DMN article

[fan]

I totally agree with Stallion. Our problems with offense have really not changed since at least 1997. What has hurt us has been the defense. Last year we gave up over 400 yards per game on defense which was the most yards given up by an SMU defense in a long time. The years we went 5-6 and 6-5 we gave up under 300 yards per game which is pretty good. Our own offensive production has been languishing in the 325 ypg range for many years.
I generally agree with Stallion that our talent level has been awful. I have posted before that you'd be crazy to think that our players and coaches are not giving "100%". However, the key to good coaching is finding a scheme that fits the players you have. Stallion points out that Bennett's defensive schemes have been "more agressive" than Schuman. Well, the stats show that it isn't working so why not change the scheme? In all honesty that would probably only win us another game or two a year because we still can't score but it's something to think about.

[This message has been edited by fan (edited 09-26-2003).]

[PK]

I have a few uneducated thoughts on the defensive topic. Given our inability to put pressure on the QB, I'm not sure it matters whether or not the DB's are playing one on one or zone, given enough time, a receiver is going to get open. The bend but don't break theory has some merit when you don't have the personel to play the agressive style Bennett wants to play, but he is trying to teach that style, not only to the jr's and sr's, but to all the players. That's what they practice every day and when these younger players hit the field they are going to be familiar with the style that hopefully will fit them better then it does now and not have to learn a new system one and two years down the road. Hopefully the current starters will get better and more importantly, hopefully we start getting more pressure on the QB.

[OldPony]

That was the question I was asking. I have no problem with teaching what you want to run IF you are confident that the young players wil have the capability of running it. I don't mean to waste the jrs and srs but those classes had little chances of being successful anyway. It is possible that as we get to the easier part of the schedule that these guys may also benefit from agressive schemes. Those things aren't special teams though. Someone has to get a grip on our special teams. With mediocre play from them, we would have beaten Baylor. We can't let ourselves get in huge field position negatives and hope to beat anyone. Has Bennett thought about the quick kick?

[PK]

I think with out a doubt our offense has got to get MUCH better. The bend but don't break defense of the past helped keep us in some games, but the inability of our offense to "close the deal" once we got in the red zone was, and still is, killing us. The special teams play this year has probably hurt us as much as any thing by giving the other team good field position or us bad field position. From what I have heard and read, Bennett is going to get some new faces out there. If you can do the job whether an upperclassman or a freshman, you're going to play.

[Pony_Fan]

Yea, that is my point, why not make slight adjustments? All I hear in press conferences time and time again where Bennett is saying "we've got to do a better job of coaching".."we've got to put them in a situation where they can be successful"

Is he putting his players in a defense where they can be successful? Special teams has been horrific.

[The PonyGrad]

I think there is over-reaction on the pass-efficiency defense number. That number has been distorted by Woods getting 7TDs. Before that our pass-eff was average and our rush defense was good. So don't go off the deep end here. Our defense can be good.

I like the mention of the quick kick. If our offense is having trouble making plays then there are situations where that would be a good idea.

I also like the idea of using Rushbrook for punting and I do not agree with the worry about injury. Heck, there used to be players that would go both ways and kick. Bennett has mentioned that the punt coverage team has trouble when they do not know the trajectory of the ball. Well, that may be an excuse or it may be true that the main problem with the punt coverage has been the punting, due to a broken finger or not. So, give Rushbrook or someone a shot. IMHO.

[This message has been edited by The PonyGrad (edited 09-27-2003).]

[PK]

For one thing, I don't think Bennett is going to publicly beat up on these players because they are working hard...thus the "we have to do a better job coaching". Go to the other site (mustangmaniacs)and check out the "five with Phil" piece they do. Might give you some good insight.

[Stallion]

The Pony Grad-did you go to the Texas Tech game because Tech barely bothered to run in racking up 58 points. Although he was extremely effective in limited use, Tech's leading rusher Taureen Henderson only carried the ball 4 times I believe. With regard to special teams, are we using any of the better athletes whose redshirts have been lifted on special teams. Cory Muse and others might really help to shore that area up.

[This message has been edited by Stallion (edited 09-27-2003).]

[Pony_Fan]

From Five with Phil: "That's coaching...I don't believe in just sytems" - Is he lying here? I am not sure this gives me much insight...

Q: On defense, are you caught in between scheming for your personnel or trying to fit your personnel to your scheme?

A: Not really. What I feel caught in is not having the ability to do things. I don't believe in just systems. You do what your players are capable of doing. Last Saturday, we had some mental busts that, at times, made us look foolish. That's coaching. We have to do a better job coaching to get that corrected."

[PK]

Mental busts...not sure how that would be coaching. The players have to execute...period.

[SoCal_Pony]

Let’s see how we fare against weaker WAC opponents, but personally I am concerned with our defense, our offense, our special teams and our game-day coaching decisions.

We have been lit up like a Christmas tree by 2 of our 3 opponents, while the 3rd opponent, Baylor, is almost an inept offensively as we are. Notice Baylor is #98 in scoring, and that number is skewed by their 27-point performance against Sam Houston St. Take that game away and Baylor is ranked #107.

Should be an interesting game and a good litmus test for us.

If we lose today by the score of 31-14, I doubt anyone on this board will be very happy, but the hard truth of the matter is, in the view of the outside world (i.e., Las Vegas line), we will have performed BETTER than expectation.

[FloridaMustang]

we'll score more points against the weaker defenses in the WAC. The problem is, the WAC is offense-oriented, and even SJSU can throw down 30+ on you any given saturday. we might score 14. Nevada will score at least 20. Too be we couldn't we have started out WAC play with UTEP, eh?

[The PonyGrad]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Stallion:
<B> The Pony Grad-did you go to the Texas Tech game because Tech barely bothered to run in racking up 58 points. Although he was extremely effective in limited use, Tech's leading rusher Taureen Henderson only carried the ball 4 times I believe. </B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Stallion, if your point is that our rush defense looks better because others have not rushed as much on us, that is only partly true. By YPG SMU is #34 but in YPC we are still #56, basically average. While our pass efficiency defense looks bad due to those Woods TDs by YPG we are #73 and yards per attempt we are #73 also. That is somewhat below average but not wheels off by any means. I still believe that when the season is done SMU's defense will be better than average.

Regarding the offense and special teams I have no idea. Can't get much worse.

[Stallion]

I agree totally about the pass rush which has been missing for years but in reality that's part of passing defense-but yeah let's spread the blame around to more than just the DBs. I'm looking forward to the day that Bennett can use better athletes like Cory Muse and Avery Cleveland and hopefully some outstanding safeties to really be able to play an aggressive defense. Bennett deserves the chance to recruit those type of athletes before we can really make a judgment on that side of the ball.