PonyFans.com is proud to welcome back, for his third season as a columnist, Nate, who is 14 years old, in ninth grade, might want to be a sports writer and knows more about football than a lot of people who already make their living covering sports. He will offer his thoughts and will preview each game throughout the season, looking at a key player, matchup or statistic that could prove relevant in each upcoming game … and explain why it will impact the outcome. Feel free to post comments and constructive criticism, ask him questions, and/or give suggestions for upcoming columns!

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The first season of the Chad Morris era begins Friday against Baylor (photo by PonyFans.com).

The 2015 SMU Football season is upon us. The Chad Morris era is upon us. And for the first time in a few years, there is a buzz around campus about an SMU team that returned to its 2008 1-11 ways in a season that was a complete and utter disaster.

But new head coach Chad Morris is looking to change things around the Hilltop. Most everything about the Mustangs this year will be night and day compared to the June Jones style. They’ll be faster and more enthusiastic than the slower, duller June Jones style of going about their business. Not to say June Jones’ style didn’t work as for most of Mustang Nation, around 2010, June Jones was a god. But, as we all know, all good things come to an end, as the June Jones Era at SMU came to a grinding halt last season.

Changes are coming in Dallas for the 'Stangs, and it all begins this season. To what extent Morris brings SMU back to its winning ways, no one knows. I personally believe he will take SMU past the level to which June Jones took them. It’s time to go to the next level. As much as we hate TCU, we have to follow the Horned Frogs’ model. They started where we are now: in a smaller conference with an up-and-coming coach, better known as Gary Patterson.

On to 2015, the here and now. What can Morris do in his first year at SMU with a team that includes mostly players recruited by Jones? That is the question that excites me this year. There will be a few games this year in which they will clearly be outmatched, namely Baylor and TCU, who will be national championship contenders this season.

Preseason Award Predictions

Most Valuable Player: Quarterback Matt Davis enters this season as the Mustangs’ starter and will take on a leadership role as one of the veterans on the squad. He showed flashes last year and will be a big factor in this new, fast-paced offense.

Offensive Player of the Year: Running back Prescott Line is built like a rock and is going to be very hard to take down in a goal-line situation. Just because it’s fast doesn’t mean the Chad Morris offense won’t run the ball down your throat with the bowling ball that is Prescott Line.

Defensive Player of the Year: Linebacker Shakiel Randolph figures to be the definite anchor of this defense. He has been great for SMU through the past three years, recording 71 tackles in just 17 starts, partially due to injury-shortened seasons. This should be his big year on the Hilltop.

Nate says quarterback Matt Davis will thrive in the new SMU offense en route to team MVP honors (photo by Pat Kleineberg).

Breakout Player: Wide receiver Courtland Sutton was my easiest choice of the four awards. The 6-foot-4-inch, 215-pound redshirt freshman had a shortened season last year, only playing in two games, and received a medical redshirt. He’s big, quick, strong, athletic and a very violent blocker. The last one is huge for me, mainly because most receivers hate blocking and take the play off because they don’t get the ball. Not this guy. In practice he has been seen mauling smaller corners. Sutton will be a great complement to Darius Joseph (or maybe even vice versa).

Baylor

Half of the non-conference games are brutal and half are very winnable. Baylor begins it Friday with a game in which there is nothing SMU can do. Baylor is returning 18 of its 22 starters from last season’s fantastic team (that drubbed SMU, 45-0). SMU’s strength this year won’t be defense — it will be offense, which should be better but isn’t ready to match up with Baylor’s attack in a shootout. Junior Seth Russell is hoping to be Art Briles’ next great quarterback, and early reports indicate he has the potential to do just that.

Briles made an interesting analogy about Russell, echoing the praise for Russell’s ability while pointing out that his new quarterback is not yet a finished product. “Seth — he’s certainly put it on layaway, so to speak,” Briles told reporters before practice. “He’s been paying on it for a while. Now it’s his opportunity to make sure the clothes fit. We need to get a little precise which I think will come with more reps. But where he’s at right now is real good.”

It will be the same offensive line of SMU that gave up sack after sack last year against this Baylor front that is led by monster (6-foot-9-inch, 280-pound) defensive end Shawn Oakman and All-Big 12 defensive tackle Andrew Billings. SMU’s offensive line will have a tall task this week. But just because it’s the same five lineman as last year does not mean they won’t have improved and maybe Morris’ offensive scheme fits their blocking style. Regardless, don’t be surprised if the o-line gets pushed around a bit, and that is going to be key if the Mustangs want to keep this game remotely close, because they aren’t going to make this a ballgame if Prescott Line averages two yards per carry. He needs to have at least 3.5 or so to have any success. I’m not going to say SMU has to control the line of scrimmage, but the Mustangs can not get controlled on the line of scrimmage, either. Sacks can kill drives, and if Matt Davis is constantly running for his life, then this will be a long day for SMU.

Baylor had last season’s No. 1 offense in the land, averaging 581.5 yards per game. The Bears’ weapons on that side of the ball seem endless, beginning with receivers KD Cannon and Jay Lee, who last season combined to have 1663 yards and 14 touchdowns), and don’t forget about running back Shock Linwood, who last season had 1,252 yards and 16 touchdowns. This offense will spread defenses out, demand extra downfield coverage and unveil the run game. By no means is the Bear offense one-dimensional. If defenses try to put a bunch of extra guys in the box, Baylor will sling the ball around, and if there are seams on the line of scrimmage, Russell is a mobile quarterback and will make teams pay there too.

Bottom line: this Baylor offense is scary-good. It won’t be that SMU’s defense is necessarily bad, but rather that Baylor’s offense is too good. On the offensive side of the ball, look to see improvement, as Morris’ new up-tempo offense gets put to the test against Baylor’s solid defense, which is coached by defensive coordinator and former SMU head coach Phil Bennett. The Mustangs will hang with Baylor for a quarter or two, riding on what should be a raucous, noisy Mustang crowd eager to see what Morris’ scheme is all about. SMU will play its heart out, but fall very short to an outstanding Baylor team.

Nate’s Take: Baylor 58, SMU 17