PonyFans.com

Same song, second verse.

2 statements in the article that are questionable:

...SMU quarterback Justin Willis, arguably the best young signal-caller the Mustangs have ever had...

and

...someone asked me who would be a viable choice for the 2009 DCTF summer book cover, and I half-jokingly suggested Justin Willis.

MrMustang1965 wrote: 2 statements in the article that are questionable

consider the source - written from their offices in Bellmont Hall

On the claim that Willis is "arguably the best signal caller" we've had- there is no "arguably" about it- he isnt.

kent dorfman wrote:On the claim that Willis is "arguably the best signal caller" we've had- there is no "arguably" about it- he isnt.

But according to the record books, he is. The argument comes in the form of qualifying his records. For example, one could argue that CUSA competition in the last 2 years was not as tough as SWC in the early 80's, and therefore his numbers are inflated. So yes, he is "arguably" the best young QB we've ever had.

It's a weak argument.

What about won-loss record, turnovers committed and overall efficiency rating? TDs don't tell the whole story. How many TD's did willis throw b/c we got behind thanks to him turning the ball over, forcing us to throw a lot?

kent dorfman wrote:What about won-loss record, turnovers committed and overall efficiency rating? TDs don't tell the whole story. How many TD's did willis throw b/c we got behind thanks to him turning the ball over, forcing us to throw a lot?

You also are not telling the entire story in that you seem to place the blame for all scoring done against SMU on the quarterback. True, there were turnovers, but it is not as though the offensive line was full of All-Americans. You could place the blame solely on Willis if the rest of the team played perfectly, but considering it did not you would be wise to spread some of that around. Additionally, SMU fell behind because of bad defense. One of the worst defenses I have ever seen in the entire time I have followed college football. The numbers support the fact that this defense did not only give up points that could be attributed to poor field position, but also an incredible amount of yards. You blame Willis for points scored against SMU and seek to blame him for scoring in response. Which is it? Or would you rather we ran every down to no avail?

Last season was bad, but your understanding that one player ruined the entire season is incorrect.

2112 wrote:yeah sure, jw is the best "young qb ever"
have you not heard of mike ford or lance mcilhenny? and playing a&m, arkansas, ut, etc......is a little different than the weak competition justin played against......

It is also a little different when you have teammates like Eric Dickerson and Craig James at running back.

I didn't say he ruined the entire season and I'm not saying his supporting cast was not to blame. Don't get me wrong I think he's a good football player but his wrecklessness, while partly the result of carrying too much on his shoulders, does not put him in the category of one of our best QB's ever. It is because he is a good football player that he was able to throw all those TDs but he might not have had to had he not turned the ball over as much. Instead of fumbling at our 35, he could throw it away. From there maybe we could make a few first downs, eat up more clock, rest our D and win games not by having to throw 4 or 5 TDs a game but by running a more efficient offense. Also note the offense he played in- a spread conducive to throwing TDs. In all while I saw him do many good things on the field despite poor pass protection he wasn't too heady of a player.

Thanks Samurai Stang..... I was wondering what the heck was with the double standard. I understand being upset, as I am still a little ticked about his suspension his freshman year, but it's in the past.

This current suspension could be the best thing that happened for him and the program. If Justin is able to come through all of this and get reinstated, and win back the starting job - then kudos, and maybe all those complaints we had this last season about him being a hot head will have been broken out of him.

I have no doubt that whoever starts on opening day that JJ will have more than ready. If it's JW then great, I will be 100% behind it. If it's someone else, I'll be nervous (only because I have never seen them play college ball, I mean more than a couple snaps) but I'll trust in JJ.

Honestly, it's great to see June Jones come in and lay down the law. Again, like I said, if JW comes out of all of this as the starter he will be so much better than he has been before. If he doesn't and ends up off the team then we can be disappointed and angry that he hurt the team.

But to discount what JW did positively on the field is ridiculous. Yes he turned the ball over a lot, yes he made some poor decisions with the football. Maybe he was trying to do too much and Phil wasn't doing as good of a job as reigning him in. But this Travis Stewart guy is right, Willis's name is all over the record books. I'm not going to be quick to forget that.

Also, look at his freshman campaign. He was second in TD's thrown, and second in least interceptions thrown (amongst freshman, both I believe to Colt McCoy).

All right, I'm done defending him. I'm excited to see what the QBs do in spring ball, and remember June has been hinting at Bo Levi Mitchell for a while, and also that he's about letting the best player play. Mitchell, of course won't have competed in Spring ball either. I say the QB position will be wide open until the end of training camp.

kent dorfman wrote:I didn't say he ruined the entire season

kent dorfman wrote:Instead of fumbling at our 35, he could throw it away. From there maybe we could make a few first downs, eat up more clock, rest our D and win games not by having to throw 4 or 5 TDs a game but by running a more efficient offense.

Somehow these two statements do not go together. You say you do not blame him for the entire season, yet you describe how if not for his play the entire team would have been brought to a new level of greatness. Also, you seem to be under the impression that the defense needed rest, and had they had it everything would have been wonderful. On the contrary, with this defense we were destined to require ridiculous amounts of scoring from our offense.

In response to J. Willis being considered the greatest SMU QB ever? Give me a serious break..

SMU QBs that would wipe the floor with Willis

Don Meredith
Lance McIlhenny
Ramon Flanigan

You have to remember that there were days that the Ponies were playing in Cotton Bowls and for National Championships.

As for Flanigan, he played on some teams that lost, its true, but Ramon made those teams go and we wre playing SWC opponents week in and week out.