Scrimmage

[PK]

It was noted earlier that the play appeared to be sloppy and perhaps it was, but they were playing a lot of different combinations of players. I would think they are going to review the scrimmage films to see which combinations worked best or where they need to do some fine tuning. With having a better two deep situation than we had last year, I suspect that there will be a lot of substitutions during the games to keep the players fresh and there will be some slop until these guys get use to playing together. I think we will look much better at our first game as we still have two more weeks of practice to get the kinks out.

One thing I did notice was that the receivers were very focused and playing heads up ball. There were several instances when the ball bounced off a receiver and he would make second and third efforts to catch the ball and did. On a couple of other occasions, the first receiver had the ball tip off his hand and a second receiver down field made the heads up play to catch it.

We may not be world beaters yet, but I think we are way ahead of where we were last year at this time. The guys are bigger, stronger and faster.

[SMUguy]

well if Turner is going back to CB that's a big disappointment to me because I simply don't see very much talent that can make plays at the receiver position except Lowery. You can always find guys to catch short passes in the spread but the idea is finding some kids that can make BIG PLAYS out of the spread. We could be in trouble at receiver-I'm not impressed by any of those guys. Maybe Henderson could be played at Inside Receiver but I think he was promised a shot at TB in recruiting.

I kind of agree -- I would like to see what Turner can do at WR -- but how much was he going to play at WR? I know he's a speed threat, and he seemed to make improvement during the spring. But I think after last night I'm not quite as pessimistic as you. Granted, the drops were disappointing. But I think Lowery, Warren, Cleveland, Vinson and Chase are going to be fine. Pellerin didn't do much, but didn't he come in last year with the reputation of having tools that needed considerable refinement/polish? Rushbrook didn't play. And the more I ask around, the more I hear that the freshmen -- Tony Hawkins and Cortley Blackmon -- had better-than-expected preseasons, and might well contribute. Are we looking at a traditional Florida State-level cast of WRs? No. But I'm not sure the cupboard is quite as bare as you suggest. Chase and Pellerin need polish (although I agree with the guy who pointed out Chase can be a good downfield blocker now, while he learns). Cleveland and Vinson will be OK, too.

[GoRedGoBlue]

Lots of dropped balls, not much running, Devin and Blake looked good. OL and DL looked large, LBs strong. Dbacks are hard to figure since no one caught much deep, slip screen looked good. Devin showed he is a PLAYER by going BACK to get the ball, and securing it in traffic many times. So we MAY have 3 playmakers now on O - Phillips/Devin/and Foy...we shall see if the TE's can assist DEVIN defense, or he will be a marked man.

DL should be an asset this year for the first time in a LONG time. Like the size in the middle and at least some speed on the ends.

Romo looked oh-kay, but he reminds me of David Page, not great, solid. Nothing special. Tony didn't blaze like he did the spring game. RBs weren't too special, and Phillips looked for the most part pretty solid - crisp passes, and man is he big/runs fast.

[PonySnob]

So far, Massey is not really living up to the hype that he was given. Certainly he has had some family issues since coming to SMU - hopefully he can work thru them and become the player that he was supposed to be when Bennett recruited him.

[westexSMU]

How is Vincent Chase , the Blue Chip (TE) developing ? Did he play with the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd team Saturday night ? He certainly has the talent and should really help upgrade our pass receiving group before to long.Great hands and he was a great blocker in High School too.

[Stangs FB]

I just wanted to point out that Cory Muse dresses the part. He is HUGE and has a non-stop motor. He was flying around the field making a lot of plays. Expect big things from #11 this year.

[Hal]

I bet Vincent Chase redshirts. That's not an indictment of his talent at all, either. From what I hear (I couldn't make the scrimmage), he's so gifted they want to get a full four years of play with five years of practice from him.

From what's been written here, a lot of people are expecting a big year from Muse. I'm expecting a big year from the whole team!

[LA_Mustang]

Cory Muse is the most impressive Pony I have seen in a long time. He has all the tools to be a big-time player.

[Higher Authority]

I think Phillips is going to really have a breakout year this year. We saw glimpses last year of what he can do, but he was learning on the fly. Now he's had a spring with Coach Burns and he's looked pretty good in two-a-days. The new offense relies on the QB making quick decisions, and Phillips showed last year that he does that, and they're usually good decisions. Sure, he's still got a lot to learn, but when he didn't see an open receiver last year, he'd tuck the ball and take off, which must have driven defenses nuts. He's a year older, he's a year smarter, he's seen how fast the game is. Watch Phillips come alive in this offense.

[Higher Authority]

I think Phillips is going to really have a breakout year this year. We saw glimpses last year of what he can do, but he was learning on the fly. Now he's had a spring with Coach Burns and he's looked pretty good in two-a-days. The new offense relies on the QB making quick decisions, and Phillips showed last year that he does that, and they're usually good decisions. Sure, he's still got a lot to learn, but when he didn't see an open receiver last year, he'd tuck the ball and take off, which must have driven defenses nuts. He's a year older, he's a year smarter, he's seen how fast the game is. Watch Phillips come alive in this offense. Remember, nobody's seen the Burns offense with SMU's personnel - I bet there are some wrinkles that are in place that weren't shown the other night, simply because Tech will have a report on the scrimmage. I bet Coach Burns was intentionally conservative in his play-calling the other night.

[Stallion]

I agree 100%-what I've never understood are the people who complain about Phillips' arm-he throws a very nice ball-just needs to work on the accuracy which will come with maturity. He's got just about as many physical tools as anyone who has played at SMU.

[Higher Authority]

Cory Muse is the most impressive Pony I have seen in a long time. He has all the tools to be a big-time player.

He sure looked good, didn't he? He will have his bumps as he learns the position, but wow - what an athlete.

[JasonB]

I couldn't make the scrimmage; unfortunately, even though I was in Dallas, I had other committments I couldn't get out of...

1) So is Muse starting at DE now?

2) Did the D stay in a 4-3, or did they actually play some nickel and dime schemes?

[PonySnob]

The running game was definately a concern after the scrimmage. It doesn't appear that there is a whole lot after Munlin and who knows if he can carry the ball 20-30 times a game every week like SMU RB's are asked to do - since he has not played in quite a while. He certainly needs to stay healthy for the entire season if we are going to have any kind of a ground game at all.

[Mexmustang]

I saw the scrimmage and like most of you was a little disappointed. But, the instructions or rules on tackling seemed soft, making the runners seem to run soft as well. I am not sure what the instructions were, but I don't think it would have been well accepted for a back to "showboat" in this type of scrimmage, while his defensive teamates played him soft on the "tackles". I certainly know Phillips and the kick return men were played soft and it appeared once a running back broke the line of scrimmage, the tackling appeared soft on many occassions. That was just how I saw things develop.