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Fortifying the front line
DC Kevin Kane looks to returning players, newcomers to replace productive 2019 seniors

It’s one of the givens of any offseason. Every newcomer, whether an incoming freshman or mature transfer, arrives with a predetermined date of departure. As players develop and improve during a college career, coaches plan for their replacements. It’s part of college coaching.

Few coaches, however, face the overhaul at any given position group that awaits Kevin Kane. Last season’s defense, which tied Pittsburgh for first in the country with 5.92 sacks per game, was significantly better than the 2018 version, in large part because the Mustangs boasted a deep defensive line that could roll in three or even four players at a position during a game. Defensive linemen usually are not as bulky as the blockers they see across the line of scrimmage, making the ability to roll in fresh replacements critical to holding up over the course of a four-quarter game.

Like every coach on every campus, Kane is used to seeing players graduate and move on. But this season is different: Kane and defensive line coach Randall Joyner followed SMU’s 10-3 season by facing the realization that they must replace six key players in the Ponies’ defensive line rotation. Ends Delontae Scott and Tyeson Neals, and tackles Pono Davis, Zach Abercrumbia, Demerick Gary and Chris Biggurs all played their last games in a Mustang uniform in 2019.

Kane said he never has had to replace such a group in his coaching career.

“No, not really,” he said. “That’s not just a lot of players — it’s a lot of very productive players. They were absolutely critical to our success on defense last year.”

Doing the math makes clear how significant those players’ contributions were last season. Those six combined for 142 tackles, which amounted to 15.3 percent of the Mustangs’ 929 stops last season. They combined for 36 of the team’s 111 tackles for loss (32.4 percent), and piled up 20.5 of the team’s 51 quarterback sacks, or 40.2 percent.

“It’s a part of the job every year,” Kane said, “but that’s a really good group. That’s a lot to replace.”

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Speaking of replacing players, does anyone know what the plan is for RB? I assume they are going hard for a graduate transfer? Just have the two freshman and Tamerick.

Great story. I think thre DTs will be OK with Chatman and Newman and Loveless, but some of those DEs need to step up and help Coxe.

Honestly, with Williams coming in from Stanford we should be more talented up front even if we don't have the depth we had last year - he held his own against the Oregon line, he should be able to handle Temple.

And as far as RB's go, I think we are still trying to grab Speights from Stanford as well:

https://247sports.com/Player/Trevor-Speights-27392/

Is something amiss with TJ? Is he not coming back at RB?

leopold wrote:Honestly, with Williams coming in from Stanford we should be more talented up front even if we don't have the depth we had last year - he held his own against the Oregon line, he should be able to handle Temple.

And as far as RB's go, I think we are still trying to grab Speights from Stanford as well:

https://247sports.com/Player/Trevor-Speights-27392/

I assume Williams is who Coach Kane meant when he said there are more DLs on the way. Sure hope so.

Mike Williams will be a very big addition.

HubbaHubba wrote:Is something amiss with TJ? Is he not coming back at RB?

Outside of one game against overmatched competition he was not very effective... 77yds on 33 carries...

White Helmet wrote:

HubbaHubba wrote:Is something amiss with TJ? Is he not coming back at RB?

Outside of one game against overmatched competition he was not very effective... 77yds on 33 carries...

He needed a year in the weight room before he hit the field. We basically burned a year of his eligibility using him as a backup who couldn’t produce from behind the line. Every time I saw him outside of Texas state he just looked like some skinny and weak receiver they threw back there to take hand offs.

I remember TJ talking about his brother's experience and seemingly welcoming the idea of a RS year to get stronger, but that Texas State game had to be fun for him. It's a shame his RS was burned and I did not see the need for him to play in more than 4 games but what's done is done. Let's all just hope he's a strong contributor in the years to come.

Charleston Pony wrote:I remember TJ talking about his brother's experience and seemingly welcoming the idea of a RS year to get stronger, but that Texas State game had to be fun for him. It's a shame his RS was burned and I did not see the need for him to play in more than 4 games but what's done is done. Let's all just hope he's a strong contributor in the years to come.

That cake may not be baked just yet..remember what happened with Will Brown? Even with him taking the job from hicks for a couple of weeks, he could have easily redshirted in 2018. even if he were not injured this year, he still would have been able to use the RS because of how dykes worked the backup qb lineup. If a solid GT or two comes in then with the depth provided by tamerik and Bennett he still could if he’s not up to where they want him to be.

Any word on any GT rb interest? There are several solid looking prospects in the portal who have not found a new school yet. If the specifics are behind a pay wall then I am content not knowing right now but I was just curious if anyone knew whether or not this would be addressed or if Dykes was just planning to Bill bellechick this and roll with the roster as is. IMO, a home run hitter or dependable every down back is the difference between this offense grading out at an “A” overall or and “A+”. I know we all loved Xavier and Freeman, but I think a lot of people may not realize how much they produced on their own and opened up the passing game even more. This will be a very big missing element if it’s not corrected.