Looking ahead to 2001

[MustangMan]

As depressing as this season ended up, it looks like there's reason for encouragement. We have several talented WR's and a few talented RB's. McCown and Page are infuriating -- talented guys who play well at times and seem lost at others. The "potential" tag may be their albatross.

Defensively, the linemen coming back are OK, but certainly not great. We need more size and depth. Linebackers: Viloria is the heart and soul of the team, and some of the youngsters (Jarrian James, Khalid Beard, BJ WIlliams, etc.) show real promise .... but at the moment, that's all it is — promise. The secondary, I continue to believe, has a lot of talent that hopefully has grown up some after this year.

Legit questions: Who's going to punt and kick next year? Vadheim's gone and Crowley, although he has a fairly strong leg, will give the coaches gray hair, if not a heart attack.

Priorities: Offensive Line, Defensive Line, kicker/punters, another QB.

Can't wait for September! I may be moving back to Dallas, in which case I'll be at every game!

[Jason]

I don't know if I necessarily agree with you. The only reciever I like is Hampton. He is great. Freeman's hands are too small, so he fumbles too much to be a running back and he cant catch well enough to be a reciever. That is Cavan's quandry. I love Briggs but he is a workhorse. He is not a scat back that can do well with a poor offensive line. He is a workhorse that needs a strong line. Cunningham just does not accellerate well out of a cut and has a hard time getting open. Yes, he shouldn't be running short out patterns, he should run slants, but still if he had the aceleration he should be able to get open. Hopefully over then next year, these "athletes" will adapt better to these positions.

Defensively, I like James and Viloria. Williams moves around a lot, but accomplishes little. Garret has the speed, but not the athleticism to make the great play. Hopefully that will change. Moodley, Price, and Rico Harris are all youngsters that impress me and I think they will develop well.

My last statement is this: Apparently, Sterling Harris is a great run blocker and a horrible pass blocker. I would love to see us grind it out just a little more and go ahead and put him in. Do situational substitutions- put him in on first and second down, take him out on third in passing situations, kind of like they do with some defensive linement in the NFL...

McCown doesnt look like a great QB- I mean, he has the hieght and arm, but goes through his progressions way to slow, and cant decide to run or pass soon enough. Just like his bro at A&M....

Finally though, let me say this- sometimes we think people are good, but they dont play for a reason. I almost guarantee that freeman doesnt get the ball as much because he has the small hands that are prone to fumbling. Others possibly do not practice well. The coaches make decisions for a reason. The only criticism I have is that the coaches should go ahead and go balls out at practice. Let the guys hit each other the whole year. Sure, people might get hurt, but I would rather have that than players who cant handle game situations and lose fundamentals like tackling....

[smudad]

Here's hoping Cody Cardwell shows up in shape and ready to play next year. I know all the tools he doesn't have - he just manages to get open and catch the ball. IMO, freeman's biggest drawback as a running back is his tendancy to give up ground trying to make a big play. Cavan hates that. He tried to get Rodnick to run straight ahead for three years - to no avail. I hope we run some two-back offense some next year. But if we do, the freshman, Keylon Kincade will probably be the man, along with Briggs. With absolutely no run support this year, Briggs did a pretty good job. He punishes.

Rumor on the other board is that McCown is leaving SMU. I can't imagine why. And I agree, good, bad or indifferent, I want to see Sterling Harris in the lineup next year. TEACH, guys! He sounds like a smart kid.

[Corso]

Not so fast my friends!

Fear not, McCown isn't going anywhere, unless he abandons football, which I don't think he will. (He won't play pro ball, so he has one year of football left .... and who would want to sit out a year in a transfer, just to learn a new system and play for a new team -- when his numbers wouldn't get him a shot at a strong program?) He's a good guy and a smart young man. He'll be at SMU, playing or not.

[HorsePower]

There IS no other board!

[smudad]

Not today there isn't.

[PerunaPunch]

I agree with you in that our DBs need to "grow up." UP being the operative word. In the TCU game, it wasn't LT who killed us. It was big receivers who caught everything over the heads of our defensive backs.

I remember particularly the TD pass (caught about 10' from my seat) where Dorsey was either going for the pick or a tip, but was about a foot too short. The TCU guy caught it practically skipped in.

[HorsePower]

That TD pass that went over Dorsey was to Cedric James, who's pretty tall (6-0 or 6-1, I think.) But LaTarance Dunbar also scored and had a big day overall, and he's tiny. But he was so wide open i could have hit him from my seat.

The fact of the matter is that our DB's have potential, but they're still young. They're going to get beat every now and then. But until we generate SOME kind of a pass rush, talented QB's like Printers will tear our secondary apart.