PonyFans.com is proud to have 16-year-old Nate as a guest columnist. In this installment, Nate offers his preseason SMU award winners and his thoughts about Saturday's 2017 opener against Stephen F. Austin.

Feel free to post comments and constructive criticism, ask him questions, and/or give suggestions for upcoming columns! (He can be followed on Twitter at @Pony_NATE_tion.)

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The 2017 season is upon us, and there hasn’t been this much enthusiasm about SMU football in quite some time. Coaches and media have been referring to this year’s team as the most talented squad since the 1980s. Coming off a season in which the Mustangs had to grow as a young team again, the third year in the Chad Morris system will be exciting. In 2016, SMU was the epitome of a metaphorical roller coaster, as inconsistent as they come. Not surprisingly, the Ponies came up short of a bowl game.

But it was a great year in that young, bright stars began to shine, and there was so much to build on leading into this season. Young players like James Proché, Ben Hicks, Kyran Mitchell, Braeden West and Jordan Wyatt all made names for themselves. Proché proved himself to be capable of being the No. 1 receiver, but the fact that Courtland Sutton is on the field opens things up for Proché. But this works both ways, as teams can no longer double-, even triple-team Sutton with the deep, fast, athletic threat of Proché. Although it is up in the air whether Hicks will be the starter at quarterback this season, he showed promise. If he can continue to make better decisions and take care of the ball, while utilizing the incredibly gifted group of skill position players he has at his disposal, the Mustang offense will be flying high.

Whether Courtland Sutton is the best receiver in the nation remains to be seen, but he gets the nod from Nate for Offensive MVP (photo by SMU athletics).

Following Xavier Jones’ injury Braeden West proved he can tote the load of being the top running back and showed he is more than just a “scatback,” gaining over 1,000 yards, and while much has been lost in the secondary due to graduations (of Darrion Millines and Horace Richardson), Jordan Wyatt is still here to stay. He helped create the “No Fly Zone” culture of the SMU secondary, as the defense was one of the nation’s leaders in creating turnovers. Wyatt turned the heads of fans and coaches, as well as NFL scouts. He picked off four passes, returning two for touchdowns.

Before beginning on the first opponent, the Lumberjacks of Stephen F. Austin, here is my take on the key players of the 2017 season:

Offensive MVP: Courtland Sutton I thought for a long time trying to come up with a different player to choose here and go with someone other than the consensus choice, but I couldn’t. It’s because, frankly, no one on this entire team is nearly as important or talented as Sutton. Thought of as a mid-first round pick in next year’s NFL Draft, possibly even the first wide receiver taken, Sutton is arguably the best player SMU has had since Eric Dickerson (apologies to you old-timers I may have offended just now). Last season he hauled in 76 balls for 1,246 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has set out to make a name for himself as the best wide receiver in the country, but also has taken an incredible role of leadership of this young group of players. Some articles have gone as far as mentioning him as a dark horse Heisman candidate.

Sutton is not only the Offensive MVP, but the MVP of the whole team. Morris praised his star receiver, saying, “he is such a pleasure to coach. His leadership is phenomenal.”

Defensive MVP: Justin Lawler This one was a much tougher decision. I have to give honorable mention to Jordan Wyatt, whose lockdown coverage at cornerback is key to the defense’s success, but what Lawler does for the entire defense is irreplaceable. Even the best corners can’t cover all day, but they can cover for shorter periods of time. Lawler puts so much pressure on opposing quarterbacks, forcing them to get the ball out quickly. He registered 65 tackles, 15 for loss, and 6 sacks. He wreaked havoc on every offensive line he faced last season and has also taken a role of leadership heading into his senior season.

Breakout Player: Dimarya Mixon Though “breakout” might imply a young player you may never have heard of blossoming, a graduate transfer who didn’t make much of an impact at a Power 5 school like Tennessee could certainly be categorized as a “breakout.” Mixon was stuck at Tennessee behind Derek Barnett, the eventual first-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles. In three years he recorded 19 tackles and a sack. The 6-4, 260-pound defensive end was recruited fairly highly out of the local Mesquite area. He has come to SMU looking to make a name for himself and looking to play in front of his family and friends who are in the Metroplex. Mixon is slated to have a big season opposite Lawler. Morris said of Mixon’s impact: “he has been a great addition to our defensive front. He’ll play opposite of Justin Lawler. He came in with a great attitude, and you’ll see him on a lot of special teams units. He’s been a great teammate.”

Saturday vs. Stephen F. Austin

In year’s past, SMU’s FCS opponent has been a tough matchup, or even a superior matchup (i.e. James Madison), but this year the Mustangs open up with a team in Stephen F. Austin that is inferior. The Mustangs are a far more talented, far deeper football team and should exploit the weaknesses of the Lumberjacks

In a battle for Defensive MVP, the nod goes to a guy who can create pressure up front, and thereby force errant throws into the secondary (photo by Patrick Kleineberg).

SFA has a nice set of wide receivers, led by Tamrick Pace, who had 836 yards and eight touchdowns last season. He is complemented by Trea Hart who had 511 yards receiving last year. They are joined by a couple D-1 transfers, Terian Goree from North Texas and Frank Ihenacho from Texas A&M. Out of the backfield, Loren Easly is talented but was limited during an injury-plagued 2016. The Lumberjacks added Arkansas transfer Juan Day to help solidify the running back spot. Up front is where the concern lies for SFA. The Lumberjacks struggled mightily up front last year. Josh Keith is the lone bright spot up front, getting selected to the all-conference team. Look for SMU’s deep and talented defensive line to dominate. The offense would have been led by quarterback Foster Sawyer, a transfer who didn’t play much at all at TCU, but a knee injury will keep him out of this game. Jake Blumrick will start in his place.

SFA coach Clint Conque is going into an important season. After finishing his first year 8-5, he has followed up that impressive start with back-to-back losing seasons. The Lumberjacks are coming off a 5-6 season, going 4-5 in Southland Conference play.

Defensively, SFA is porous to say the least. It brought in a new defensive coordinator, Jeff Byrd, who last coached at Tennessee-Martin. He has switched the team’s base defense to a 3-3-5, in order to try to stop spread offenses like the one run by SMU. There are some nice pieces, such as defensive end John Franklin, who had eight sacks last year. But the secondary couldn’t stop much of anything last year, allowing a conference-high 34 passing touchdowns. The Lumberjacks also finished near the bottom in total defense. SMU should fully expect the talented receiving corps to have a field day against SFA’s secondary.

SMU’s gameplan shouldn’t change much from what it normally is. Go up-tempo, gas this extraordinarily young Lumberjack team, and sling the ball around the field and let its receivers go to work. Morris will exploit SFA’s shaky secondary and lean on the passing game, possibly due to some uncertainty in the offensive line after the sudden departures of potential starters Jerry Saena and Braylon Hyder. If the Mustangs try to run the ball, keep an eye on the battle up front, given the doubt at right guard. Morris announced the plans for right guard at the moment, “We’ve got a rotation there — Jacob Todora will start for us, and/or Bryce Wilds.”

As far as the quarterback position, the starter is still not yet known, as Morris said, “We will name a starter at game time. When you see him run out there, that’ll be the indication who will start for us.”

The Mustangs are a far superior team and will light up the scoreboard to kickoff the season. Sutton, Proché and Trey Quinn will prove far too much for a weak group of SFA defensive backs. The SMU defensive front four should control the line of scrimmage. There is a lot of anticipation as to what this new-look defensive line is capable of. That unit has depth and talent that the Ponies have desired for some time. SMU will impress on opening night, running over the Lumberjacks in a blowout.

Nate’s Take: SMU 45 SFA 20