Loss: All Padron

[Big Hoss]

In order for SMU to beat great teams we need for our receivers to make Big Plays. That was exacerbated by the fact that we had to go 80-90 yards all day. I know Robinson consistently makes big plays. Darius made 1 big Run and Catch. But how many times did the receivers put the ball in the end zone. I know Aldrick got deep a few times. A couple of times the DBs made big plays. Late in the game Robinson was running all alone by about 5 yards but Padron didn't see him. I actually think signing big play WRs who have home-run ability is rapidly ascending the list of most vital recruiting needs.

Our receivers also need to fight for the ball, too. The throw to Aldrick on the sideline that got intercepted was on Padron. He threw to his inside shoulder vs. the outside. But that ball in the endzone to Aldrick that was nearly intercepted, Al should have come back to it before he jumped up and he would have had a shot at it. Again, Kyle didn't make the greatest of throws there either, but Al needed to adjust back toward the front of the endzone to give himself a shot at catching it.

[goldenstang]

That ball was in the air forever. There was no mustard on that throw at all. AR could have adjusted to it for sure. That throw more then any other made me feel like Padron was just not 100% today. The ankle had to be bothering him, don't think he could push off of it like normal.

[SoCal_Pony]

please re-read what samurai stang wrote. that was more than accurate. ive always been amazed by the human condition that just "assumes" that things will get better over time. padron will get better because he will get older. tony romo will get better because hes played longer. dirk will get better every year, etc etc.

maybe it doesnt get better. as jack once said, maybe this is as good as it gets. of course, i am referring strictly to padron's play today and all season. you are freaking blind or delusional if you dont have serious questions about padron's ability to be the qb for a team that will win this mediocre conference, much less anything bigger. dont think coach messiah isnt aware as well.

Wholeheartedly agree.

and my opinion of Padron is not based on today's game but his performance all season long. In one word....Disappointing.

Which leads to a bigger disappointment for me.

Our TOTAL reliance on 1 QB.

We have actually been very fortunate with the health of our QBs. Next year will be JJ's 4th. If at any time during those 4 years our starting QB goes down to injury, we are royally scrw*d.

By year 5, it appears we will be ok at the QB position, but once again this is speculation as Kaiser / Conner have not yet taken a college snap.

BTW Eddie, nice Romo reference, which I also agree on.

And my disappointment in lack of QB depth extends to WRs as well.

I really thought those would be our strongest 2 recruiting positions based on JJ's resume. So far I am wrong.

[Stallion]

I agree the WRs didn't go up and fight for the ball on at least 3 big plays-I said the same thing during the game/ I think Sanders makes some those plays today which were intercepted

[San Antonio Mustang]

please re-read what samurai stang wrote. that was more than accurate. ive always been amazed by the human condition that just "assumes" that things will get better over time. padron will get better because he will get older. tony romo will get better because hes played longer. dirk will get better every year, etc etc.

maybe it doesnt get better. as jack once said, maybe this is as good as it gets. of course, i am referring strictly to padron's play today and all season. you are freaking blind or delusional if you dont have serious questions about padron's ability to be the qb for a team that will win this mediocre conference, much less anything bigger. dont think coach messiah isnt aware as well.

Wholeheartedly agree.

and my opinion of Padron is not based on today's game but his performance all season long. In one word....Disappointing.

Which leads to a bigger disappointment for me.

Our TOTAL reliance on 1 QB.

We have actually been very fortunate with the health of our QBs. Next year will be JJ's 4th. If at any time during those 4 years our starting QB goes down to injury, we are royally scrw*d.

By year 5, it appears we will be ok at the QB position, but once again this is speculation as Kaiser / Conner have not yet taken a college snap.

BTW Eddie, nice Romo reference, which I also agree on.

And my disappointment in lack of QB depth extends to WRs as well.

I really thought those would be our strongest 2 recruiting positions based on JJ's resume. So far I am wrong.

Agree. I also thought we would get better quarterbacks and wide receivers than we have. It may go back to the fact that we are not an AQ school or that our system doesn't prepare you for the NFL. But whatever the reason we have not seen any blue chip QBs or WR come our way. I do not have a crystal ball and do not know what Kyle will do, but I do know he has had trouble all year with his accuracy and has had real trouble when he was in a game against a quality opponent. The UCF quarterback was far more accurate in his throws than ours and he is just a freshman. We need a quarterback with those skills, whether his name is Kyle or something else does not matter to me.

[Big Hoss]

We have actually been very fortunate with the health of our QBs. Next year will be JJ's 4th. If at any time during those 4 years our starting QB goes down to injury, we are royally scrw*d.

You forgot that Padron was the backup last year and took over when Mitchell got hurt in the Houston game.

[reddevil]

Its true that Padron is only a sophomore, but hasn't he stated about 18 games at this point, which is quite of few college starts. Definitely enough for him to make some major improvements.

[squire]

Back off on Kyle. He was injured, had no ability to run out of trouble, and might have had a few pain killers, who knows.
The coaching staff needs to share some blame for not teaching him how to get rid of the ball earlier, and to throw it away when necessary. He may be young but he should be showing improvement in those areas, at this point in his development.
Maybe they should also have ran some shorter passing routes, so he could have gotten rid of the ball in less than 10 seconds. How about some screens, reverses, wildcat formations. Something other than sitting duck drop backs.

[couch 'em]

The complaints about Padron are about his performance all year, not just this year. We haven't gotten more than a quarter per game of true full performance. It may be a WR problem, but it sure seems like a QB problem. I don't know. I just know guys running free to the endzone not getting the ball.

I also know what Hawaii's offense looked like, and this ain't it by a long shot.

This is June Jones' first year in Hawaii, with a QB coming off an 18 game losing streak. This is better offensive production than we are getting with Padron with what should be worse talent.

9/4 vs. Southern California (6-6) L 7 62
9/11 vs. Eastern Illinois (non-IA) W 31 27
9/18 vs. Boise State (10-3) W 34 19
9/25 @ *Southern Methodist (4-6) W 20 0
10/2 vs. *Texas-El Paso (5-7) W 33 3
10/9 vs. *Rice (5-6) L 19 38
10/23 @ *Tulsa (2-9) W 35 21
10/30 vs. *Texas Christian (8-4) L 14 34
11/6 @ *San Jose State (3-7) W 62 41
11/13 vs. *Fresno State (8-5) W 31 24
11/20 vs. Navy (5-7) W 48 41
11/27 vs. Washington State (3-9) L 14 22
12/25 vs. Oregon State (7-5) W 23 17

[Charleston Pony]

I think the gimpy ankle hurt Kyle today; there were several times he had to scamble because of great coverage in the secondary and a healthy KP might have had a lot of rushing yards; that was one big difference in this game...UCF had a QB who could pick up a critical 1st down with his feet and that helped keep our D honest.

My disappointment is the continued failure with the deep throws. Missed 3-4 chances today...not unlike last week. With the exception of the Hawaii Bowl vs Nevada, I've not been impressed with KP's ability to hit the deep ball.

Have to remember he's still a soph and part of this is on our WRs, but unless KP continues to improve, I think he's going to going to have a battle on his hands to keep the starting job for 2 more years.

To say this loss is all about Padron is just wrong, though. He didn't allow UCF to drive the length of the field to score on their opening drive and he didn't allow UCF to convert on 3rd and 16.

[PlanoStang]

IDIOTS

[MustangIcon]

In order for SMU to beat great teams we need for our receivers to make Big Plays.

The problem is that even on completed passes, Padron rarely hits the receivers in stride by putting the ball where its supposed to be. Hard for DJ to get some serious YAC when he is reaching behind himself to make catches on 5 yard crossing patterns. Stuff like that happens constantly. A RnS QB MUST be accurate and the receivers must have game breaking ability. Right now, we are lacking a bit in both areas but I think it is more the QB than the WRs in my opinion.

[Pony_Law]

In my mind kyle has two problems 1) decision making, whichmeans going through progressions quickly, knowing when to throw away, knowing game circumstances and not forcing bad throws. and 2) accuracy, the fact of the matter is some time his ball sails.

problem 1 is solved with experience and while he does have 18 game only 13 were a full season. It is imortant for coaches to learn how other teams adjust and defend kyle's game so they can teach him how to respond, this is hard to do in season because you are limited in practice and largely have to put in your game plan and don't have time to prep how to break down a cover 2 zone (example). This offseason is where Kyle will solve these problems hopefully. Unless he has peaked in which case he might just be an 8-4 type QB above average but not great.

Problem 2) is a repitition thing, he needs to work on his machanics to the point where they don't break down ever. Again something only possible in the offseason

He is a sophmore, but some perspective Kyle is clear ahead of Ut's Gilbert another sophmore. He has the raw talent, it will just depend if he is capable of still improving. I'm opptimistic because June is a good coach and Kyle has all the intengibiles you cannot teach. He takes responisbility and pride in his preformance, he is tough as nails, he has good pocket poise, and he seems to want to be good. Time will tell everyone needs to back away fromthe panic button

[redpony]

I feel this loss was basically due to KP not performing well. Color me crazy but I think we could have won this game if a few of those passes had been on the mark. Kudos to the O line. They gave him more than adequate time. Also, on a few plays he and the WRs were not on the same page. IMO he has not played up to expectations all season. Forget any records, I would rather he had put more points on the board. Unfortunately this system just 'hasn't clicked' for him and the light hasn't come on yet. We are all very frustrated by some of the teams performances. I am suprised that JJ didn't give JJMcD a few snaps. I wonder if JJ is as frustrated as we are. JJ may be in a position where he just hasn't found the QB for this system. IMO some of the learning/reading Ds has to be a natural process. I think KP is thinking too much and not reacting naturally.
I hope he picks this up before next season or next year could be a long one considering the more difficult schedule.

GO PONIES!!!

[Pony_Fan]

the weeks of practices and healing will help. We came out firing against Marshall after the bye week.
I'm just frustrated we didn't get a full game out of him or the team this year. Only quarters and halves. I think he's played enough games now to where he should have things down. Now he knows too much and thinks rather than reacts.

He did pretty well against ECU last week.

I really can't stand the fact he has to go to the sidelines every play, and I know we have all brought this up - it just seems so stupid to me and June is really stubborn. Kyle would have a much longer time to read the defense coverage which is what this offense works off of. Give him two or three plays or flash cards. I don't understand it.