Men's non-conference schedule has also been released.

Depends on the portal. There isn’t much to lose and there’s no guarantee Nic comes back next year.

I have a hunch the staff is just about done recruiting HS players and we’re going to see a huge influx of portal additions next year.

The bottom line is we have the same problem we had under CRS for the past decade.

The OL blocks about as good as intramural rules. Can’t run when you need to run except for the QB who is doing all the running. For his life that is when it’s a pass play.

This is not an indictment on DM. It’s a reality of how bad a shape the OL was with poor recruiting, zero development over the past few years of returning players, and decimation from the damn portal.

This does not tell us what DMs tenure is going to be like but it gives us a really good preview of how much this team is going to struggle in ‘24.

DM has two choices. One is to stick with his philosophy to instill what he wants it to be going forward even if it means 1-11. Or two try to win as many games as you can this year with what he has. And that second option is going to mean he’s going to have to modify philosophy to fit the roster that he has. In my opinion the best coaches do the latter because you’re not always going to have all the exact pieces of the puzzle you want in each year.

What this means offensively is it’s going to need to look a lot like it looked under the Stockstill tenure with spread formation, WR screens, bubbles screens, quick hitters on the hashes, and throwing to the RB out of the backfield. If he tries to establish the run game between the tackles every week this team is going to get destroyed more often than not this season. The short passing game is going to have to compliment what little we run the ball.

On defense it’s going to have to be soft in the secondary, bend and don’t break and hopefully shorten the games. This is the only way we get close to .500 this year. Or like I said he can try to instill Derek ball now, win one or two games, and hope that decision pays off in the out years.

Concern was our supposed larger more athletic offensive line had about the same push into the defense as our line from last year. In other words the defense was in our backfield way too often, & that was only a fcs front. If rushing was 118 yards last week we may be lucky to get 50 this week. Better step up with passing game. Holden needs at least half a dozen touches. Proved his YAC ability all year long in 2023.

ewglenn said:

We were under 118 yds in 8 of 12 games. With most of those being substantially less. Obviously we need to do better but that was a huge mountain to climb.

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Yeah but last year Nick threw for over 3000 yards. How many passing yards did we have against a Tech?

Not sure what your point is with this comparison but whatever the analogy is it’s a bad one.

mtfblue said:

118 yds overall, 6 different rushers. Do will get better running it, now they know what they can and can't do. So you can fix that

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We were under 118 yds in 8 of 12 games. With most of those being substantially less. Obviously we need to do better but that was a huge mountain to climb.

DisgruntledAlum said:

I thought smoking in bars is illegal after a law passed around 10 years ago, or maybe it's just in Nashville.

The city of Murfreesboro needs to pass that ordinance if it's allowed.

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It’s just in Nashville. Currently the only “bars” in the Boro that don’t allow smoking to my knowledge are Whiskey Dix and Happy’s. Maybe there are some others but Level Three, Wall St and all the bars beside campus are smoking.

I think just like Tennessee Tech he treats this as another scrimmage on steroids. He might add a few more things in, but he doesn’t want to show Western Kentucky anything for film

MidTennMtneer said:

Yup. Won't end well at all.

There should be limits. It needs fixed.
If I were running the show, freshmen wouldn't be allowed to earn NIL. That's the key word. Earn. You earn your starting spot, you earn that payday in the NFL, you should earn that in college as well. This sign a high school kid to $2m with a leased Bentley just to keep him from your rival is ridiculous.

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Money corrupts all

DisgruntledAlum said:

I see this going bad for the players as well. A kid thinks he's getting a four-year deal, but is not producing on the field, YOU'RE FIRED!

That will be the next major complaint from kids. Be careful what you wish for. Along the lines of kids thinking they are hot stuff and hit the portal after having one descent game and no one picks them up.

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Yup. Won't end well at all.

There should be limits. It needs fixed.
If I were running the show, freshmen wouldn't be allowed to earn NIL. That's the key word. Earn. You earn your starting spot, you earn that payday in the NFL, you should earn that in college as well. This sign a high school kid to $2m with a leased Bentley just to keep him from your rival is ridiculous.

Sommy said:

Mason since day 1 - our offense will be led by a strong running game and will be designed around that.

Game 1 - Top rusher was 50 yards, 30 of which on one play. Against TN Tech !

Sorry but that’s pathetic and better improve or a decent team will flat out destroy them.

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118 yds overall, 6 different rushers. Do will get better running it, now they know what they can and can't do. So you can fix that

Mason since day 1 - our offense will be led by a strong running game and will be designed around that.

Game 1 - Top rusher was 50 yards, 30 of which on one play. Against TN Tech !

Sorry but that’s pathetic and better improve or a decent team will flat out destroy them.

old piss will cover

DisgruntledAlum said:

I see this going bad for the players as well. A kid thinks he's getting a four-year deal, but is not producing on the field, YOU'RE FIRED!

That will be the next major complaint from kids. Be careful what you wish for. Along the lines of kids thinking they are hot stuff and hit the portal after having one descent game and no one picks them up.

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Kids have been encouraged to transfer and kids have entered thinking they’re something and not get picked up already. Both have been happening from the minute the portal was introduced

mtfblue said:

Didn't liberty barely beat a terrible Campbell, that just went scholarship football 2 years ago....smh

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Also barely beat a fairly poor Middle Tennessee team in Lynchburg last year.

DisgruntledAlum said:

I thought smoking in bars is illegal after a law passed around 10 years ago, or maybe it's just in Nashville.

The city of Murfreesboro needs to pass that ordinance if it's allowed.

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We must not have a specific anti-smoking ordinance in the 'Boro. Had a couple of drinks with an old buddy a few weeks ago. Went to Wall St off the square. Not a smoker myself, but there were a few puffing like crazy. Also include Liquid Smoke on the square.

I see this going bad for the players as well. A kid thinks he's getting a four-year deal, but is not producing on the field, YOU'RE FIRED!

That will be the next major complaint from kids. Be careful what you wish for. Along the lines of kids thinking they are hot stuff and hit the portal after having one descent game and no one picks them up.

ewglenn said:

I genuinely think if the bars around the campus wouldn’t allow smoking they would be much more busy. I’m not trying to smell like an ashtray when grabbing a drink before a game.

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I thought smoking in bars is illegal after a law passed around 10 years ago, or maybe it's just in Nashville.

The city of Murfreesboro needs to pass that ordinance if it's allowed.

Got to have a bar...

MTFAN61 said:

With a bar!

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Predarat said:

Wow. They barely beat a bottom half 1aa team and act like they won a game vs Liberty.

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Didn't liberty barely beat a terrible Campbell, that just went scholarship football 2 years ago....smh