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Considering that every media source has annoited Palmer and UTEPs passing offense as just this side of god...I find it interesting that our lowly little QB has thrown more TDs, less interceptions and has a better QB rating.

All those yards are nice but if you aren't putting the ball in the endzone...they get you no where.

Its all about a respect factor when it comes to getting praise from others in the realm of college football.

Palmer put up great numbers in a close loss to Tx Tech and has played fairly decent programs so far this season.

Willis' numbers are great but when you play SHSTU and stAte you are suppose to put up huge numbers like he did. If Willis can put up those numbers this week like he did against those two teams, I am pretty sure that he will start getting more respect and recognition from more people in college football.

Fairly good competition this year?

UTEP has played:
SDSU - which they won despite Palmer's 4 interceptions. SDSU is a powerhouse at 0-4
TT - Had alot of yards, connecting on 63% of passes for 3 tds and 2 ints
NM - Powerhouse program that lost to d1AA portland State but was able to squeeze a win out over another UTEP opponent New Mexico State.
UNMS - Palmer's best game to date despite the 2 ints. UNMS two wins, victories over SE Louisiana and Texas Southern.

Palmer is good but lets not get overly excited about this guy. We have and will face better QBs this year.

me@smu wrote:Fairly good competition this year?

UTEP has played:
SDSU - which they won despite Palmer's 4 interceptions. SDSU is a powerhouse at 0-4
TT - Had alot of yards, connecting on 63% of passes for 3 tds and 2 ints
NM - Powerhouse program that lost to d1AA portland State but was able to squeeze a win out over another UTEP opponent New Mexico State.
UNMS - Palmer's best game to date despite the 2 ints. UNMS two wins, victories over SE Louisiana and Texas Southern.

Palmer is good but lets not get overly excited about this guy. We have and will face better QBs this year.

And he will face better secondaries. Our best bet is to do what we can on defense, primarily shutting down any type of running attack and do the best we are able on pass defense. Run the ball and used ball control passes as best we are able to maintain the ball a maximum amount of time, and outscore them. I do not invision this as a defensive struggle.

We are going to have some trouble this week. UTEP's offensive weakness is its running game, while stopping the run is what SMU does best. SMU can completely take away their running game and they won't notice.

The key to beating UTEP, as I see it, is to get consistent pressure on Palmer. The interesting thing about Palmer is he forces things. Palmer is rarely sacked, which is odd for a guy considered a pocket passer. He'll throw into coverage to avoid a sack.

New Mexico got good pressure on Palmer for five sacks. Interestingly, Palmer had no interceptions in that game. Reminder, New Mexico won that game.

So, the trick is to get to Palmer without leaving our secondary to hang in the wind. In short, SMU faces a nearly identical problem to the one it faced against Texas Tech. Frankly, our secondary stands a good chance of being exposed.

SMU will be able run on UTEP pretty easily. In fact, I predict they will give up more running yards to SMU than they any of their four previous games.

If SMU can force two quick INTs in the 1st quarter, i see SMU winning in easy fashion.

The winner will be determined with whoever wins the turnover battle.

I read an analysis of the UTEP New Mexico game in a New Mexico paper yesterday. The Lobos beat UTEP by playing hard nosed, physical football on both sides of the ball. After reading the analysis, I am confident this is a game we should win expecially if we can get pressure on the QB.

we have a better chance of getting pressure on Palmer compared to Harrell b/c UTEP doesn't practice getting rid of the ball quickly and have those huge splits..

from what i remember we still got good pressure on harrell against that Tech Oline..