I'm glad we won, but...

[ponyte]

Rice was the unsatisfying win. This was fine wine to be savored. We played a much better team than Rice and played the entire 4 quarters. Our O ran out the clock with dang near 7 minutes left in a game!!!! Guys, that is a vast-Huge improvement in this team over last year. A year ago our O couldn't accomplish that and we were praying our D could hold on to the win.

And of course they missed long passes because their great passer was running from our great pressure and it is a much harder pass to complete when the QB can't set his feet.

Keep in mind we came from behind to take a lead and hold a lead. Like good teams are suppose to do.

And let us not forget that teams facing SMU face a rare but real challenge in that we block FGs. One can't ignore that we stayed in the TTU game and won the TU game because of blocked field goals. What a weapon!

We have a running game and the passing game is starting to click. Padron isn't holding the ball forever like the first 4 games.

We are not top 25 yet but we are moving in that direction. I prefer that to just hoping to be in the top 100 like the last 20+ years.

[Stallion]

Interesting I haven't really studied who Navy has played but statistically they are No. 3 in Pass Defense. Tulsa is last at 120 and Rice is No. 117. Not surprised Tulsa is last though

http://content.usatoday.com/sportsdata/ ... ng-defense

[peruna81]

re Big Hoss-

I'm glad we won. Period. Full Stop. No "but".

Now we prepare for the undersized, well-coached, opportunistic defenders of your freedom and mine, the Mid-Shipmen.

We will get to see how well our defensive depth fares against a relentless run offense, and how well Padron remains patient with his reads...it is just one more "next" step in the long journey back.

[PK]

Since we still don't have the same playing ability all across our defensive depth, our starters don't get much rest. By the middle of the 4th quarter our defense was totally gassed. Kudos to JJ for changing his emphasis from getting another touchdown to controlling the ball and eating up the clock. Had we gotten another touchdown, Tulsa would have stormed thru our gassed defense and scored and then had a chance for an onside kick. Who would have thought we could eat up 7 minutes on a single possession? Wow!

We won against a team with a supposedly prolific offense. A win is a win...be happy!

[ponyte]

The flip side of that is Navy is 83th in rushing D and SMU is 30th.

http://content.usatoday.com/sportsdata/ ... ng-defense

This is going to be a very good game. Our strength on D is our front 7. Our secondary is excellent supporting the run. Exactly what Navy's O is all about.

We have a solid and impressive O performance which puts pressure on their O against our solid D and it can be one whale of a game.

This could be the most exciting game we play to date.

[Football4ever]

Im proud of the D. That Tulsa team was averaging 40 pts a game before last night. I know Tulsa missed some big plays, but holding them to 18 points was good by the D.

[Mestengo]

Someone said they won't keep missing thoes all night. But they did.

[ontheedgeofmyseat]

They won, bro...the "what if" deal does not add up...you can what if anything to death...bottom line, they did NOT catch the ball..passes WERE over thrown, etc.,etc., etc., etc...NICE WIN, fellas!! "IF" is for chumps...

[LAPonyAir]

In my 5 short years watching the team, its been awesome to see them evolve from looking like a high school team at times to being a legit contender for the conference. The D makes tackles and big plays, JG's a beast, same with Sterling Moore (how often do teams even throw on his side??), the offense is clicking like its supposed to and Line gets consistent yardage every time (Anybody else realize Shawnbrey liked to dance a lot in the backfield looking back to last year????), amazing special teams. Oh and 3-0 in conference! Awesome. Sure it would have been nice to score more...but isn't it unfair considering all offenses have those days and when you take the numerous positives into consideration? No buts! Pony Up!

[Stallion]

Not sure those pass defense stats were updated. Wake Forest threw the ball all over the field and had some success against Navy with the short passing game. Wake was 37 for 53 and 326 69.8. But that's only about 8.8 yards per catch. Navy reportedly had a bunch of injuries in this game. Starting FB sprained an ankle, backup FB had a concussion-maybe out and Dobbs has been fighting through injuries all year

[Big Hoss]

Look, all I'm saying is that we need to play better if we want to be conference champs. Period. Full stop. Is that easier for you to comprehend?

[SMUChoir]

Well, lets try and control the things we can control. We can support the team and celebrate when we win. Along the way we can cheer loudly at home games. If you ask me, the least inspired in that stadium on Saturday were the fans. The team played hard. I could hear the quarterback count the entire game from row 35. Now that is sad. And that is something you can change. Go Mustangs!

[stc9]

Three observations (positive observations):

1) KP looked more comfortable than he has all season. He looked relaxed and got the ball out of his hand fast.
2) The defense had Kinne running for his life a whole bunch of times. That disrupted their entire offense - the #8 offense in the country. I thought the roughing the passer call on Thompson was a little weak, but that is a judgement call. Yes, Crawford got beat a couple of times, but he was out there fighting through bask spasms - Great Job.
3) When push came to shove SMU did what they needed to do. They started a drive on their 1 yd line and finished it in the endzone. On the final drive of the game they held the ball for the final 6+ minutes with possession routes and Line pounding the ball. They didn't panic they did what they needed to do.

[peruna81]

Big Hoss-

Comprehend 5X5.

I am still in the infantile mode of being glad for victories of ANY sort.

One of the things that was particularly gratifying was not only the finish of the game by the offense, but watching some of the defensive players after the last TU score that were angry (tired, yes) at having not stopped Tulsa on the QB run and then the pass for 2 points. That is a change in the 'culture' of expectations that was lacking in years past, and even absent at times last year.

BTW, no intention by the earlier post to diminish your very valid point, Big Hoss...just a very loud sigh of relief from this household due to games like Houston at Ford a couple of years ago...watching the meltdown, and then driving back late Saturday night to College Station.
Don't care to repeat that situation, and am still grateful for the little things, like beating an opponent that you were expected to.

[PK]

I could hear the quarterback count the entire game from row 35. Now that is sad. And that is something you can change. Go Mustangs!

Are you talking about Padron or Kinne? I would hope we could hear Padron as we should not be making so much noise when we have the ball that the team can't hear him, but on the other hand we don't want the opposing team's QB to be heard by anyone...especially his team.