Observations from the game

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

Kris Weeks had, I think, the most penalties I've ever seen a single offensive lineman rack up in a game. Let's hope that gets fixed soon, because it was a killer. I suspect he's going to be a good one in the end though.

The O-line over all was a mixed bag. Take out the penalties, and they seemed to protect pretty well.

Gilbert is a competitor. Hayden Greenbaur is another one.

I'm concerned about the receivers this seasn, although Holman and Joseph played well. Taylor and Gaines looked like freshman playing against a top-10 team on the road, but I think those guys are going to be really good for us.

Good to see Burcham in the 4th. Unlike most young SMU QB's I've seen over the years, he didn't look totally lost. I hope he gets some more PT this year.

[Stallion]

Burchum showed a quick release-he had an idea what he wanted to do with the ball. Good first step.

[ponyte]

Penalties were a killer. That and two poor ball handling fumbles. Eliminate both my not change the outcome, but does eliminate quite a few opportunities for A$M.

The interception and drive to score were impressive. The drive at the end of the half to get a field goal was impressive. The second half O didn’t give up.

And let’s face a monumental fact, A$M has better overall talent. We will line up better against the remainder of our opponents. Some more so than others but we have seen the best team on our schedule already.

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

I hesitate to talk about next season b/c I don't want to give the impression that I think this season is lost. Far from it. But looking at Burchum, Taylor, Gaines, a more experienced O-line, and a stable of backs including Shead, Line, and Nlemichi makes me think we could be alright next year on offense.

[Rebel10]

And let’s face a monumental fact, A$M has better overall talent. We will line up better against the remainder of our opponents. Some more so than others but we have seen the best team on our schedule already.

The aTm defense was not the best we have seen nor will see the rest of the year. Tech and TCU have a better defense than aTm.

[ponydawg]

Glad they exposed us then so we can make adjustments against TCU, Rutgers, and teams where the score might be close.

[ponyboy]

like you know anything about football
Its embarrassing to have an SMU fan make such a stupid claim
Its a call from the press box when their coaches see SMU kickoff team bailing out
Its Football get over it

You're mad about the statue, aren't you?

[PonyTime]

Score was only 14-0 at the time of the onside. He probably wanted to get up quick and get Johnny out.

And if you don't think they showed sportsmanship then you are kidding yourselves, they could have easily scored 70 if Johnny played most of the game.

They could have easily scored 45... wait... they did - but Sumlin took 3 points off the board to try to score 7. Interested in what Stallion thinks about that call when the game was WELL in hand.

I think the Onside kick was legit at that point. Taking points off the board to try to score more is another thing....

[ponyte]

I think Sumlin made the right call. He had a chance to work on his red zone offense so did. A$M still has some tough teams on the schedule and needs to improve. I don’t blame him and at least our guys got a small amount of satisfaction knowing they stopped A$M not once but twice in the Red Zone and prevented a score.

[Stallion]

Of course you take the 3 off the board and go for a Touchdown. Geez. There is no doubt Sumlin took his foot off the gas considering A&M needs to climb the BCS standings and Manziel is in a Heisman race. The game could have easily ended 70-10. Name the score. SMU couldn't stop A&M with Manziel. they had 378 yards at Halftime I believe

[HorsePower]

I wanted to wait a couple of days before posting, so I didn't post based on emotion and fatigue (we got home late). I expected us to lose, maybe by a lot, and we did. That doesn't make it any easier to take, though.

Keenan Holman was great. Made a couple of tough catches, ran through a couple of tackles and came back after he got dinged up (anyone know what happened?)

Darius Joseph is getting better every game.

Kenneth Acker did a remarkably good job against Evans, holding him to 2 catches. I know, part of that was because A&M had success in other parts of the offense, but after watching Evans light up Bama last week, I was afraid he'd catch 20 for 400 yards Saturday.

Chris Parks has got to stop with the finger wagging. He did it again on a play in the end zone when the receiver dropped the ball -- and got called for pass interference. Confidence is great, but timing is important, too.

This just in: JaBryce Taylor is a stud, and the fact that at least two lines of WRs are getting rotated in is going to help down the road.

For all of the abuse Hover took last year (including from me), got to give credit where it's due. He's 6-7 this year, and has hit some long ones. His 47 harder the other day might have been his best -- you always see a guy kick on one on a dead play (Aggies called timeout) and then miss the do-over. He drilled them both.

[Rebel10]

I wanted to wait a couple of days before posting, so I didn't post based on emotion and fatigue (we got home late). I expected us to lose, maybe by a lot, and we did. That doesn't make it any easier to take, though.

Keenan Holman was great. Made a couple of tough catches, ran through a couple of tackles and came back after he got dinged up (anyone know what happened?)

Darius Joseph is getting better every game.

Kenneth Acker did a remarkably good job against Evans, holding him to 2 catches. I know, part of that was because A&M had success in other parts of the offense, but after watching Evans light up Bama last week, I was afraid he'd catch 20 for 400 yards Saturday.

Chris Parks has got to stop with the finger wagging. He did it again on a play in the end zone when the receiver dropped the ball -- and got called for pass interference. Confidence is great, but timing is important, too.

This just in: JaBryce Taylor is a stud, and the fact that at least two lines of WRs are getting rotated in is going to help down the road.

For all of the abuse Hover took last year (including from me), got to give credit where it's due. He's 6-7 this year, and has hit some long ones. His 47 harder the other day might have been his best -- you always see a guy kick on one on a dead play (Aggies called timeout) and then miss the do-over. He drilled them both.

I believe the kicker missed when Sumlin called timeout then nailed it afterwards. I guess you have no comment on the Weeks penalties and test we did not go into any nickel D. Looks like the team took your attitude and expected to lose. I hope you kiss up to the next SMU coach like you do JJ.

[ebrooks11]

I wanted to wait a couple of days before posting, so I didn't post based on emotion and fatigue (we got home late). I expected us to lose, maybe by a lot, and we did. That doesn't make it any easier to take, though.

Keenan Holman was great. Made a couple of tough catches, ran through a couple of tackles and came back after he got dinged up (anyone know what happened?)

Darius Joseph is getting better every game.

Kenneth Acker did a remarkably good job against Evans, holding him to 2 catches. I know, part of that was because A&M had success in other parts of the offense, but after watching Evans light up Bama last week, I was afraid he'd catch 20 for 400 yards Saturday.

Chris Parks has got to stop with the finger wagging. He did it again on a play in the end zone when the receiver dropped the ball -- and got called for pass interference. Confidence is great, but timing is important, too.

This just in: JaBryce Taylor is a stud, and the fact that at least two lines of WRs are getting rotated in is going to help down the road.

For all of the abuse Hover took last year (including from me), got to give credit where it's due. He's 6-7 this year, and has hit some long ones. His 47 harder the other day might have been his best -- you always see a guy kick on one on a dead play (Aggies called timeout) and then miss the do-over. He drilled them both.

I believe the kicker missed when Sumlin called timeout then nailed it afterwards. I hope you kiss up to the next SMU coach like you do JJ.

Why do you hope he kisses up to the next SMU coach?

[Rebel10]

The next coach will probably need it as he is trying to dig his way out of somewhat of a mess that might be left for him. I hope the team does not go into the TCU game expecting to lose like Horsepower does.

[ponyboy]

Seems to me we're playing with words. "Expect" can mean certainty. I expect the sun to come up tomorrow. So was it certain SMU would lose? No, it wasn't certain. Otherwise, why even show up? And then expect can mean probable. Was it probable we would lose? Sure. And the fact that it happened surprises no one.

This looks like the same level of talent that we've had for the last four years. I expect that in our new conference we'll be borderline to win enough games this year to get us to a bowl. The team that just got beat by a top 10 team looks no better and no worse than that.

Is that good enough for me personally? No. I want more. I want to compete with top 25 teams like Tech and A&M. And I don't believe June can get us there.