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Here in San Antonio we did not have TV. Listening to the radio broadcast I did not hear about drops by our receivers. Drops were a major reason we lost Houston. How did the receivers do against Tulsa?

Can't think of many. Maybe a few. I think Padron throws a more catchable ball. Maybe improvement on the receivers part or a combination of both.

I was just so impressed with Padron, if this was not a fluke, and I don't think it was.
The day's of wandering in the desert are ending for SMU.

I just saw one.
Maybe there was another.

Sanders and Robinson each dropped one (only talking about easy ones, not contested plays where the ball was tipped or whatever).

Beasley dropped a screen where he probably saved the team 5 lost yards by dropping it.

Still, all of those guys made big plays too, as did Wilkerson who followed up an illegal touching bu busting a crossing route for 40+ yards on the same drive.

The catch toward the end - long ball caught on the 1 yard line - makes up for several drops. Many of the pros are losing that ball when the hit the ground. Great technique to pull the ball in to avoid the ground causing the ball to pop out.

Looking at the positive rather than the negative, yesterday showed a glimpse of how the R/S should work. We had 4 or 5 plays where the receiver was hit in full stride on a mid or short range pass but turned it into a huge gain by being full speed at the time of the catch. Two of those were scrambles by Padron (Beasley for a TD and McNeal for a large gain), but there were a couple of others such as Robinson over the middle (how come he got caught from behind) and another I believe to Beasley that were perfect throws in stride that allowed good yards after the catch. We have not seen that thus far since JJ has been here. Throwing deep to AR or Sanders is one thing, but completing passes for 8 yards that subsequently become 30 yard gains is the way the system works. If the receiver has to dive or stop to catch the ball, it is just an 8 yard catch.

mrydel wrote:Looking at the positive rather than the negative, yesterday showed a glimpse of how the R/S should work. We had 4 or 5 plays where the receiver was hit in full stride on a mid or short range pass but turned it into a huge gain by being full speed at the time of the catch. Two of those were scrambles by Padron (Beasley for a TD and McNeal for a large gain), but there were a couple of others such as Robinson over the middle (how come he got caught from behind) and another I believe to Beasley that were perfect throws in stride that allowed good yards after the catch. We have not seen that thus far since JJ has been here. Throwing deep to AR or Sanders is one thing, but completing passes for 8 yards that subsequently become 30 yard gains is the way the system works. If the receiver has to dive or stop to catch the ball, it is just an 8 yard catch.

you're right, padron did a very nice job of hitting the recievers in stride on some of those shorter routes that went for huge gains.

Padron hit Wilkerson in stride for a long gainer on one that was just pretty to watch.

Sanders dropped two, that I recall, but on replays, it looked like both were slightly tipped. Hard to say.

I do not remember any serious drops, and I think they caught more than a few that should not have been caught - Robinson in the first Q and Sanders on that crucial 3rd down in the 4th. Kudos the the receiver corp.

Also, my un-expert opinion is that Padron throws the ball with more touch.

How bout the crossing route AR ran and then ran away from everyone....

Recievers did not do bad at all.

NickSMU17 wrote:How bout the crossing route AR ran and then ran away from everyone....

Except for the guy that caught him.

And SMU86, it is probably the pass to Wilkerson that I attributed to perhaps Beasley in my post. I could not remember who it was but I do believe you are correct in Wilkerson.

I hink AR's conditioning from the ankle injury is still a little bit behind. He seemed to hit a wall on that run...but the first 20 yards after the catch he easily distanced himself from the pack....