BelligerentBobcat wrote: ↑Tue Aug 12, 2025 7:01 pm
GoldstoneCat wrote: ↑Tue Aug 12, 2025 5:53 pm
BelligerentBobcat wrote: ↑Tue Aug 12, 2025 4:54 pm
I know, I understand what I’m saying sounds crazy. I’m probably being overly optimistic here, but let me explain.
Stylistically, I believe a QB like Tommy was gives a team a very high floor. That running game will nearly always work. It also makes you highly dependent on one player.
If, and I’m stressing the if, Lamson can pass like I think he can, it opens the offense tremendously. Despite what the stats say, Tommy just wasn’t a super dependable passer. There were certainly fantastic flashes, but consistently, I would say no. I believe a true dual threat QB, one who can dependably pass the ball, can unlock a different dimension and higher ceiling to this offense.
At the end of the day, Tommy is a better athlete, and the better player. I think Lamson might be a better QB and lead to a higher ceiling for the offense.
Tommy Mellott won the Walter Payton award as the best offensive football player in fcs football. If Lamson is going to be better than that, he's going to be quite possibly the best to ever play here. Might he be a better passer? Maybe. But we were f$@#ing prolific on offense last year. A wagon. Being 86% of that this year gets us to Nashville.
Again, I said that Tommy is the better player. If Lamson performs as well as I think he can, I think he can be the better QB.
Simply put, a better passing game gives MSU a better chance of beating strong opponents due to the fact that when MSU's run game is slowed down it's in trouble because its passing game isn't dependable. It's no big secret.
MSU played three very good teams last year: UCD, USD and NDSU. Each game was close, and each game saw the opponent limit the running backs, not Mellott's running, the RBs.
UCD: 31 carries for 155 yards, which is good but that included Julius Davis'* 91 yards on 13 carries. Jones/Humphrey just 18 for 64.
USD: 29-101 for Jones/Humphrey. 3.5 per carry is a far cry from 6.5.
NDSU: 22-64. <3.0 per carry. (Absolutely amazing that MSU was able to make this game close and a game it could've won when you look at that. It's a great testament to how good of an all-around team it had despite the flawed pass game).
*No Julius Davis in the latter two games.
They struggled, in part, because those defenses (good run defenses is another reason) weren't threatened by the pass. Those teams were hurt by MSU's pass game at times but not under a constant threat. Put a QB/system that has that constant threat and it enables the RBs to maintain productivity against the UCDs, USDs and NDSUs of the world. Mellott's running ability was a good asset in offsetting where the pass game lacked and where defenses loaded the box. But it also allowed defenses to do just that.
Mellott himself was a great example of this last year. He was a better passer last year, by far, than he was the previous 2+ seasons. That led MSU to one of its best seasons in school history. Despite not winning a national championship, I thought it was the best team MSU has ever fielded.
MSU - 16 team National Champions (most recent 2024); 57 individual National Champions (most recent 2023).
toM StUber