Monken on biggest surprise of team...

[NueDaeEagle]

Monken said that his biggest surprise was that they had "hit" on all of the transfers. He didn't expect that all of them would work out and it is looking good for them all right now. Good news indeed. SMTTT

 

[Wonder Boy Eagle]

I think he thought of them as a gamble based on other comments. So glad they are paying off!

 

[NueDaeEagle]

I think he thought of them as a gamble based on other comments. So glad they are paying off!

I certainly would have thought that as a group they would have thought that there was a gamble that all would work out. I imagine they expected at least a couple to not make it. If they all do it will be a huge bonus.

 

[Wonder Boy Eagle]

Just another thing that makes me excited for the season.

 

[beagleeagle]

Maybe we can actually run formations with tight-ends this season. We went without TEs dating back to Ellis Johnson.

 

[THE HEAD EAGLE]

Monken said that his biggest surprise was that they had "hit" on all of the transfers. He didn't expect that all of them would work out and it is looking good for them all right now. Good news indeed. SMTTT

I don't know if this is a good thing or just shows the sad state of affairs with our program.

 

[NueDaeEagle]

I don't know if this is a good thing or just shows the sad state of affairs with our program.

I am assuming you are referring to the number of transfers and not Monkens statement there. And yes, all you have to do is look at where we have been the last couple of years to see how sad it got and how necessary it was to do something. Ellis Johnson practically gave us the death penalty. In his alone only 10 of the 25 signees completed their time at USM. He also ran off a bunch of other players too. Monken has had to play with way under the scholarship limit for the last two years. He had to bring the transfers in to get up to the limit.

The "sad state of affairs" is in the past. I haven't seen this type of excitement since our 12-2 year. We will start another bowl streak this year. SMTTT

 

[biscuiteatr]

How is Tyler Matthews doing at QB? Is he going to fit into Monkton's spread offense?

When he was thinking about leaving TCU, most thought he would transfer into a more pro-style team. When he was in Kansas HS, several said that he would thrive in a more 'traditional' offense and wondered how he would do at TCU.

Has he made a good 'transition' to the spread and does he have a chance to play this year?

Thanks

 

[NueDaeEagle]

How is Tyler Matthews doing at QB? Is he going to fit into Monkton's spread offense?

When he was thinking about leaving TCU, most thought he would transfer into a more pro-style team. When he was in Kansas HS, several said that he would thrive in a more 'traditional' offense and wondered how he would do at TCU.

Has he made a good 'transition' to the spread and does he have a chance to play this year?

Thanks

Mathews is doing well. The competition is neck and neck. Each QB has strengths. Mathews is a better runner. May see both play.

 

[SoMissFan]

I am assuming you are referring to the number of transfers and not Monkens statement there. And yes, all you have to do is look at where we have been the last couple of years to see how sad it got and how necessary it was to do something. Ellis Johnson practically gave us the death penalty. In his alone only 10 of the 25 signees completed their time at USM. He also ran off a bunch of other players too. Monken has had to play with way under the scholarship limit for the last two years. He had to bring the transfers in to get up to the limit.

The "sad state of affairs" is in the past. I haven't seen this type of excitement since our 12-2 year. We will start another bowl streak this year. SMTTT

I feel you hit the nail on the head. It remains to be seen how the addition of so much talent will translate into game-day performance, but there is reason for a lot of optimism. A "sad state of affairs" would be if we had a few transfers from S. Alabama and Louisiana-Monroe, and a few JC commits whose other offers were New Mexico State and Austin Peay. Instead we have a group of players, including four seniors, previously signed by Auburn, Michigan, TCU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Miami. You blend them in with the best (and improved from last season) players currently at Southern Miss like Smith, Anderson, Freeman, and Poole and you've got as good of a defense as we've seen in a long time. The defense that State sees at The Rock will be nothing like what they saw last season. The offense is a big question mark, but everything indicates that they are much better than last season. We're loaded at running back and will hopefully have quality at the QB position. It's all a question of how good the offensive line and wide receivers perform.

Several months ago before the addition of all this talent, I was just hoping that USM would play a respectable game against MSU. I'm really looking forward to the game now, and will give Southern Miss a legitimate chance to pull of a shocker.