PonyFans.com

I had Tivo-ed the game, and watched the first quarter while working out this morning. I guess I wanted more punishment. It was hard to watch, but I came away with some things that I didnt see in person.

On the first possession, we were moving the ball and appeared to have Ryan Kennedy pickup a big gain down to Techs 20 yd line. Kennedy got call for a personal foul, in what on tape appears to be a bush league call. The La Tech defender actually got Kennedys face mask first, Kennedy pushed back and barely caught the guys mask at all. The announcers said it looked like a good stiff arm. At worst it should have been an incidental 5 yard penalty instead of the 15 yard variety. Drive killed on 3 and 15.

La Tech then takes over and burns us on 3 and long for the 97 yard td. Problem was the qb had all day to throw. I mean all day. We break down like this alot, so it can't be dismissed.

Next possession, Foster is going down near mid-field after a first down catch. He fumbles. I've seen it ruled down on that same play many a times, and I dont think Foster is a fumbler, but La Tech takes over and punches it in on the short field.

Next possession, we score on a real solid drive and good catches by Foster and then by Pellerin in the end zone. 14-7, but it should have been 14-10 or even 10-7 SMU at that point. Not terrible overall playing really, bordering on competitive at least.

On Techs next possession we force them 3rd and long. We blitz on 3rd and sack their qb for a huge loss. However, Wilfred McCray is called for a real questionable off sides. He jumped into the nuetral zone, but appeared to jump back fully before the ball was snapped. Big deflator, and on the next play McCray obviously loses concentration and Moats goes around left end for a long td. Boom 21-7, and we know we arent a comeback team. Game over.

Moats is a phenomenal player. You have to tip your cap to him. Our Defense still doesnt get pressure on the qb. We did truly have a freshman make some critical mistakes to put us out of the game. The offense did get some things done in the first quarter before things went bad overall and everyone started pressing...again. I guess I dont feel like we are any less likely to beat Tulsa and Nevada then we were before. But we need to stop making repeated glaring mistakes. Its really uncanny and I dont think its all coaching. Losing breeds losing, and we cant seem to stop self destructing even after we make a few plays and even normally dependable guys.

What I can't help but wonder is why, after giving up 3 long passes, our deepest defender is still only 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage. The way to make up for less speed is to get a head start. Move the safety back!

Because for some reason, Coach would rather give up 5 TD passes (ala Okie State last year), than have an RB go wild all day

There is a reason SMU loses. The most significant reasons are (1) turnovers and (2) penalties. The offense usually turns the ball over several times a game to give our opponent excellent field position. The penalties also attribute to our losses, i.e., holding, false starts, off sides, etc. The explanation is simple....talent. Good players do not turn the ball over consistently. Good players do not make mental mistakes and commit penalties consistently. I remember last years game at Tulsa where it seemed like every other play was a false start. Now, the coaching staff and Copeland will tell you it is because we have a young team. But we were young last year and the year before that and the year before that...etc. Excuses get old and myself, along with most of the other alumni and students, are sick and tired of it. You either win or you lose. I do not expect us to beat Tx. Tech or OSU, even on their worst days. But I do expect us to compete with our unranked conference opponents. There is a reason we are arguably the worst team in Division 1-A. We did not get there by accident. Until administrative changes are made, SMU will continue to get beat and the losses will pile up. Heed my words people....the days of us playing Sam Houston St. are closer than you think unless drastic changes are made at SMU.

Those were some tough calls........that face mask call was pathetic and it negated what was an awesome stiff arm.

I actually thought the others calls were pretty questionable as well and no doubt changed the entire game.

On the 3rd and long for the 93 yard TD.....did we blitz? I didn't see a safety in sight? As a matter of fact on a couple of big gainers I saw man on man coverage? Did we blitz or did we simply have our safeties up in an effort to contain Moats?

It would be pretty sad to think that we had focused on stopping the run (cheating our safeties up) and still allow Moats to get nearly 200 yards

I didn't realize that McCray was guilty on the long TD run, I thought he might, but didn't know it for sure. I know he was definately guilty on the second TD of LT (Moats first TD of the night). He had a very rough game.

As for the third and long pass, that was a saftey you saw chasing the WR the length of the field. Jones was beaten badly at the line and Nnabuife had to try and cover for him from the other side of the field.

When our LBs are as bad as they are, the safteys have to cover for them. That makes it hard to cover deep.

Remember, LT had struggled at WR and consistancy at QB for most of the season. So we played the odds, manned up on the outside and had our safteys in to try and stop the run. Didn't work.

Turnovers and penalties have nothing to do with have good players or talent. It is simply a lack of concentration and discipline.