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A complete lack of mental toughness. We put the ball on the ground too much and we don't cover receivers on defense! Mental mistakes killed us again. Too many penalties and no blocking in the redzone. It is like watching a Caven team. We could easily be 5-2 except our players are not mentally tough enough to win. We have decent players and we have decent coaches. What we completely lack is mental toughness in our players.

ponyte wrote:We could easily be 5-2 except our players are not mentally tough enough to win.

6-2. 4 games, we've lost by 7 or less points.

I think this is worse than getting blown out, just because I know we had a chance to win it blew it.

ponyte wrote:A complete lack of mental toughness. We put the ball on the ground too much and we don't cover receivers on defense! Mental mistakes killed us again. Too many penalties and no blocking in the redzone. It is like watching a Caven team. We could easily be 5-2 except our players are not mentally tough enough to win. We have decent players and we have decent coaches. What we completely lack is mental toughness in our players.

All of these kids have gotten so used to losing that they have forgotten how to win (from their high school days obviously). I would have thought after the UAB experience they would have come out on the field that last series with a fire and drive, but rather it seemed like they were waiting for someone else to do something.

we are a defensive coordinator's dream. We have no one who can BEAT a team deep at all. Chase at least can outjump someone deep but that's a different deal. We can't throw it deep even if we wanted to. We are slow at every WR position as well as TE. We have an outstanding running back who is mismatched in the offense he runs. Most of all we have no one who can make big plays on offense. All you have to do is keep everything in front of you and wait for the turnovers. On Offense we look like a high school team-we accomplish only the simplest of tasks.-the great 3 yard pass.

...part of it.....sort of HARD to be wild eyed, foaming at the mouth, LET ME NAIL SOMEONE...let's kick arse...YEAH!..mentally tough..in FRONT OF 10, 345 silent, weak fans!!!!!!

Did PB 'remember' to give Henderson some snaps on the offense this week?

(CSTV kept going off during 1st half, so I missed some plays)

he got one play.

yeah he got a carry on the receiver reverse-you know the one where we always bring a speed back in for one play and run the exact same play. We do the same to Turner every time. I think we did the same to Columbus Givens. Its a easy telegraph for opponents when the designated speed back comes in the game.

Stallion wrote:yeah he got a carry on the receiver reverse-you know the one where we also bring a speed back in for one play and run the exact same play. We do the same to Turner every time. I think we did the same to Columbus Givens. Its a easy telegraph for opponents when the designated speed back comes in the game.

Givens and Henderson have not yet learned how to finish it off with a fumble like Turner has the last 2 times he ran it.

I hope that someday our OC will try to use some speed north and south instead of east and west.

SMU has a defense but little offense. Are we surprised that a former DC has produced such a team? R.C. Slocum had a similar pattern at aTm, but got away with it because he had so much raw talent on offesne that the Aggies could score enough to win. SMU can't afford the luxury of playing only half the game because we can't attract the BCS quality players that were willing to play for Slocum since they were in the Big 12. May, just maybe, if PB gets a skill player at QB then he could save his job. This year is another lost cause with little signs of promise that make it hard to be patient.

Romo was 2 of 10 on pass play conversions on 3rd and 4th down.

It is not suprising that a Bennett team is playing better D - he needs to get a killer OC if he's going to stay around.

Stallion wrote:yeah he got a carry on the receiver reverse-you know the one where we always bring a speed back in for one play and run the exact same play....

That's a great point. I haven't seen a lot of him (obviously), but sitting in the stands yesterday, I told my friends that they were going to run the ball to Henderson on an end-around. If I can figure it out, there's not a coach in America who can't guess it's coming.

So I drew up a play for you (and forget that part about me not being a coach): line up Henderson out wide on the right, with Sledge in the slot and Kennedy at tight end. Bobby Chase and Rey Pellerin on the left side. Romo takes the snap in the shotgun and pumps a quick fake to Pellerin or Chase outside, while Henderson comes flying around from the right toward Romo. The entire defense will follow him. Romo fakes the handoff to Henderson, while Kennedy and Sledge come off the line and block .... sort of. Eventually they let their men go -- because after all, Henderson's long gone to the other side, right? While the defense is trying to fight through the "blocks" by Chase and Pellerin, Romo looks back to the right, where he sees Sledge and Kennedy. At least one will be open. Either he throws to Sledge, who follows Kennedy upfield, or he throws to Kennedy, who drags some poor guy halfway down the field.

Now, for those who actually have played the game, tell me why this wouldn't work. Or did I actually back into a good idea?

RedRiverPony wrote:

Stallion wrote:yeah he got a carry on the receiver reverse-you know the one where we always bring a speed back in for one play and run the exact same play....

That's a great point. I haven't seen a lot of him (obviously), but sitting in the stands yesterday, I told my friends that they were going to run the ball to Henderson on an end-around. If I can figure it out, there's not a coach in America who can't guess it's coming.

So I drew up a play for you (and forget that part about me not being a coach): line up Henderson out wide on the right, with Sledge in the slot and Kennedy at tight end. Bobby Chase and Rey Pellerin on the left side. Romo takes the snap in the shotgun and pumps a quick fake to Pellerin or Chase outside, while Henderson comes flying around from the right toward Romo. The entire defense will follow him. Romo fakes the handoff to Henderson, while Kennedy and Sledge come off the line and block .... sort of. Eventually they let their men go -- because after all, Henderson's long gone to the other side, right? While the defense is trying to fight through the "blocks" by Chase and Pellerin, Romo looks back to the right, where he sees Sledge and Kennedy. At least one will be open. Either he throws to Sledge, who follows Kennedy upfield, or he throws to Kennedy, who drags some poor guy halfway down the field.

Now, for those who actually have played the game, tell me why this wouldn't work. Or did I actually back into a good idea?

I think that is one of the plays we omitted when we "simplified" the offense.

Any one of us can get a stick and draw a touchdown producing play in the dirt as long as the defense does what you want it to do. And if it works you get 7 points. What then. What you need is a cohesive game plan that utilizes your strengths and hides your weaknesses. We need to utilize Martin better. He is a quality running back. He is still green and needs to learn to read his holes better, but as Stallion continually states, he is having difficulty doing it in the offense we run. I do not know if we have the line depth and maturity for a true I formation offense, but a lead blocker on occasions or an occasional option to get him outside would be welcomed by me. They should already be working on an offense to showcase him next year or finding an OC that can do so. I think once he is given the opportunity to show what he really can do, whoever is QB will improve dramatically.