Why is everyone in panic mode?
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 9:56 amOkay, we did lose to (yeech...) Rice in the first game of the season. I can't say I'm happy about that, but it wasn't unexpected. New coach, new system, freshman quarterback, new defense against a team with a decent senior-lead offense and a superb WR.
Frankly, for the first time in about two years, I saw some good things. For a freshman quarterback in a new (and difficult) system, I think BLM had a very good game, and duelled a decent senior quarterback well. Two of the turnovers looked like "tired arm" more than "freshman mistake." We have at least two recievers (and yes, we need more) who can play, and DeMyron looked solid, not great, but solid, when they handed him the ball. When everything starts to click, we will put points on the board. The O-line even did a fairly credable job against an admittedly weak defense, but I wasn't holding my hands over my face...
The defense is small and lacks real talent. However, the team looked prepared out there- they were not schemed badly, and I never felt that the kids nor the coaches didn't know what they were doing- it felt more like we simply were physically outplayed. There were a few miscues, but largely we were at the right place at the right tim, we just couldn't seem to stop things from happening once we were there. The only two things that made me cringe were dropped interceptions and the fact that we did not seem to adjust to Dillard when Rice moved him.
I didn't think I'd say this about an SMU team, but I thought the improvement on the special teams was dramatic, and showed both kicking and recieving. And Henderson is going to break a few this year. Not perfect, but better than it has been in years, and will presumably improve.
So yes, we got beat. But we got beaten, we didn't lose- there is a difference. The last few years, I felt like the kids often didn't know what to expect, looked unprepared for what was thrown at them and seemed to give up in frustration. Or we were ahead, but didn't know what to do with a lead. It may be just me, but I didn't feel that way about this game. It seemed like everyone more or less knew what they needed to do, but didn't or couldn't execute the plan. That's a different problem, but one that is certainly fixable with repetition and an infusion or better talent.
So it ain't all good- but I think we do have a better underlying foundation to build on than in the past. Tech is going to be UGLY, but we may sneak up on some people later this year if we can stay healthy. We're SMU fans- we've looked woefully bad in the eyes so deep and so often that woefully bad probably think's we're going to propose- and frankly, Friday wasn't that bad.
Frankly, for the first time in about two years, I saw some good things. For a freshman quarterback in a new (and difficult) system, I think BLM had a very good game, and duelled a decent senior quarterback well. Two of the turnovers looked like "tired arm" more than "freshman mistake." We have at least two recievers (and yes, we need more) who can play, and DeMyron looked solid, not great, but solid, when they handed him the ball. When everything starts to click, we will put points on the board. The O-line even did a fairly credable job against an admittedly weak defense, but I wasn't holding my hands over my face...
The defense is small and lacks real talent. However, the team looked prepared out there- they were not schemed badly, and I never felt that the kids nor the coaches didn't know what they were doing- it felt more like we simply were physically outplayed. There were a few miscues, but largely we were at the right place at the right tim, we just couldn't seem to stop things from happening once we were there. The only two things that made me cringe were dropped interceptions and the fact that we did not seem to adjust to Dillard when Rice moved him.
I didn't think I'd say this about an SMU team, but I thought the improvement on the special teams was dramatic, and showed both kicking and recieving. And Henderson is going to break a few this year. Not perfect, but better than it has been in years, and will presumably improve.
So yes, we got beat. But we got beaten, we didn't lose- there is a difference. The last few years, I felt like the kids often didn't know what to expect, looked unprepared for what was thrown at them and seemed to give up in frustration. Or we were ahead, but didn't know what to do with a lead. It may be just me, but I didn't feel that way about this game. It seemed like everyone more or less knew what they needed to do, but didn't or couldn't execute the plan. That's a different problem, but one that is certainly fixable with repetition and an infusion or better talent.
So it ain't all good- but I think we do have a better underlying foundation to build on than in the past. Tech is going to be UGLY, but we may sneak up on some people later this year if we can stay healthy. We're SMU fans- we've looked woefully bad in the eyes so deep and so often that woefully bad probably think's we're going to propose- and frankly, Friday wasn't that bad.