron when he came in that November. But there is NO WAY that would be the case otherwise. This was his first year as the coach, and you inherit 95% of the other guy’s kids. I do think O is a better pure recruiter, but you can’t pay for the publicity that we got for showing up the way we did on a National stage against a Top 10 team in Dallas. As I’ve spewed time and time again, I truly feel like success breads success in College Football. I know most of you guys reading here all puked at my homer about a year ago talking about the anatomy of winning. Draws, you may be right, we may be on borrowed time from a pure recruiting standpoint, but I will argue this, if Ole Miss has another solid season next year and reaches a New Year’s Day caliber bowl, it may be a lot harder to stunt the momentum. Remember, Cutcliffe only took us to 1 “Big-Time” Bowl in his stint at Ole Miss, the next year we were below .500, so we haven’t really seen what it will be like with two successful campaigns in a row. The truth of the matter on both of our team’s going forward….only time will tell. We’ve got something started in Oxford, what will we do with it??? Ya’ll have a fresh new start in Starkville, what will ya’ll do with it??? We can talk between now and Labor Day, but we won’t know till this time next year which direction either of us are headed…..and that’s the beauty of it all.
January 11, 2009 at 2:07 am |
Ole Miss is #4 preseason by Colin Cowherd, #5 by Kirk Herbstreit, #6 by Sports Illustrated, #8 by NationalChamps.net, and #12 by ESPN.
Mississippi State is the least on my mind for the 2009 season. If we get that far in the season and are still ranked that high or higher, State’s an afterthought.
Mullen might end up being a good hire, might not. Depends on who becomes his defensive coordinator (have they hired him yet?). He’s said in previous interviews that he’s going to hire a defensive coordinator to basically run everything. He does know he’s not a coordinator anymore, right?