I'm certain Whiskey Wednesday will provide a more in-depth, vulgar, and somewhat intoxicated postgame report but, for now, I'd like to offer my thoughts.
We dominated Texas Tech. If you nullify our mistakes (a pair of fumbles, Jevan's pick-six, and Marshay's stepping out of bounds) we would have been able to easily win by a margin greater than 13. Don't get me wrong; a 13-point victory over a top-10 team is fantastic even if it is, at times, sloppy.
Our offense was fantastic. Our defense, considering the high caliber talents on Tech's offense, got the job done. Our special teams were serviceable.
Most noteworthy, though, was our coaching. The offense was an excellent blend of conservative, traditional plays and innovative plays which utilized misdirection and spacing to create mismatches in the open field. We also managed the clock almost as well as one possibly could. At the half, we had more than double the time of possession and towards the end of the game we began to see the real benefit of holding onto the ball for as long as we were able to. In the second half, Tech simply could not stop our running game. Their defenders were sucking wind and absolutely depleted.
Defensively, we blitzed early and often. This surprised me in that one would assume that to be a pretty bad defensive tactic against a Mike Leach offense but it worked. Certainly, it left some folks open and gave up some big plays but, as with our offensive strategy, it served well to weaken their offensive line.
Simply put, we defeated Texas Tech by wearing their lines down.
Of course, this is a huge win for our program. Not only have we lifted ourselves out of the SEC cellar, but we have also proven that these coaches can have us prepared for almost any game. The national news media (especially a certain fat asshole), recruits, and, most importantly, the rest of our conference are definitely taking notice of our victory. We embarrassed a top-10 football team which many felt was a worthy contendor for the BCS Title. Leading up to the game, just about every member of the major sports media, the Texas Tech fanbase, and even a few of their players predicted a blowout victory for the Red Raiders.
They deserved better than the play some 8-4 team in the Cotton Bowl. They were going to do to us what we would do to Oklahoma State. This guy was somehow going to scare Peria Jerry.
We heard it all month long but we nor our players listened. Yesterday we had a confidence and swagger that I could have never imagined as an Ole Miss fan. If an Ed Orgeron led team had fallen behind by two touchdowns in the first quarter, would they have turned around and won by 13? This team isn't afraid to play anyone and that attitude is what won our 9 games.
Shocking Texas Tech and the 90-something percent of folks who thought we didn't have a chance gave me (and, I imagine, all of us) an incredible feeling. Watching Graham Harrell put his head in his hands, seeing the Tech OL rack up personal foul penalties because they couldn't handle losing, and reading the meltdown on some Tech websites were all incredibly satisfying.
We were foolishly doubted. We had our program dogged by everyone outside of the Southeast. You won't see that happening next season. Ole Miss is here. Get 'cha popcorn ready.
We dominated Texas Tech. If you nullify our mistakes (a pair of fumbles, Jevan's pick-six, and Marshay's stepping out of bounds) we would have been able to easily win by a margin greater than 13. Don't get me wrong; a 13-point victory over a top-10 team is fantastic even if it is, at times, sloppy.
Our offense was fantastic. Our defense, considering the high caliber talents on Tech's offense, got the job done. Our special teams were serviceable.
Most noteworthy, though, was our coaching. The offense was an excellent blend of conservative, traditional plays and innovative plays which utilized misdirection and spacing to create mismatches in the open field. We also managed the clock almost as well as one possibly could. At the half, we had more than double the time of possession and towards the end of the game we began to see the real benefit of holding onto the ball for as long as we were able to. In the second half, Tech simply could not stop our running game. Their defenders were sucking wind and absolutely depleted.
Defensively, we blitzed early and often. This surprised me in that one would assume that to be a pretty bad defensive tactic against a Mike Leach offense but it worked. Certainly, it left some folks open and gave up some big plays but, as with our offensive strategy, it served well to weaken their offensive line.
Simply put, we defeated Texas Tech by wearing their lines down.
Of course, this is a huge win for our program. Not only have we lifted ourselves out of the SEC cellar, but we have also proven that these coaches can have us prepared for almost any game. The national news media (especially a certain fat asshole), recruits, and, most importantly, the rest of our conference are definitely taking notice of our victory. We embarrassed a top-10 football team which many felt was a worthy contendor for the BCS Title. Leading up to the game, just about every member of the major sports media, the Texas Tech fanbase, and even a few of their players predicted a blowout victory for the Red Raiders.
They deserved better than the play some 8-4 team in the Cotton Bowl. They were going to do to us what we would do to Oklahoma State. This guy was somehow going to scare Peria Jerry.
We heard it all month long but we nor our players listened. Yesterday we had a confidence and swagger that I could have never imagined as an Ole Miss fan. If an Ed Orgeron led team had fallen behind by two touchdowns in the first quarter, would they have turned around and won by 13? This team isn't afraid to play anyone and that attitude is what won our 9 games.
Shocking Texas Tech and the 90-something percent of folks who thought we didn't have a chance gave me (and, I imagine, all of us) an incredible feeling. Watching Graham Harrell put his head in his hands, seeing the Tech OL rack up personal foul penalties because they couldn't handle losing, and reading the meltdown on some Tech websites were all incredibly satisfying.
We were foolishly doubted. We had our program dogged by everyone outside of the Southeast. You won't see that happening next season. Ole Miss is here. Get 'cha popcorn ready.