Rivals Countdown to Number 1

[mathman]

Started today and we dodged the bottom 10.
http://collegefootball.rivals.com/conte ... CID=814389

[expony18]

we should have signed fitzgerald

[mrydel]

we should have signed fitzgerald

He can't be that good. 111 catches, 1,322 yds., and 12 tds. Isn't that what he had against us? He must not have done much more the rest of the year.

[expony18]

we should have signed fitzgerald

He can't be that good. 111 catches, 1,322 yds., and 12 tds. Isn't that what he had against us? He must not have done much more the rest of the year.

too bad we screwed over his older brother...

[MustangIcon]

we should have signed fitzgerald

He can't be that good. 111 catches, 1,322 yds., and 12 tds. Isn't that what he had against us? He must not have done much more the rest of the year.

too bad we screwed over his older brother...

Agreed. You can't blame anyone but the coaching staff there. Elder Fitz was a heck of an athlete and the coaching staff yanked him around from position to position never allowing himself to get established at any one place on the field. One of the more gifted players we had on campus during the Bennett era and his college football career amounted to squat bc of mismanagement.

[perunapower]

108. SMU
COACH: June Jones (First season; 75-41 in eight seasons overall).
LAST SEASON: 1-11 overall, 0-8 in Conference USA (last in C-USA West).
FINAL 2007 RIVALS.COM RANKING: 118th.
KEEP AN EYE ON: Junior wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders will enjoy playing in Jones' offense. Sanders caught 74 passes last season, and that number easily could climb past 100 this season. Punter Thomas Morstead is one of the best – if not the best – at his position in the league. However, he's unlikely to get as many chances as he had last season (57). He doubles as the Mustangs' field-goal kicker.
STAR POWER: Junior quarterback Justin Willis has thrown 51 TD passes in his first two seasons as the starter and should thrive in Jones' pass-happy system. Willis has been a little careless with the ball in his first two seasons, but look for his interception total to go down even though his attempts will increase dramatically. Willis also is an excellent running threat and led the team in rushing last season.

Sanders
STRENGTHS: The passing game has been solid the past few seasons, and Willis should be a great fit in the new offense. The same goes for Sanders. Junior center Mitch Enright has all-league potential. Three starters return on the defensive line. While four of the first six games are on the road, a 2-0 start is possible.
WEAKNESSES: Willis missed spring practice because of a suspension, so his grasp of the offense isn't what it should be. While Jones eschews the running game, there are some gifted runners on the roster who need to be utilized. The secondary was awful last season and will have three new starters this season. The defense as a whole is undersized.
THE BUZZ: Jones has shown he can take a moribund program and turn it around. Conference USA isn't exactly brimming with top defensive teams, so Jones' offense could have a lot of success early. Still, given the sad state of the defense, expecting anything more than four wins might be too much.

[Mustangsabu]

I just don't get it. How can we only dare to dream of 4 wins?

There is no way our D will be a tragic as it was last year, the men in charge know what happened and they will have had an entire off-season to make sure it does not recur. Furthermore, even with our obnoxiously dreadful D last year we were in a position to win at least five more games last year. Two last minute losses and three overtime defeats.

I guess I am an optimist but I don't see many teams on our schedule that we have no hope of beating. this is not my prediction of how we will do but here goes:

Rice - we can win, one of the teams to beat us in the last minute, last time in Houston we played them close
Texas State - we should win
Texas Tech - ok, that's a loss
TCU - we can win, it's at home, last year we had good stats on them just could not get it done
Tulane - we can win
UCF - ok, that's a loss too, but I will still hope
Tulsa - we can win, we nearly did last year, we did the year before
Houston - we can win that too, it's at home, last time they were in Dallas we gave them a hell of a game
Navy - I think we can we, but maybe not
Memphis - we can win
UTEP - we can win
Southern Miss - if we are doing well by then, we have a shot at these guys too.

I see reason to hope for more than 4 wins, and I will tell you all I think we can go bowling.

Rivals can take their 108 ranking and place it where the sun never shines.

[perunapower]

The second game is against Texas Tech in Lubbock.

I expect more than 4 wins, but a 2-0 start is a bit much.

[mrydel]

The second game is against Texas Tech in Lubbock.

I expect more than 4 wins, but a 2-0 start is a bit much.

Not on my schedule.

[The PonyGrad]

I agree with more that four wins but if you were them how could you do more than bump us ten places based on only a coaching change?

[perunapower]

The second game is against Texas Tech in Lubbock.

I expect more than 4 wins, but a 2-0 start is a bit much.

Not on my schedule.

Who changed that on me?

[mrydel]

The second game is against Texas Tech in Lubbock.

I expect more than 4 wins, but a 2-0 start is a bit much.

Not on my schedule.

Who changed that on me?

I think TT was # 2 until Rice leap frogged (or is is leapt frog) into the # 1 position, thus dropping TT to 3.

[MustangIcon]

I just don't get it. How can we only dare to dream of 4 wins?

There is no way our D will be a tragic as it was last year, the men in charge know what happened and they will have had an entire off-season to make sure it does not recur. Furthermore, even with our obnoxiously dreadful D last year we were in a position to win at least five more games last year. Two last minute losses and three overtime defeats.

I guess I am an optimist but I don't see many teams on our schedule that we have no hope of beating. this is not my prediction of how we will do but here goes:

Rice - we can win, one of the teams to beat us in the last minute, last time in Houston we played them close
Texas State - we should win
Texas Tech - ok, that's a loss
TCU - we can win, it's at home, last year we had good stats on them just could not get it done
Tulane - we can win
UCF - ok, that's a loss too, but I will still hope
Tulsa - we can win, we nearly did last year, we did the year before
Houston - we can win that too, it's at home, last time they were in Dallas we gave them a hell of a game
Navy - I think we can we, but maybe not
Memphis - we can win
UTEP - we can win
Southern Miss - if we are doing well by then, we have a shot at these guys too.

I see reason to hope for more than 4 wins, and I will tell you all I think we can go bowling.

Rivals can take their 108 ranking and place it where the sun never shines.

I believe that of our 12 games 8 are against teams that played in a bowl last season. Our Defense cannot be any worse than last year- true, but our O-Line really took a severe hit and we aren't exactly "reloading" there like a big time program would. For every game that we were 1 play away from winning we were 1 play away from losing even worse than we did.

Tech is an absolute loss. TCU, UH, Tulsa, and UCF are all MUCH better/more talented than we are. If we win any of those games it will be bc we played exceptionally well and they played poorly, not bc we are flat out better. To be truthfull, the only team we should be a clear cut favorite against is Texas State. I don't see another game on the schedule that we should be favored by as much as 6 pts.

I think JJ will do great things here, but I am not expecting a miracle 8 win season from him in year one. If we win 4 games, I will think that he did a good job. If we won 7, I would think that God decided he owed us a break.

[perunapower]

The second game is against Texas Tech in Lubbock.

I expect more than 4 wins, but a 2-0 start is a bit much.

Not on my schedule.

Who changed that on me?

I think TT was # 2 until Rice leap frogged (or is is leapt frog) into the # 1 position, thus dropping TT to 3.

I do not advocate the usage of the word "frog" unless it is preceded by the word "gig". It is especially heinous when it is preceded by the word "leap".

I suppose that's where I got confused. Oh well. We should start 2-0 then. Here's to hoping for a 3-1 start.

[Bergermeister]

Here's to hoping for a 3-1 start.

As long as you're "hoping", go ahead and "hope" for 4-0 instead of "hoping" for 3-1. I think that means you're "hoping" for a loss.