My post-overreaction Analysis

After the game Saturday, as was the case with the majority of us, I was worried for the season. The offense looked like hot garbage and looking at the 21-3 lights on the scoreboard it was hard to see any sort of positive in the outcome.

After much reflection on the game, I offer a different opinion.

To start on a positive note, and one we pretty much all agree on, the defense was outstanding. Yes, we gave up over 200 yards rushing, but we also only allowed 21 points to one of the most dominant offensive teams for the better half of the past decade. After the first quarter they had less than 40 yards of total offense, and our offense had shouldered a large portion of what the defense had accomplished, staying on the field for more than 2/3rds of the first quarter. (NOTE: If the offense would have had continued success, you're looking at giving up less than 150-200 total yards for the entire game) Obviously they didn't and we saw our defense get tired as the game wore on, 3 and out after 3 and out.

Here's where the differing opinions begin, and I encourage feedback from each of you on my assessment.

Our offense was putrid. This we all understand, even the football fans ignorant of X's and O's could see. However, as dismal as the offense was during the game I believe that having this exposed in the first game of the season, could possibly turn into the best "worst case scenario" possible for the success of the team moving forward this season.

Had we played a Jackson State, Alcorn State, or Memphis team, we would have employed the same "conservative", "ease the freshman in the game" playbook that you saw in the OSU game with a dominating victory. This would have given us a win no doubt, but would have disguised the glaring problems we have seen for more than 6 games. Playing 4 non-conference cupcakes at the beginning of our schedule would have allowed us to slowly incorporate plays and get complacent in thinking that we are close to where we need to be.

Moving forward, as Dan often recognized in the press conference, shots down the field have to be taken and the conservative "don't lose" approach has to be scratched. Now, we must open the playbook, get aggressive, and refine the previously mentioned aggressive attack needed to win in November.

This begs the question, as so many of you have lamented, "What leads me to believe that anything will change after week 1, that wasn't promised to change in the off-season?" For that question, I provide you with this answer to mull over. At the end of a season, maybe the thought of "hanging in there" or "weathering the storm" trickles into the back of a coaches mind. When you get completely dominated week 1 of a season and see 11 more weeks of the same flash before you, I believe that this will cause a change in conservative mindset we all LOATHE. It is now readily apparent that the coaches must become more aggressive, or stare down the barrel of the same feeling in the pit of their stomachs for at least 8 more games.

No matter your opinion of our offensive coaching staff, urgency does not come in the form of complacency but rather by feeling a little heat under your seat. Maybe now we will see the fire return to Mullen's face, in-game, that we saw in 2009. Maybe now we will see a chip on the shoulder of our players that we saw in 2010. We are 0-1, not 7-0 feeling on top of the world. This, in my opinion, will bring back what we all want to see.

#HailState