Post Mortem

I had a nearly perfect day yesterday until about 8:45. Got a workout in, wrote a blog post, ran a couple of errands to stay in the good graces, got the kids dressed up for Halloween, went to a party, handed out candy, watched a pretty good first half of football. Then someone flipped a switch, Anthony Dixon turned into Walter Peyton, Morgan Newton threw a Jared Lorenzen lowlight film pick, and questionable plays were called. A wormhole opened beneath me, and I fell in.

Last night's loss is hard to swallow, more for what it does to our season than anything else. Unlike the earlier loss to USC, where the little things killed us, this was a case of being thoroughly outplayed and outcoached.

UK was outgained from scrimmage 493-308. In fact, MSU gained more yards on the ground (348) than UK did total. We lost the turnover battle 3-2, including the aforementioned pick and a rare mistake by Randall Cobb on a fumbled lateral he didn't fall on.

The Bulldogs beat us by running the same counter play over and over and over. We either couldn't or didn't adjust. This was part of a larger picture of being completely outschemed. Knowing we had to successfully run the Wildcat to win, MSU was clearly ready for it. We didn't adjust by mixing in a few passes. So unsuccessful were we at running the ball from the formation that we abandoned it entirely. This decision could very well have cost us the game.

We trailed 31-24 with a minute left in the third quarter. Mississippi State made only one first down for the rest of the game, yet we managed the clock so poorly that we got only two more possessions. At one point on the final drive we were forced to burn a timeout, which effectively took away our chance at another possession.

In Newton's defense, it is hard to say that the pick he threw on the second to last drive cost us the game. We were on the four yard line, and had he thrown the ball away, we would have likely kicked a field goal. Of course, we never scored again anyway and there is no reason to assume we would have. Also, on second and third viewings, I think Newton was trying to throw the ball away and simply did a poor job of it.

Of course questions are going to be asked. Why wasn't Cobb playing QB when we had first and goal at the 4 in the fourth quarter? Where was the Wildcat on the last drive? These may be valid questions, but they are classic Monday morning quarterbacking.

The most troubling aspect of this game is where it leaves our season. Assuming we beat EKU next week, we will become bowl eligible with a win at Vandy on Nov. 14th. But we are in a completely different position than we would have been had we won this game. Mississippi State now has an outside chance at six wins. If that happens, the SEC could have more bowl eligible teams than slots. Auburn has probably moved ahead of us in the pecking order by knocking off Ole Miss Saturday. Six wins is a ticket to Shreveport or Birmingham or, if everything breaks wrong, home.

There is some good news. Trevard Lindley should be able to return next week for the rest of the season. I suppose there is still a chance Mike Hartline makes it back for Vandy. We need to hope that EKU will be a walkover and Micah, Locke, Cobb etc. can grab some pine early and rest up for the stretch run.