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Bennett has two weeks to prepare for a winless Rice team. If we cannot beat Rice at homecoming then we need to fire Bennett immediately after the game and let Burns take over until the end of the season. The pressure is on SMU to win this one.
Question: will SMU get over 15K to its homecoming game?

According to Stallion, Rice is the make-or-break opponent for a coach. I doubt we will exceed 15,000, but I'm thinking about attending and sitting on the 50.

I didn't say that. I said it was another measuring stick on which Bennett should be judged at the season. I will say if he loses to Rice he needs to win another he wasn't supposed to. After all Rossley got to lose to Rice 6 times in a row and yet certain revisionists claim that he was a greatest coach since Knute Rockne.

Fortunately we, as emotional and reactionary fans, don't handle the hiring and firing. If fans controlled that, the average tenure of any coach would be about two losses -- if that.

Billy Joe wrote:Bennett has two weeks to prepare for a winless Rice team. If we cannot beat Rice at homecoming then we need to fire Bennett immediately after the game and let Burns take over until the end of the season. The pressure is on SMU to win this one.
Question: will SMU get over 15K to its homecoming game?

Billy Joe, you want Copeland hiring his replacement???...I don't. I would rather keep PB around another season. A new fb coach, IMO, only buys Copeland time and doesn't address our real problems.

To answer your other question. Back in 1985, SMU played Rice (homecoming I believe) in Texas Stadium. In 3 of the previous 4 seasons SMU had won the SWC Championship. Crowd at the '85 game was only 20,000.

Stallion wrote:I didn't say that. I said it was another measuring stick on which Bennett should be judged at the season. I will say if he loses to Rice he needs to win another he wasn't supposed to. After all Rossley got to lose to Rice 6 times in a row and yet certain revisionists claim that he was a greatest coach since Knute Rockne.

I was referring to the fact that every time somebody says anything remotely good about Rossley, you bring uop his record against Rice. As Bennett hasn't done substantially better against Rice, I figured you considered him to be Rossley-caliber.

Beat Rice and fire Copeland now!

Once again Stallion,

Rossley had:
much tougher recruiting restrictions
no facilties to showcase
much tougher schedules
supposedly "weaker recruiting classes"
even worse support from the administration- remember Pye?
BUT SMU WAS MORE COMPETITIVE

Yet the program was turning the corner when they went 5-6 in 1996 but Copeland wanted "his guy" in place which was a huge mistake. The Rossley team of 1992 or 1996 (1997 was really his team as well) would have easily beaten this group of Conference USA opponents. 5-6 and 6-5 in 96 and 97 I classify as a turn around from the previous few win seasons. But we will never know since Copeland fired him.

I believe SMU would have been a a bowl team had he remained at SMU in 1997, then it is up for debate on how that would have affected the program in the long run. One other thing about Rossley he had some great coaches on staff: Jerry Gray and Tim Lewis (NFL defensive coordinators), Jon Tenuta (GA Tech Def Cord), Turner Gill (former Nebraska great and NFL Coach), George Warhop (NFL offensive line coach), coach Johnson (Miami WRs coach), Lindsay (Redskins Linebacker coach).

Rossley was not Knute Rockne but we would be better today with him than we have been without him.

than Rice? You stepped right into it. And I'm really not too terribly interested in the beliefs in and hopes for winning seasons you or any other SMU fans have had for the last 16 years. Especially not players or former players who are ALWAYS wrong.

What?

is on second.....

Stallion wrote: .... Especially not players or former players who are ALWAYS wrong.

That's good. As long as there are no sweeping generalizations being thrown out there, such discussions hold lots of credibility.

Truth is under our 18-year model we have no idea who is or could have been a good head coach…(Gregg may be the exception)

Stallion wrote:than Rice? You stepped right into it. And I'm really not too terribly interested in the beliefs in and hopes for winning seasons you or any other SMU fans have had for the last 16 years. Especially not players or former players who are ALWAYS wrong.

You're not my wife. Only she can tell me I am always wrong!!!

That gave me an idea Stallion! We could dig up Knute Rockne, prop him up (la weekend at Bernies) and have his famous speech going on a loop!