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‘Goon Squad’ Can Deal
SMU’s O-line OK With QB Kyle Padron’s Scrambling
By Rick Atkinson for cusa-fans.com
http://cusa-fans.com/

DALLAS – When the story of this year’s SMU football season is written, the title might well be It Takes A Goon. Actually, a Goon Squad - the name SMU’s starting offensive linemen have humbly given themselves. And after last Saturday’s 28-7 win over UAB, you can call them Unflappable Goons too.

For a bunch whose specialty is pass protection, they took quarterback Kyle Padron’s Roger “The Dodger” Staubach act in perfect stride. “Crazy Legs” Padron carried nine times for 66 yards, including a second-quarter 24-yard jaunt during SMU’s drive for its first lead of the game. He was the game’s second-leading rusher behind the Mustangs’ Zach Line, who finished with 122 yards.

For the record, official Goon Squad nomenclature includes:
*right tackle J.T. Brooks: “Goonzilla”
*left guard Bryce Tennison: “The Original Goon” (“Proto-Goon,” according to Brooks.)
*left tackle Kelvin Beachum, Jr.: “The Goonologist”
*right guard Kelly Turner: “The Incredible Goon”
*and center Blake McJunkin: “We just call him ‘Junk,’ said Brooks.

“[Padron’s] done some scrambling before so it’s not anything we’re really not used to,” Brooks said. “You’ve got hold your blocks a little bit longer because you never know where he’s going to be going. But, you know, whatever you’ve got to do to move the chains. I’m not complaining at all.”

“He’s a good athlete. … We were just letting him go, letting him do his thing.”


Bryce Tennison (64) leads Darryl Fields against UAB last Saturday.

Said Tennison, “We were still blocking our normal technique, doing what we’re coached. I think UAB was dropping a lot of guys into coverage, so Kyle had plenty of field to run on. And that’s what he chose to do.”

“If he can’t find someone open, he’s going to pick up some good yardage and get first downs.”

Finishing blocks is key with a running quarterback, Beachum said. “That’s one thing Coach [Adrian] Klemm preaches, to finish guys off. … Anytime the quarterback breaks the pocket you’ve just got to go find somebody and finish them off. … [Padron] was just out there being a football player, making plays.”

“We definitely saw a few things we could have done better,” Brooks said of SMU’s comfortable win over UAB, “but it was good to go out there and just have no doubt that you were the best team on the field. Last year, it seemed like every game, except for the Hawaii Bowl, was [not decided] until the last minute.”

Next up for the Mustangs is Washington State. Last year’s meeting with the Cougars in Pullman was a special kind of nightmare for SMU - one The Goon Squad hasn’t forgotten. With a shot at being 3-0 for the first time in 25 years, the Mustangs blew a 24-7 third-quarter lead to lose, 30-27, in overtime.

WSU needed four second-half interceptions - two returned 50-plus yards for touchdowns - to do it. SMU out-gained the Cougars in total offense, 504-276. WSU didn’t win another game all season.

“Extremely disappointing,” said Brooks of the debacle. “I felt like for three quarters we pretty much outplayed them in every phase of the game and then just gave it away in the fourth. We’re definitely looking forward to a shot of redemption, that’s for sure.”

Tennison remembers WSU fans rushing the field after the game like they’d won the Super Bowl. “Losses always suck,” he said, “but there was something about that one that left a bad taste in all of our mouths. And it lingered around a little longer than a normal loss. I think it was the fact that they were just so excited that they came back and beat us in the fourth quarter.” … “We found a way to lose that game and it hurt. It was embarrassing.”

Said Beachum, “We had the game in the bag and we didn’t finish. All we had to do was just go for the kill, go for the throat. … We didn’t do that.”

The Goons sound ready. And that’s nothing but bad news for WSU.

Prediction
Some salve for a festering wound: SMU 39, WSU 13.
(Last week: picked SMU by 7 over UAB; straight record 1-1.)


SMU quarterback Kyle Padron

Gameday:
*WSU (1-1) @ SMU (1-1), Saturday, Sept 18, 2:30 p.m. Central; TV: CBS College Sports

Notes:
*WSU is coming off a 23-22 home win over FCS Montana State. The Cougars rallied late from 15 points down.
*Saturday’s forecast gametime temperature: 94 degrees; starting temp for WSU-Montana State: 66 degrees.
*WSU is 4-10 playing in Texas. Its last win here: the 2001 Sun Bowl over Purdue.
*SMU-WSU features kickers with the two longest field goals in FBS play this season: WSU’s Nic Graso (56-yards @ Okla. St.); SMU’s Matt Szymanski (61-yards @ Texas Tech.)
*The Cougars are 3-2 all-time against current C-USA members.

Glad to see the O line get some pub. They have earned it.

You got ‘a be shiting me. The one time I want a cartoon from you and you leave me hanging?

Games are won and lost in the trenches, and I certainly feel extremely confident about our chances to win the conference with those guys up front.

Mestengo wrote:You got ‘a be [deleted] me. The one time I want a cartoon from you and you leave me hanging?

The Goons have formally "commissioned" a cartoon.

Goonologist? And Junk? Nice.

please, no cartoon