Honestly with Fournette averaging over 5 yards per carry... only two of those passes were on actually passing down yardage. The rest should have been run/pass depending on defense. And it seems like a couple just came up short.
Yes, but he essentially relied on a delay of game penalty to not lose, or as you say, to win the game. That's not low risk.
While correct to an extent(I don't think that kicker makes it from 47), his offensive choices were over at that point. Your criticism uses hindsight that Miles didn't have. For what it's worth, Miles has been getting lucky like that for years, but that's besides the point.
Here are the scenarios I see churning through the coaching staffs mind: If Harris throws the ball 25 times in the second quarter and second half with the offense wide open. a. He does awesome and we pull away and win 35-14 b. He does mediocre, gets picked off once and misses a few key throws, scores a couple of TDs and that allows more time for MSU to throw the ball all over our porous tired secondary. We lose 28-31. c. He does horrible, throws 3 INTs and is ruined like Lee was and we are stuck with Jennings. When you have LF and the O-line performing like they did, the possibility of "b" and "c" is not worth it. Ride the horses. I just can't believe that folks on here are not willing to play to our strengths and would want to put the game on the shoulders of a QB with very little experience. There are 21 other players out there, so why not trust them? He put faith in the DBs and they just about let us down. If there is something to bitch about in that game, it was that. Repeat after me "Throwing the young QB to the wolves like the AU game last year is a bad idea"...
We also have studs at WR. No one I'd suggesting that we should ride Harris while LF7 collects dust. But is it so hard to implement a balanced offensive attack that forces defenses to defend every weapon on the field instead of putting 9 or 10 men in the box? Georgia has Chubb but managed 25 passing attempts. It can be done.
Yes, it can be tough to implement a balanced offensive attack when you weigh the risks. In THIS game, the risks were pretty high with a green QB that flamed out so badly on the road against a ranked SEC opponent. Why take those risks in THIS game. No way. Ride the horses, depend on the D. When an opponent requires it, then they will have to do it. But up until MSU figured out that they could NOT run and started chucking it every down, they looked pretty bad and we had them right where we wanted them. There was no need to do anything other than lean on the O-line and bring your QB along slowly. Against AU, Miles may need to open it up more. We will find out. But if LF is getting 5+ a carry and the D is stuffing them... then clean up the penalties and win a close one. No shame in that in an SEC game against a ranked opponent with a green QB. Then you have a couple more games outside of the conference to build up Harris' confidence and then you hammer USC and UF with a balanced attack and watch our SECW opponents shit their pants when they sit down to watch the film. Kudos to MSU for throwing it against us as well as they did. That was the monkey wrench no one expected. If the D steps up and knocks down a few passes, maybe picks one, maybe gets to Dak more, in the 3rd quarter, we win walking away nice and easy 21 - 9. That is what Miles expected, but MSU's passing offense was pretty impressive and I expect them to win a few more than some expected this year.
Bingo. The play calling probably had a lot to do with not pressuring Harris to do it all himself. His job is to be a game manager.
I thought the db's did just fine save Dewyne Thomas, and White in the 4th, although he made up for it. Kevin Tolliver is the real deal. We miss Mills, and I'm not sure where Ed Paris is but he needs to play before Thomas does.
