1. They Suck!
2. They struggle mightily to score points
3. They're coach is a dead man walking.
4. They'll be without several starters.
5. They're coming of 4 consecutive losses.
6. Their fans have started an #EmptyNeyland social media campaign for this game.
7. Their coaches are now dealing with a scandal of knowingly playing a concussed lineman.

This team is right for the picking. As average as we've been, it wouldn't shock me at all to see us go up there and take this game to the wire and/or possibly win it.

i think we all would agree with you, if our dumb*** coach wasn't just as bad by starting Keon over Griggs. If he starts Griggs, i think we win. otherwise, we lose a game we SHOULD win.....just like the Kentucky and UAB games. to hell with Hopson.

i think the loser of this game should be forced to hire the other teams head coach, as punishment.

(11-01-2017 04:23 PM)Bleacher Eagle Wrote:  1. They Suck!
2. They struggle mightily to score points
3. They're coach is a dead man walking.
4. They'll be without several starters.
5. They're coming of 4 consecutive losses.
6. Their fans have started an #EmptyNeyland social media campaign for this game.
7. Their coaches are now dealing with a scandal of knowingly playing a concussed lineman.

This team is right for the picking. As average as we've been, it wouldn't shock me at all to see us go up there and take this game to the wire and/or possibly win it.

1. They Suck! --- but so do we.
2. They struggle mightily to score points--- but so do we.
3. They're coach is a dead man walking. --- hmm... no comment
4. They'll be without several starters. ---- but so will we.
5. They're coming of 4 consecutive losses. ---We lost to some team in Texas which lost to some Florida Ocean team - neither of which I would have given a second thought a few short years ago. We lost to a perennial SEC basement team that not to many years back, I would have expected to beat.

6. Their fans have started an #EmptyNeyland social media campaign for this game.--- we emptied our stadium years back.
7. Their coaches are now dealing with a scandal of knowingly playing a concussed lineman. --- our coaches are dealing with the conspiracy theory of playing daddy ball, whether it's true or not.

Makes it a bit tough to be optimistic about beating UT at UT. But yeah, I hope I'm wrong, but it'll take more than a week to get over the UAB loss.

We should be favored

We lost a game at home to UNT when we were looking ahead at UTSA. Then played a great game and won at UTSA. We lost at home to UAB while looking ahead at TN. I expect USM to play well but I'm not sure we win. Really we just aren't very good and aren't very well coached.

(11-02-2017 11:16 AM)Footballeagle Wrote:  We lost a game at home to UNT when we were looking ahead at UTSA. Then played a great game and won at UTSA. We lost at home to UAB while looking ahead at TN. I expect USM to play well but I'm not sure we win. Really we just aren't very good and aren't very well coached.

That would mean we thought UNT and UAB were cupcakes, which we didn't. We lost to them because we aren't consistent, and our coaching is sub-par.

(11-02-2017 11:16 AM)Footballeagle Wrote:  Really we just aren't very good and aren't very well coached.

I agree with that. But keep in mind, Tennessee isn't very good and they aren't well coached and they're dealing with a bunch of off field distractions.

UT's last 6 games
26-20 loss to Florida
17-13 win over UMASS
41-0 loss to Georgia
15-9 loss to South Carolina
45-7 loss to Alabama
29-26 loss to Kentucky

They scored an offensive touchdown in the 2nd quarter of the UMASS game and didn't score another offensive touchdown until the 2nd quarter of the Kentucky game. That's 15 consecutive quarters their offense went without reaching the endzone. This team is Vanderbilt bad!

They're going to kick our ass.

Our offense cannot sustain drives. Period.

(11-02-2017 11:16 AM)Footballeagle Wrote:  We lost at home to UAB while getting outclassed by a program that didn't exist last year

Oh, it existed, and they were busy at loading up on non qualifiers.

Nothing should surprise anyone anymore. Embrace the chaos.

(11-02-2017 09:49 PM)HarborPointe Wrote:  Nothing should surprise anyone anymore. Embrace the chaos.

after 40 yrs as a fan???........well, it simply goes 'kudos, , and the ubiquitous TTT'......that's what makes it fun....

If TN comes out angry ando desperate for a win, I don't know that it will matter much what we do. But the program is reeling and this is a great chance to kick them while they're down. But as long as USM trots out a totally vanilla offense that can'take sustain drives....

We have some talented skill players but the offensive scheme sucks.

The offense isn't necessarily "vanilla," but the fact that we have no quarterbacks means it is absolutely essential to be effective in the running game. When we aren't, we are dead in the water. As bad as UTEP is, that is when teams seemed to figure that out.

Sell out to stop the run, play our outside receivers man-to-man, force the QB to make decisions.

(11-02-2017 12:36 PM)Bleacher Eagle Wrote:  

(11-02-2017 11:16 AM)Footballeagle Wrote:  Really we just aren't very good and aren't very well coached.

I agree with that. But keep in mind, Tennessee isn't very good and they aren't well coached and they're dealing with a bunch of off field distractions.

UT's last 6 games
26-20 loss to Florida
17-13 win over UMASS
41-0 loss to Georgia
15-9 loss to South Carolina
45-7 loss to Alabama
29-26 loss to Kentucky

They scored an offensive touchdown in the 2nd quarter of the UMASS game and didn't score another offensive touchdown until the 2nd quarter of the Kentucky game. That's 15 consecutive quarters their offense went without reaching the endzone. This team is Vanderbilt bad!

I hope your optimism is proven valid. But there is another side of the equation - Southern Miss schedule:

24-17 loss to Kentucky
40-0 win over Southern (who???)
28-17 win at LM
43-28 loss at North Texas
31-29 win at UTSA
24-0 win over UTEP
34-27 win at LaTech (double overtime)
30-12 loss to UAB

We're playing in the SunBelt. I didn't even know most of the teams on the schedule until 2 years ago when they join SUNCUSA.
Ask 2 question;
1- what would our record be if we played UT's schedule
2 - what would UT's record be if they played our schedule.

The answer to these questions will probably be a better picture of what will happen this weekend than just comparing win/loss.

And here's the real kicker - if we do beat UT this weekend at UT, be careful because we play big bad Rice next weekend.

You're probably the only one who even cares whether or not we beat TENN. I could care less. Meaningless game. They are terrible, we are terrible. Nobody will care who wins or loses this game.

(11-03-2017 08:25 AM)shiftyeagle Wrote:  The offense isn't necessarily "vanilla," but the fact that we have no quarterbacks means it is absolutely essential to be effective in the running game. When we aren't, we are dead in the water. As bad as UTEP is, that is when teams seemed to figure that out.

Sell out to stop the run, play our outside receivers man-to-man, force the QB to make decisions.

now that's a perfect summation there shifty!