4th and 3 on the 35 in the first half

[ponyscott]

From the tailgate and the visitors section...there were also SMU fans sprinkled throughout, we had a very respectable showing for a private school with less than 100k living alumni worldwide that hasn't won a conference title in 25 years. Small steps, we had a good turnout.

Thats cool...thanks Stlhockeyguy02!

[Arkpony]

We had a good crowd. The "package" tours were all sold out. The tailgate tent was full also

[Nacho]

june should have gone for it. we couldn't stop navy. it was the turning point of the game.

[Longtime]

June Jones is all about calling plays for his offense. Managing a game is not his forte.

Half the time he doesn't even watch the defense. Therefore, how can he have any sense for the flow of a game, the momentum, or whether we're stopping the other team's offense?

We are constantly having to scramble in the second half after building leads in the first half. Teams are adjusting to us, but we seem to stick to the same script. And has JJ ever called a trick play?

We've had several instances of poor clock management during his time here. Including going for a field goal on third down Saturday, but since we were out of timeouts it didn't do us any good when we got the bad snap (and Braden should have been advised to throw the ball away in case that happens). Might as well have tried another pass play to the sidelines and then kicked on fourth down.

I am in awe of everything June Jones has accomplished at SMU, but if he has a flaw, it's game and clock management. It's a real blind spot for him. I would suggest that he have his sharpest assistant next to him on the sideline, or on his headset, to advise him on game strategy, but I'm not sure it would do any good. He just seems to get in such a play-calling zone during games.

[Bergermeister]

June Jones is all about calling plays for his offense. Managing a game is not his forte.

Half the time he doesn't even watch the defense. Therefore, how can he have any sense for the flow of a game, the momentum, or whether we're stopping the other team's offense?

We are constantly having to scramble in the second half after building leads in the first half. Teams are adjusting to us, but we seem to stick to the same script. And has JJ ever called a trick play?

We've had several instances of poor clock management during his time here. Including going for a field goal on third down Saturday, but since we were out of timeouts it didn't do us any good when we got the bad snap (and Braden should have been advised to throw the ball away in case that happens). Might as well have tried another pass play to the sidelines and then kicked on fourth down.

I am in awe of everything June Jones has accomplished at SMU, but if he has a flaw, it's game and clock management. It's a real blind spot for him. I would suggest that he have his sharpest assistant next to him on the sideline, or on his headset, to advise him on game strategy, but I'm not sure it would do any good. He just seems to get in such a play-calling zone during games.

I think you're late for little league practice.

[Longtime]

I hate to be the one that says the emperor has no socks...

I wouldn't trade JJ for any coach in America. But I would like to listen in on his headset at the end of each half to see why he makes the decisions he does. I'm sure a lot of it is out of fear of being overly aggressive and having the game blow up in our face. As good as we've become, we're not "there" yet, and no one would know that better than JJ.

[Nacho]

i couldn't diasgree more. june is a master of game mgmt. what have you been watching? he plays to win like few other coaches i have ever seen. he had what i consider a bad decision in the navy game but 99% of the time i have no problem whatsoever with his mgmt.

[Longtime]

You're kidding, right? He's always content to sit on leads, especially at the end of the first half. Then we end up scrambling in the second half because our lead wasn't big enough.

Last year's Navy game: We score with 1:35 left and can win with a 2-point conversion. JJ opts to kick the PAT and play for overtime. We haven't stopped Navy in the second half. We had been outscored 28-7 in the half until that point. But we want to go to overtime? That's playing to win?

In OT, we get the ball first: 1-yard loss, two incompletions and Szymanksi misses a 43-yarder. It's easy pickings for Navy. The Middies slice through the SMU defense, just like they have all second half. Navy gets to the SMU 7 and kicks a gimme field goal.

At Tulane two years ago, we score with two minutes left to pull within a TD, 34-27. We don't onside kick. Tulane had 425 yards of offense at that point, and we think our defense is going to stop them and get the ball back? That's playing to win?

Of course, Tulane drives to our 38 and runs out the clock.

I could cite other examples, but those are two that really stuck with me. For someone that "plays to win" we sure end up having to play a lot of close games at the end after dominating the first half. He plays conservative, and that's fine when you're trying to grow a program. But we play pretty good defense now and we have a quarterback who isn't a turnover machine. Once in a while, it would be nice to see JJ stick the dagger in.

[Nacho]

that post is beyond ridiculous. good grief.
call orsini and tell him to fire june right now.

[PK]

The cameras never showed the SMU section, how many do you think we had?

We had a lot of SMU fans come to the game that were not a part of the Mustang Club packages. They had ordered food for 300 for the tailgate and ran out and had to order more. I counted the number of occupied seats in a part of our section in the stadium and then tried to estimate the total based on that count and came up with well over 600, maybe 700 fans there. It was a very good showing for being so far away from Dallas. A lot of east coast alums came in for the game.

[PoconoPony]

The cameras never showed the SMU section, how many do you think we had?

We had a lot of SMU fans come to the game that were not a part of the Mustang Club packages. They had ordered food for 300 for the tailgate and ran out and had to order more. I counted the number of occupied seats in a part of our section in the stadium and then tried to estimate the total based on that count and came up with well over 600, maybe 700 fans there. It was a very good showing for being so far away from Dallas. A lot of east coast alums came in for the game.

I did not try to estimate the SMU contingent; however, it was substantial. We even had some representation from the current student body as I noted many picking up their tickets with student IDs at the Will Call table. Point should be that SMU needs to schedule more East Coast games as it is great for the PR as well as giving the east coast alums a chance to enjoy the team. Navy is a great choice as well as Army, Rutgers, UConn, Virginia, North Carolina to mention a few.