PonyFans.com is proud to welcome back, for his third season as a columnist, Nate, who is 15 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! (He can be followed on Twitter at @Pony_NATE_tion.)

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First of all, regarding TCU: WOW. Anyone who follows my Pony Nate-tion Twitter account saw that I was in Baton Rouge, La., for the Auburn vs. LSU game. Keeping close track of the score (and devastated I wasn’t there), I could not believe what unfolded in Fort Worth. Though Gary Patterson had his team punch in a cheap touchdown at the end to make the game look like a blowout, those who actually look at how the game played out would have seen that SMU had the ball late, down 42-37, deep into TCU territory.

Khalid Abdullah is the leading James Madison rusher with 344 yards in the first three games of the season (photo by James Madison athletics).

Some quick stats that stuck out to me from Saturday: quarterback Matt Davis was 17-for-31 with 330 yards and a touchdown through the air, and added 62 yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns on the ground. Wide receiver Courtland Sutton continued to impress with another huge game, with 115 yards on four catches and a touchdown. Sutton is definitely a special player with tons of potential, and as hard as it might be to remember, a freshman. Freshman running backs Braeden West and Xavier Jones combined for 25 carries for 100 yards and two touchdowns, averaging a solid four yards per carry. One more note: SMU broke TCU’s 28-game streak of forcing at least one turnover on Saturday as well.

The Mustangs hung with the No. 3 team in the land for a solid four quarters — a drastic improvement over the Baylor game in which they kept the score close until halftime. SMU is a young team with a very bright future, and now the Mustangs have the confidence that they can hang with strong teams after the way they competed against Baylor and TCU. The most surprising part is that the team seemed legitimately angry that they lost to TCU, as if they were the favorites to win!

“I’m not big on moral victories, but I’m extremely proud of the way our guys played and fought,” SMU head coach Chad Morris said. “They left everything out there on the field. There was a lot of hurt in that locker room Saturday night with our staff and our players, but there’s a lot of confidence in that locker room too, knowing what direction we’re headed.”

Auburn showed that an FBS team can not take a highly ranked FCS team lightly at all, nearly losing a couple of weeks ago to Jacksonville State. Now SMU faces a team in James Madison that is ranked five spots behind Jacksonville State in the FCS rankings. Morris will not let the Mustangs take JMU lightly, stressing that they are “a very talented football team.”

The Dukes’ offense is an up-tempo attack, averaging 51 points and 652 yards per game. Granted, that was against Morehead State, Lehigh and Albany. Also, Madison is really balanced on offense between the rush and pass attack, averaging roughly 330 yards per game in each department.

Morris expressed great respect for JMU quarterback Vad Lee, who transferred from Georgia Tech.

“We played against him when he was at Georgia Tech,” Morris said. “We’ve seen him in person. They play at a break-neck speed offensively, averaging 89 or 90 plays a game.” JMU’s rushing attack is not just one guy — it’s running backs Khalid Abdullah and Cardon Johnson, along with the Lee. Abdullah is the leader, with 344 yards on the ground. Next comes Johnson with 337 and finally Lee has 267 on the season. These three will get just about every carry.

James Madison’s defense gives up about 100 yards per game on the ground and about 225 through the air so far, and is led by leading tacklers Gage Steele (who leads the team with 29) and Raven Green (26). SMU’s potent offense is now known, having scored 37 points on what was considered an elite TCU defense, so this shouldn’t serve a problem.

The question will be whether the Mustangs’ defense can slow down this unbelievably fast and balanced offense. SMU has faced two great offenses and given up 56 points to both Baylor and TCU. I’ll be looking to see how defensive coordinator Van Malone draws up this week’s scheme against this really good offense of James Madison.

“They are a fast-paced team,” Malone said. “The backs are really good. It seems that the offensive line is pretty good. They have a couple receivers who show good speed. Going back to (Lee), he definitely is a guy that you have to prepare for, because they use him in the run game and he can make plays with his feet.”

Malone also said that Lee is very similar in style of play to Davis and backup Darrel Colbert, and said that having the Mustangs practice against those two is a great help to prepare for Lee.

Davis will have another great game. Once thought of as only a running threat, Morris has figured out how to use Davis in the scheme, and how to show his arm. Davis’ throwing game has finally been shown, and it’s been great to see.

Sutton has been great against a couple of really good teams, but now let’s see if he can be consistent. If he’s not catching balls, he needs to be drawing double- and triple-coverage, as he did against TCU to free up the other receivers like Ryheem Malone, Kevin Thomas, Darius Joseph and Jeremiah Gaines.

This game will be an all-out shootout. SMU has the better defense and SMU’s offense will excel on this FCS defense. Not saying JMU won’t score a few points either, but the Mustangs’ offense will outlast the Dukes’ very potent offense. James Madison will not be able to handle their first road game of the season and the crowd will be another solid one Saturday at Ford for Homecoming. SMU will move to 2-2 on the year heading into conference play.

Nate’s take: SMU 45 JMU 28