PonyFans.com Scouting Report (TCU) with John Hampton

[Webmaster]

Good morning PonyFans,

Here's this week's scouting report featuring PonyFans.com Senior Editor PonyPride along with SMU Radio Network Color Analyst (for former Mustang great) John Hampton.

For more TCU scouting, be sure to join us tonight at Lakewood's 1st & 10 at 6 p.m. for PonyFans LIVE!

[Purple Wimple]

how is this game, which has the highest ranked team ever to step into Ford Stadium, not SMU's superbowl? C-USA is leaderless now, meaning there ain't a big dog to get everybody riled up in conference, and SMU won't have a better chance to grab spotlight than this game.

[The PonyGrad]

how is this game, which has the highest ranked team ever to step into Ford Stadium, not SMU's superbowl? C-USA is leaderless now, meaning there ain't a big dog to get everybody riled up in conference, and SMU won't have a better chance to grab spotlight than this game.

Every game is a must game for TCU given their goals this season. If SMU had nothing to play for then maybe it might be their "Super Bowl". Other than being a big rivalry game versus a highly ranked opponent, this does not rank up there in the list of goals for SMU this year. SMU has a CUSA championship to play for and a bowl game to play for. The TCU game we would love to win but we have other goals to play for.

[Cadillac]

how is this game, which has the highest ranked team ever to step into Ford Stadium, not SMU's superbowl? C-USA is leaderless now, meaning there ain't a big dog to get everybody riled up in conference, and SMU won't have a better chance to grab spotlight than this game.

Because our current goal is to win a conference championship, and beating TCU does nothing one way or the other to accomplish that.

Don't get me wrong, it's a huge game, but the most important game of the regular season (our Superbowl) is still probably Houston, though we'll see how the new QB does in that offense. After that game, there's the possibility of the Conference Championship game, and of course a potential bowl game, thereby making the TCU game the 4th biggest game of the season.

And of course since this is all tied to being able to win the conference, you could look at it as the 8 conference games, conference championship, and bowl game are all more important, putting the TCU game as the 11th most important game of the season. Not much of a "Superbowl"

-CoS

[Big Hoss]

how is this game, which has the highest ranked team ever to step into Ford Stadium, not SMU's superbowl? C-USA is leaderless now, meaning there ain't a big dog to get everybody riled up in conference, and SMU won't have a better chance to grab spotlight than this game.

That statement by Patterson last year was absolutely ludicrous.

Just because TCU might be the best team we play this year does not mean that this is the most biggest game we will play this season. If we are able to have the best record in CUSA West, then our biggest game is the Conference Championship (which we've never played for in our years of being in the WAC or CUSA). After that game, our biggest game becomes the bowl game.

Both of those will mean more to our program in terms of stepping stones than winning this one game vs. TCU.

[GOFROGS]

That's so sad. Shouldn't winning every game be your priority and not just winning your conference? That's what I call mediocrity at it's best. Beating Baylor did absolutely nothing for us conference wise, but our goal was to clobber them (which we did). In all reality, this game is the second to last most important game to us this season besides Tennessee Tech. If this isn't such a big game for you all why is there Beat TCU signs all over Dallas? It looks like a terrible football team threw up all over my highland park neighborhood.

[Cadillac]

Beating Baylor did absolutely nothing for us conference wise, but our goal was to clobber them (which we did).

You are clearly [deleted]. TCU isn't competing for the Mountain West, they are competing for a BCS Bowl, and inclusion in the National Championship. You need to run the table for that.

I'm surprised that you didn't realize that, but then again...

-CoS

[Big Hoss]

That's so sad. Shouldn't winning every game be your priority and not just winning your conference? That's what I call mediocrity at it's best. Beating Baylor did absolutely nothing for us conference wise, but our goal was to clobber them (which we did). In all reality, this game is the second to last most important game to us this season besides Tennessee Tech. If this isn't such a big game for you all why is there Beat TCU signs all over Dallas? It looks like a terrible football team threw up all over my highland park neighborhood.

What do you know, another jack@$$ frog fan. And you wonder why we hate you guys?

We really shouldn't have to explain how a football program improves itself from 1-11 to 13-0. It was only about a dozen years ago when you guys were in the same boat. I'm sure Coach Fran had to set the same kind of stepstone goals for your program, too.

[91Stang]

Maybe the Froggy faithful can look at it this way:

Take your school and our school out of it. Say it's the Dallas Cowboys, back when they were running neck-and-neck with the 49ers every year. Did the Cowboys want to beat them? Of course. But if they beat San Francisco and lost their games to the Redskins, Eagles and Giants, they would have run the risk of missing the playoffs, in which case their claim to having the best team would have been moot.

It's the same thing here. Do we want to win? Of course. The #4 ranking is too high, but TCU is a very good team, and more talented than we are, so if we win ... great. But if we win tomorrow and then get rolled in a bunch of conference games, the win means far less. Beating Froggy High in 2005 was a lot of fun, but had we beaten some any two of Tulane, Marshall, East Carolina and Tulsa instead, we would have been bowl-eligible.

I'd give anything to be in Dallas tomorrow. Thank god it's on TV, even up here.

Go MUSTANGS!

Thanks for the preview, Webguys — by far the best I've seen anywhere.

[sbsmith]

The TCU game ranks 9th as far as the 12 originally scheduled games goes, behind all 8 C-USA games and in front of the other 3 non-conf games (Texas Tech, Navy, Wazzu).

[Buddha]

Agreed — among the non-conference games, I see it as the biggest game of the year because of the geographical proximity.

[2left]

A loss is no big deal because you can still win the conference and go to a bowl game. I win will be a big deal in the national spotlight. I don't know what people would prefer -- lose to TCU and win the CUSA, or beat TCU and not win the CUSA?

Anyway -- good luck. This Hawaii fan hopes you thrash them.

[sbsmith]

A loss is no big deal because you can still win the conference and go to a bowl game. I win will be a big deal in the national spotlight. I don't know what people would prefer -- lose to TCU and win the CUSA, or beat TCU and not win the CUSA?

Anyway -- good luck. This Hawaii fan hopes you thrash them.

I'd rather lose to TCU and win C-USA, beating TCU means nothing if we can't beat enough C-USA teams to win the conference. This season with so many C-USA teams trending down there's no excuse for SMU to not at least be in the C-USA title game.