FB: American Southwest Conference

[02 Warhawk]

Did Mississippi College lose a lot of seniors from last year's team? I recall them having a great season last year..now they're still searching for their first ASC victory.

[DavidNichols]

Well, MC lost their starting quarterback Adam Shaffer and middle linebacker Quartez Ashmore, who were the ASC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year in 2009.  Some other notable players were lost, but the 2010 season had a lot of promise coming in with the return of Preseason All-American Steven Knight at tailback.  Knight was injured in the second game of the season, and will be having season-ending surgery this week.

The other factor involved is that the Choctaws have had to face the top 3 teams in the ASC with a 45-10 loss to Hardin-Simmons, a 45-42 loss to Louisiana College, and 41-31 loss to Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Junior quarterback Tommy Reyer had a great game against UMHB on Saturday with 475 yards passing and three touchdowns, while completing 39 passes on 64 attempts (both school records).  The Choctaws will host East Texas Baptist on Saturday in hopes of picking up their first conference win of the year.

[umhb2001]

Junior quarterback Tommy Reyer had a great game against UMHB on Saturday with 475 yards passing and three touchdowns, while completing 39 passes on 64 attempts (both school records).  The Choctaws will host East Texas Baptist on Saturday in hopes of picking up their first conference win of the year.

Those were quiet numbers I guess because it didn't feel like he had that good of a game. The Cru secondary played much better IMO.

[Bill McCabe]

475 is a lot of yards! 

[cowboyfan]

Well, the Cru did better, until the second-teamers allowed two late touchdowns.  There are still some tests to come in the next few weeks.Hope the d-backs continue to improve on execution, but it still seems the cornerbacks are really playing too far off.

CONGRATS TO THE COWBOYS! Never can get a BHMU fan to just agree with you. See you guys in NOV

[crualum55]

Haha, cowboyfan..I don't remember to many cowboy fans agreeing with Cru fans either.  It's not a happy marriage.

[CruGuy]

[
Those were quiet numbers I guess because it didn't feel like he had that good of a game. The Cru secondary played much better IMO.
[/quote]


I got to watch the Crusaders play for the first time this year and I thought the secondary looked terrible. I don't know how you can call 475 yards quiet. They threw early, often, and well. If anything, he had a couple plays downfeild where receivers dropped passes that could have made those numbers even better/worse. The secondary did drop three interceptions that hit db's in the hands that could also have made UMHB's performance look much better, but our secondary is terrible.


IMHO, I think the problem in coverage stems from the linebacker speed. We are excellent in the middle of the feild in run defense, but our linebackers do not drop back, do not fill, do not flood the flats near as well as they need to in pass coverage. This left wide receiver bubble screens and TE's in the middle of the feild WAO, all day long. According to the UMHB stat sheet MC converted third and long through the air 8 different times, and fourth and long once, including gains of 59, 36, 24,19,15,13...For obvious passing situations, that is terrible. Several of those were big, slow TE's standing all alone in the middle of the feild. In the past we have had fast athletic linebackers that excelled in pass defense, I just don't see that on this team. Late in the game, I saw UMHB line up in a three man front for the first time with my own eyes in 8 years of wtching Crusader football, I was excited about the fact that maybe we had some sort of scheme to get more speed and db's on the feild afterall. After the play was over, I jsut shook my heads, the Choctaws celebrated another first down, and the UMHB coaches immediately sent defensive linemen back in.

This is the same debate we talked about last week. UMHB's defense has always been built to stop the run first. We lineup much better against our own offense than anyone else's. As long as we're built like that, we're going to struggle in a league where pretty much everyone else spreads the feild out with a spread passing attack. I'm not complaining about the scheme, I just think our execution is slow and terrible.

One final rant, that wasn't our second team playing in the fourth quarter. There were starters recording tackles, sacks, and forced fumbles on those drives. Starters and second string guys were rotating in and out, the defense had been on the feild way too much in this game and was exhausted, but that wasn't the second string. And even if it was, those two drive only accounted for 100 yds passing. 375 yards passing is still way too much.

[cowboyfan]

Haha, cowboyfan..I don't remember to many cowboy fans agreeing with Cru fans either.  It's not a happy marriage.

yeah there's definitely a divorce in there somewhere 55. Sounds like you guys got the house, cars, and the kids and i'm paying child support.

[Bill McCabe]

"MC converted third and long through the air 8 different times, and fourth and long once, including gains of 59, 36, 24,19,15,13."

That is a lot of ground for a LB to cover.  We've been spoiled the past few years with the speed at LB.  Also, how much pass rush are we getting.  How many sacks did they have against MC?  I thought the pass rush was fairly decent against HSU but the DBs were beaten.

[Toby Taff]

Haha, cowboyfan..I don't remember to many cowboy fans agreeing with Cru fans either.  It's not a happy marriage.

yeah there's definitely a divorce in there somewhere 55. Sounds like you guys got the house, cars, and the kids and i'm paying child support.

That's too funny.

[crualum55]

Haha, cowboyfan..I don't remember to many cowboy fans agreeing with Cru fans either.  It's not a happy marriage.

yeah there's definitely a divorce in there somewhere 55. Sounds like you guys got the house, cars, and the kids and i'm paying child support.

Very funny cowboy fan,  I have no response but laughter.  Well put.  I can say I always enjoyed playing you guys.  Preparing that week was fun and getting on the field was always a battle.  Some of my most enjoyable games.

[Jerry Bawcom]

I recognize that the defense in the end was "mixed" with second stringers, but you are right, the defense had been on the field way to long!
And, yes, it is clear that we do not have the necessary speed in most of the defensive back positions, including linebackers.  Most of the time that flat pass would only gain 4-5 yards and passes in the middle were the ones we usually picked off................

[btyndall]

A few weeks and we'll see if the Mumme crew can handle HSU. Good defense and hopefully a lot of air balls from MCM could prove to be a very exciting game.

[Toby Taff]

A few weeks and we'll see if the Mumme crew can handle HSU. Good defense and hopefully a lot of air balls from MCM could prove to be a very exciting game.

After what TLU did to Trinity, I'm looking forward to seeing this weeks game.

[btyndall]

Still think mcm's defense will hold their running and passing game down.