Thoughts on the Memphis game

[JasonB]

Offense:
- The negative plays were an absolute killer. At first I thought it was the offensive line. But I paused and rewatched a ton, and really outside of one beat on HIckman up the middle and that awful series from JT, the line didn't do that poorly.
- There were a few pulls on running plays that got blown up from the outside. Another case of getting overcomplicated.
- I think, however, most of the offensive struggles go on Mordecai. I hate to do that to one player, but the fumble on the first drive was a disaster, the RPO checks were not great, and he took some really, really bad sacks. Just too many negative plays that were on him.
- The interception was not a good look. He got fooled by the player who faked going outside and then came back to Gray's route. But that said, Danny did not run the best route on that play. If he runs the route correctly, there is more separation between him and Rice and that makes the read much easier.
- I won't let the play calls off the hook, however. Again, too many pulls when we haven't shown the ability to do that well all season. First drive of the second half, if you are going to run on 3rd and 2, you should be planning to go for it on 4th and 1. That punt really, really surprised me. Very uncharacteristic of Dykes. Also, you can't run a flea flicker from the 23. That was an awful sack for TM to give up, but there is no way you can make that call. By the time TM gets the ball back, the inside receiver on the left who was running a post had already finished his route and just stopped. There just wasn't enough room for that call.
- Defensively, I actually thought the team played okay. Basically, you have two really bad pass interference calls and 3 4th and longs that are the only reason Memphis scored.
- The defensive line and DE positions were incredible, again. I'll say it again if 40 doesn't get all conference, it is an absolute travesty.
- The Memphis QB was absolutely on fire, and their receivers were great. They caught a lot of balls in tight space on great throws. We got beat some as well, which I'll get into, but as a whole I actually didn't think the corners were awful.
- That said, the two jump balls on 4th down were awful. You can't give those plays up. You just can't. That gave me Blackmon flashbacks from 20 years ago. You have to be athletic enough to defend that play if you are going to play corner at this level.
- The 4th down TD against Crossley, man, that was a great throw. Crossley only gave him a little room. But if you watch that play, both safeties are 5 yards upfield, playing basically in the same space, and neither of them reacted at all to the route. Someone has to have inside position on that pass. I think it is on them more than Crossley.
- 18 left the WR open on the TD pass after a 4th down jump ball. He went and took the same player the corner had, and you could see the corner get really upset about it. Another misread by a safety.
- Denbow is straight line fast, but he has absolutely zero hip turn and it just gets us killed against more athletic teams. He got beat on yet another fourth down play, and it was really ugly to watch, because once he had to switch directions, he dropped off considerably.
- The biggest problem our corners have is that they play like they aren't fast. When they position themselves to protect from getting beat over the top, they over commit and aren't set up to be able to flip their hips. It becomes really, really easy to create massive amounts on separation on out patterns and comeback routes. This is really evident with Rogers, who is learning how to play the position on the fly out there.

I know there is going to be a lot of stuff out there about the team quitting on Dykes. But in reality, our QB had a bad game, and Memphis made the plays when it counted. Two jump balls on 4th and long, a skinny post great pass on 4th and long, and then a great pass from the RB (offensive pass interference?) on the 4th and short. We just didn't execute well enough on offense to deserve to win this game.

[Dukie]

The team did not quit. But did it seem they think the coach has given up on them? Or at least isn’t committed to them, anymore?

Yes.

[Rla1022]

Absolutely team didn’t give. The AD and staff failed them. Lack of information gets in your head. Until the contract is signed it’s gonna be hanging around for a while.

[GHammond]

Sonny us burning this thing down, holding us hostage…what an a__ __.

[peruna81]

My reaction at the end of the third quarter was the same as having a 4 year old and two year old child in your house...you can't have nice things....or at least nice things last.

Great defense, then busted coverage on 4th downs. Attention to detail was lacking on blocking, and the curse that was mentioned in another thread, turnovers, proved the main reason Memphis won.

This one hurt. With all the turmoil and emotions, this one should have been ours. It will be a game that Mustang players and fans remember for a long while.

[HubbaHubba]

Our secondary is awful. Either the corners don't know what they are doing or are not athletic enough to do it. Safeties are not much better. Every opposing QB from here on out is going to look All-Pro unless something changes. I suspect our DBs are not going to get faster or smarter at this point in the season. We better score 50 to have a chance in any remaining games.

[Terry Webster]

Getting zip out of the first drive and the interception killed us. We could have put that game away early.

[JasonB]

Getting zip out of the first drive and the interception killed us. We could have put that game away early.

Yes, I completely agree. And both of those are on QB1 with a fumble and a bad sack.

I wanted the narrative to be that we just quit and didn't play hard because of the coaching rumors. But a quitting team takes 17-0 in Houston and loses the game by 40, and they take the offensive performance today and give up and lose big. Both of these games were ugly, and there were a ton of mistakes made. But the team didn't quit. Quit is SMU@UNT under JJ. Neither of these games have been that. They have been mistake riddled games that we managed to lose.

[crazy horse]

In both games, we had opportunities in the final two minutes to win. So that gives me some hope. Other schools seem to be struggling. Tulsa gave UC everything it had and came close to knocking them off. Previously unbeaten and once beaten teams dropped like flies this weekend, so maybe we aren't that different.

Another question, why was Record put in as PR. Was Kerley hurt or in the doghouse?

[Charleston Pony]

In both games, we had opportunities in the final two minutes to win. So that gives me some hope. Other schools seem to be struggling. Tulsa gave UC everything it had and came close to knocking them off. Previously unbeaten and once beaten teams dropped like flies this weekend, so maybe we aren't that different.

I do think this is the best team SMU has fielded in the post death penalty era and if they put a full game together should be able to pull off a major upset. If we lose to UCF this weekend, I expect them to go to Cincinnati with a "balls to the wall" approach...four down football, trick plays galore, nothing to lose and everything to gain attitude whereas Cincinnati is feeling increased pressure every week to remain unbeaten and to score "style points" along the way. Hopefully some entertaining football ahead of us this season

[JasonB]

In both games, we had opportunities in the final two minutes to win. So that gives me some hope. Other schools seem to be struggling. Tulsa gave UC everything it had and came close to knocking them off. Previously unbeaten and once beaten teams dropped like flies this weekend, so maybe we aren't that different.

Another question, why was Record put in as PR. Was Kerley hurt or in the doghouse?

Kerley hasn't returned punts since he was out injured a couple of games ago.

Record is seen as someone who has dynamic potential as a punt returner, but I think fear of re-injury is probably the main reason he was still out there.

[crazy horse]

Thanks for the answer.

[mrydel]

Kerley was back as returner after the fumble


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