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ESPN.com: Colleges

Thursday, December 30, 2010
SMU defense played well enough to win
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By Richard Durrett

UNIVERSITY PARK, Texas -- SMU coach June Jones was quick to praise his defense on Thursday. It was a unit that gave up a touchdown to Army early in the game and then adjusted to hold the Black Knights scoreless in the second half.

In fact, Army got 10 points off SMU turnovers. They only had one scoring drive on the defense and that was in the first half. Once SMU got a look at the triple option, they made some adjustments and gave the offense a chance to make a comeback.

"The defense was good enough to win not only this game but 11 or 12 of our games this year," Jones said. "Other than not taking the ball away, our defense played good enough at UCF and this one to win the game. I'm proud of them. They're playing hard. The one touchdown they gave up, it's always tough when early you never get used to the game speed of it. Once they settled in, they played pretty good football. If we hadn't turned the ball over, hadn't given them the seven points, it would have been obviously a lot happier locker room right now."

Army had 199 yards rushing and 229 yards of total offense. That's a pretty good showing by the SMU defense against a team that racks up yardage on the ground. Army had 122 of those rushing yards in the first half, so it shows how well the Mustangs did in adjusting to things.

They played well-but I disagree - they didn't play well enough to win. You win and lose as a team and in Nut Crunch time they didn't get the ball back.

Of course the D played well enough to win. Take away the fumble recovery for TD and we win.

CalallenStang wrote:Of course the D played well enough to win. Take away the fumble recovery for TD and we win.

Or make one of the FGs

Yes. Hopefully the O starts clicking.

Mason outcoached Jones this season.

sbsmith wrote:Mason outcoached Jones this season.

this is true.

Other than the obvious disappointment in losing, I really enjoyed a vibrant day of football. Weather held off, Blvd was reasonably crowded, stadium was nearly full. Just missed all my 104 companions. Had a nice couple of horned frogs between me and Mustang Bill.

I thought the D played well enough to win but not the offense. Some of the special teams did too like Matt running for a 1st down instead of punting but not his FG kicking today. Poor guy. Wish he would have saved the day for the offense's turnovers and such that lost the game.
That scoop 6 really made a huge difference.

Mrydel?!!! You let some frogs sit in my and the Colonel's seats?!!!

Arkpony wrote:Mrydel?!!! You let some frogs sit in my and the Colonel's seats?!!!

i was shocked but they actually supported the mustangs. Section 104 was a mixed bag of army and smu supporters. Probably more smu but not the same atmosphere as a regular home game. Missed your insightful analysis Judge but Mark was on top of things. Needless to say, a very disappointing day at Ford.

Felt like the majority of SMU support was at the bottom of the home horseshoe and from the Band upwards. The rest of the stands seemed quite the mixed bag.

The BKs just had more want in 'em today.

SMU89 wrote:Yes. Hopefully the O starts clicking.

This O is never going to click with the current line up sorry. It's good enough to win against bottom feeders and have a better than normal game once in a while.(Tulsa)

What is the old adage ? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results...
I don't think this kid could Consistently hit a barn and his center was playing for the other team. Good heavens!

Scary part is their the best we have that's why their playing. Recruit develop improve!!

I expect that part of his confidence in allowing his kicker to try that long FG for the lead was that he thought the D could hold Army to a 3 and out and we'd have another chance. If that was in fact the case, then the D did not play well enough to win this game. They obviously made a better showing than the O yesterday

Lots of work to do. Let's just keep getting better. Still nice to have played in a bowl game

mustangbill67 wrote:

Arkpony wrote:Mrydel?!!! You let some frogs sit in my and the Colonel's seats?!!!

i was shocked but they actually supported the mustangs. Section 104 was a mixed bag of army and smu supporters. Probably more smu but not the same atmosphere as a regular home game. Missed your insightful analysis Judge but Mark was on top of things. Needless to say, a very disappointing day at Ford.

Couple of very nice gentlemen. Was was a vet and an American Airlines pilot. He was excited to get the 10% AA discount on his next flight that was in the bag taped to the seat. He said he wants to go to the Rose Bowl and can of course get there for free but Mrs. Frog does not want to go. Boy can I relate. Anyway, MustangBill and I kept them hemmed in and did not let them get rowdy. They we both very complementary of SMU and hope we continue the series in the future.