From The Daily Campus

[50's PONY]

Spring football has arrived
Jordan Hofeditz, Sports Editor, [email protected]
Posted: 3/2/07
The early story this spring is injuries and position changes.

The Mustangs will have five players not participating in spring drills due to injuries. Cory Muse, Caleb Peveto, Sean Lobo, Jordan Johnson and Jessie Henderson will all sit out the spring to recuperate.

The SMU coaching staff has also moved some players to different positions.

Ben Poynter has been moved back to offensive left tackle, and Dominick Prior has been moved from the defensive line to the offensive line to help a weak spot, according to head coach Phil Bennett. The Mustangs have also moved Devon Lowery back to wide receiver from cornerback. The move was made possible by Brandon Jones becoming eligible after not making grades last season.

The final move for the Mustangs was moving David Haynes from cornerback to safety.

"I think we have a chance to have our best secondary ever," said Bennett who is encouraged by the number of players Mustangs returning.

"We have a lot of retention, which we should. A lot of guys got to play," Bennett said of both his defense and offense.

In fact, many key players for the Mustangs' offense are returning after last season - Justin Willis, Columbus Givens, Emmanuel Sanders, James Mapps, Zach Sledge and DeMyron Martin, to name a few.

Last season injury-plagued for Martin, who suffered a sophomore slump after a standout freshman year.

"[Martin's] better, DeMyron [Martin] will be the first to tell you he didn't play to his level," said Bennett. "He's made a tremendous commitment in the weight room; I know he has worked."

And there will be another Justin wearing the number 40 on the defensive line. No, Justin Rogers isn't coming back for a sixth year. It's Justin Smart, a true freshman who transferred to SMU last semester.

This year's team will have a lot of youth in the lineup, but it's experienced youth - and that could be the difference between this season and last.

[Stallion]

Well I sure am glad that Bennett thinks we can have our BEST secondary ever because last year might have been our WORST secondary ever.

[RE Tycoon]

Ha. In Bennett's world it's a fine line between the monkey and the robot.

After not calling this recruiting class his best ever, I thought he got out of the bold (asinine) statement making business, but apparently the shop was just temporarily closed.

[Eddie P]

I like monkeys.

[PK]

I like monkeys.

Figures.

[Eddie P]

I wouldn't begin to even know how to answer that...

[JasonB]

One interesting thing to read out of this - we have all assumed that DL would be a major weak point, and we have most of the OL coming back. Yet, Prior was switched from DT to OL to provide depth.

That tells me that PB really does have a lot of confidence in the guys he redshirted on the DL last year, he isn't just blowing smoke about it. It will be interesting to see how they perform.

[mrydel]

One interesting thing to read out of this - we have all assumed that DL would be a major weak point, and we have most of the OL coming back. Yet, Prior was switched from DT to OL to provide depth.

That tells me that PB really does have a lot of confidence in the guys he redshirted on the DL last year, he isn't just blowing smoke about it. It will be interesting to see how they perform.

Or, maybe Bennett has forgotten more about the DL than we know.

[expony18]

One interesting thing to read out of this - we have all assumed that DL would be a major weak point, and we have most of the OL coming back. Yet, Prior was switched from DT to OL to provide depth.

That tells me that PB really does have a lot of confidence in the guys he redshirted on the DL last year, he isn't just blowing smoke about it. It will be interesting to see how they perform.

i think that's a good point... smu has not had a decent OL iin a long time, and normally the DL does a decent job of stepping up (more so then the OL). i think with the depth we will have at DL this year will be crucial. even if we dont have any guys that standout like we did this year, the ability to rotate fresh guys in on a consistent basis that give quality minutes can pay off big for us. and hopefully the ol will have matured enough to keep pressure of JW and we can keep the d off the field

[Stallion]

as I said last year-against the great majority of opinion-the offensive line is composed of some great kids but they simply don't have a lot of talent. I'd be surprised if we have a kid who could make the Canadian Indoor Football League.

[BUS]

There we go - The Simon Cowl of ponyfans.

You have such good things to say Stallion.

I bet you are one happy man.

[Mountain Mustang]

I'd be surprised if we have a kid who could make the Canadian Indoor Football League.

Noticed that you edited your original post with this second sentence. Apparently the original wasn't mean/harsh enough for your standards.