must win

[Dooby]

I refuse to believe that SMU has no chance of winning a game against the 110th ranked defense.

Beating ECU would probably be more impressive than beating WSU in the grand scheme of things and be better for SMU as far as conference standings go, but most people around would not be impressed because they do not know who ECU is and do not care. Folks around here at least know that WSU is a PAC-10 team.

[jtstang]

For the record, there is not one team on our schedule left that I view as a sure loss. SMU can beat any of these teams. None of them are that great. SMU is going to have to play well and BLM is going to have to play better, but any of those games can be won.

Since the Summer, I said the goal was to win six games and that was doable if SMU beat SFA, UAB, UTEP, Marshall, Rice and Tulane, all of which should be considered winnable games. JT, you and I specifically had a conversation where I further said that while it was not critical, the hope was that SMU would be .500 after six games.

JT, if you want to refer to what I have been saying for three months as "new math," go ahead. From where I stand, I am among the most consistent people on this board.

Okay, I take it all back. Can we still go bowling?

[One Trick Pony]

If we lose the game to ECU I will wear that hoarse head special delivery has the entire Navy game!

[crossbones]

We are much better than WSU & u guys will find out soon enough

[Nacho]

you may be better than wsu but so are we. we lost in one of our once in a lifetime meltdowns that occurs about once a week.

[Stallion]

Most definitetly NOT a must win. By the numbers any victory in October will be a very substantial upset-we could still go bowling by winning very winnable November games.

[Nacho]

marshall could very easily beat us at their place.
utep has shown they can beat a good team--#11 at the time
i'm not counting on winning four straight after losing four straight.

[Hoop Fan]

everybody has a different definition of must win. Certainly its not a must win in terms of JJs job or the future of the program. In terms of this season though, I don't accept 3 or 4 wins as being a sure sign of progress. Thats just another crappy season in CUSA. Just because SMU tanked and looked so bad doing it last year doesn't mean 3 wins is ever acceptable or progress in this league. When you play SFA, Rice and Tulane at home, that should be 3 almost certain wins in itself these days. In my opinion, this season goes way off track if we dont win at least one of the next two at home. So if Navy is a longshot, that means to me that we desperately need to find a way to beat ECU and stop/interrupt the bleeding.

[crossbones]

For the poster that wrote that people would be more impressed with a win over WSU than ECU: what are yall smoking? We have beaten UVA, NC st, UNC, #23 Boise st., #15 VT & #8 WV in just the last 3 yrs. We do have a tradition & have played bowl games since just the 90s against #21 NC st(win), Illinois(loss), Stanford(win), TCU(loss), Texas Tech(win), #10 Marshall(loss), South Florida(loss), #23 Boise st.(win) & Kentucky(loss). We have also beaten Miami 2 out of 3 & they were in the top 10 both times including their worst loss in the Orange bowl(31-6). We are the C-usa champs & have almost everyone back & have won 16-19 conf. games. So please don't disrespect our program by comparing us to WSU bc we know how to win & we know about SMUs tradition & we know that u guys are on the rise & since it's in Dallas I think u guys have a chance but while we have not looked great this year we are due for a breakout game & we did beat Tulsa on the road last yr. & UTEP by 31 (2 teams that have a similar style as SMU). Trust me a win over us should be more impressive nationally than a win over one of the worst teams in the nation.

[mrydel]

I do not believe the intent was to say WSU is a better team than ECU. However, when viewed by outsiders, a win away from home against a BCS school would earn more "style" points than a home win against a CUSA team. I do not think you will get anyone to say that WSU is better than ECU.

[crossbones]

Well if that is the intent I disagree with the premise. My post was made to indicate that ECU has recently played bowl games against opponents from all 6 BCS conferences & have beaten as many quality AQ-BCS teams as any non-AQ out there. Anyone that follows college football at all knows who we are & while we haven't performed well yet this year, we did start the season with 31 votes in the AP (33rd overall). So I would say that we are right behind Utah, Boise st., TCU & BYU in terms of football prowess & national respect so a win over ECU would earn more "style' points than a road win against the worst team in the Pac 10.

[KnuckleStang]

Well if that is the intent I disagree with the premise. My post was made to indicate that ECU has recently played bowl games against opponents from all 6 BCS conferences & have beaten as many quality AQ-BCS teams as any non-AQ out there. Anyone that follows college football at all knows who we are & while we haven't performed well yet this year, we did start the season with 31 votes in the AP (33rd overall). So I would say that we are right behind Utah, Boise st., TCU & BYU in terms of football prowess & national respect so a win over ECU would earn more "style' points than a road win against the worst team in the Pac 10.

Alright, you're a pretty good team, we get it. We'll show up anyway, thanks

[Stallion]

I agree with the Pirate. ECU does deserve the credit. I posted their defensive scoring defense numbers over the last 10 CUSA games and called them the best defense in CUSA. They won CUSA in 2008 taking Tulsa's vaunted offense apart and lead CUSA East right now. Not enough respect for ECU on this board especially from a Team like SMU that is one play away from 3-1 or just as easily 0-4. It would take a big upset to win Saturday.

[George S. Patton]

There's no doubt ECU is more physical than SMU is. Winning this game is going to depend on how much the OL can limit their DL on penetration, if we can get something out of the running game and get a few breaks.

Pirate QB Pinkney does have 5 ints this year (higher than I would have thought) and they are averaging just 3.5 yards per rush, but they can distribute the ball to some people. Our LBs are going to have to make life tough for Pinkney within the short passing game and.

We're capable of winning this win this. Will we? Ask the starting quarterback if he's found a cure for KNUCKLEHEADITIS and if he knows how to get through the fourth quarter.

[Dooby]

Well if that is the intent I disagree with the premise. My post was made to indicate that ECU has recently played bowl games against opponents from all 6 BCS conferences & have beaten as many quality AQ-BCS teams as any non-AQ out there. Anyone that follows college football at all knows who we are & while we haven't performed well yet this year, we did start the season with 31 votes in the AP (33rd overall). So I would say that we are right behind Utah, Boise st., TCU & BYU in terms of football prowess & national respect so a win over ECU would earn more "style' points than a road win against the worst team in the Pac 10.

For the record, my point is that ECU doesn't get the credit it deserves.