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Is Bennett really going to be able to redshirt this year's recuiting class? That would mean he has enough talent on hand to shelter them. I didn't see signs of this in 2004. So where do we really stand? If Bennett starts losing again in September, the alumni will be calling for the star freshman to come off the bench. Watch and see.

Bennett's heralded class of 2003 are now Jrs...

Last year they were True Soph's -- though had better be ready to compete in 2005 and 2006.

Add to that 2003 class of 10 3-stars these 3 JUCOs 3-stars as the 2003 class (plus the Fork Union "soph")

This is Bennett's year to put up some improvement on the field.

Yeah, they should redshirt most of those guys. If not, then the 2003 class is in dire straits.

It is about time that SMU redshirts almost an entire class.

I believe that the average age of a D-1 football player is almost 21 years. SMU has been averaging an age of 19. There is a huge maturity that happens to people from 19 to 21, not just mental, but also physical. I know we have been saying for years and years, that we are a very young team. This has happened because the past coaching staff couldn't retain players. When you have senior classes of 10 and 12, it is obvious that you are not retaining the players.

Redshirting an entire class is another sign that we are turning the corner. We are no longer relying on 18 to 20 year old players to compete with 21 to 23 year old players. Our mental and physical maturity levels have increase dramatically and will be seen on the field and in the W column.

Even if we don't win a bunch of games in September, I will not be yelling to pull the redshirt off of the star freshman recuit. At 18, they just aren't ready to play D-1 football (there are exceptions, but few). I will give up a few W's this year for more W's in the future. This is why SMU went 0-12 and 3-8. Bennett was not going to gamble the future for a few current wins. Even Eric Dickerson almost quit football after his freshman season because he was upset with his caliber of play, but when he matured, well you know.

Forrest Greg said that it would take 10 years after the DP to rebuild a program at SMU. I know it has been much longer that 10 years, but with the Pye model that was in place, we were self imposing our own DP for another 10 years.

Be patient, support the program and give it time. Finally having a full allotment of scholarships and the current and past reshirting will benefit the program. You saw the beginning last season with a winning home record. This year we will have a winning season or be very close (5-6 or 6-5). This will happen.

I agree. Many of our redshirts from last year will make huge impacts this year allowing us to redshirt most of our newest class to allow an additional year of physical and football maturity. Coach Faucette has done a great job in preparing many of our players who were not physically ready to excel in D1 football as 18 and 19 year olds to more than hold their own this season. I look forward to a bigger. faster and more athletic team this year and for the foreseeable future.

QB is still a problem area for the ponies. So far no one has been the star player needed to give us a good scoring offense. The freshman can't be expected to do it, so who is going to get the job done in 2005?

Sam I Am wrote:QB is still a problem area for the ponies. So far no one has been the star player needed to give us a good scoring offense. The freshman can't be expected to do it, so who is going to get the job done in 2005?

QB is not a problem area. Phillips comes back and will compete for the job against two seniors who improved as the year went on last year. I think at the end of the year, the WRs started to develop a little as well, which does a lot for making QBs look better.

Where we should be concerned is LB. Can Cox fill the void? I am not sure. Most importantly, will Carrington be ready to go, and will DD Lee get the medical redshirt and come back? Cox, Lee, and Stansbury would compete at the strong side, Carrington would be the middle backer with Powell backing him up, and Rico and McCray will compete on the weak side.

We had the worst linebacking core in the country last year because of the injuries, and improving their performance/keeping players healthy will be a key for the Mustangs next year.

Let's hope he's able to RS the entire class because that would be a sign that things are improving. It's always possible a couple of these Freshman recruits are going to step right in and show they can be impact players, but not likely. What's encouraging is that we will finally have a 2 deep with a lot of 3rd and 4th year players. Let's face it...SMU isn't signing class after class of "cant miss" Division I prospects, so it's going to take 3-4 years with a lot of these guys to see if they can go out and compete with the big boys. For the past several years, we've had to throw guys out there who could have used another year or two to mature physically...and the result has too often been injury. The program is maturing folks. I hope this team surprises in 2005, but I've been looking at 2006 as the year we can finally say "we're back".