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SMU has scored a total of 3 touchdowns in the past 2 games.

SMU has failed to score more than 21 points in 6 of the last 9 games.

Those are damning stats for a run and shoot offense.

Ditto:
D-played well yesterday.

MustangIcon wrote:SMU has scored a total of 3 touchdowns in the past 2 games.

SMU has failed to score more than 21 points in 6 of the last 9 games.

Those are damning stats for a run and shoot offense.

They were also shut out at halftime, of the last 2 games.

also a slow start vs ECU

Against Marshall, the difference was taking the opening kickoff back a long way.

poor in the 1st half at Tulane
poor in the 1st half at UTEP
poor in the 1st half vs Houston

and once again, to find a first half where we moved the ball and scored points, look no further than...Navy.

You guys can thumb your nose at the observation all you want...but what happened to our mojo at the end of that first half in Annapolis?

Funny how you always hear from these head coaches how these service academies give teams fits when having to prepare for these option offenses! I wonder why they don't comment on the problems the service academies give the "run and shoot". Poor offensive performances every year except maybe one against undersized and under-recruited players who play hard. All those years of pro experience by our coaches on offense seems to go out the window against average coaches and players who play hard. I think if you look at the profiles of the respective mvp's from each team you will see why we fail. Sure wish we would recruit more talented, hard-working, honest kids who are into the academic side too
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MustangIcon wrote:SMU has scored a total of 3 touchdowns in the past 2 games.

SMU has failed to score more than 21 points in 6 of the last 9 games.

Those are damning stats for a run and shoot offense.

Even worse stats considering the quality of teams we played.

Pony in SA wrote:

MustangIcon wrote:SMU has scored a total of 3 touchdowns in the past 2 games.

SMU has failed to score more than 21 points in 6 of the last 9 games.

Those are damning stats for a run and shoot offense.

Even worse stats considering the quality of teams we played.

To be fair, I think some of us fans are overvaluing how talented we really think our team is. We get a little rose-colored glasses when it comes to that.

Mitch McConnell wrote:To be fair, I think some of us fans are overvaluing how talented we really think our team is. We get a little rose-colored glasses when it comes to that.

That may be true. My point is simply that when your defense holds opponents to 17 and 16 points in back to back games and your run and shoot offense does not score enough to win either game there are big problems. Some of them include:

-Poor QB play
-Abysmal Center play
-Inconsistent WR play
-Bad field position
-Questionable game management (clock, play calling, etc.)

Someone posted an interesting analysis a few weeks back that I cannot find any longer. It showed SMU's scoring against every opponent this year side by side with that opponent's average ppg allowed. I believe it showed that more often than not SMU scored less than the average scored against the opponent. That means our offense is below average- somthing you don't often say about a RnS team.

smuuth wrote:Funny how you always hear from these head coaches how these service academies give teams fits when having to prepare for these option offenses! I wonder why they don't comment on the problems the service academies give the "run and shoot". Poor offensive performances every year except maybe one against undersized and under-recruited players who play hard. All those years of pro experience by our coaches on offense seems to go out the window against average coaches and players who play hard. I think if you look at the profiles of the respective mvp's from each team you will see why we fail. Sure wish we would recruit more talented, hard-working, honest kids who are into the academic side too
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Why don't you get a college head coaching job since you have all the expert answers.

Execution was a key issue. Not just at the QB position but also at the receivers. Our running back position was by far the most consistent in executing his function(along with the O-line). Also, we had to drive long ways. It is very difficult to consistently execute on offense for long drives, even with the best of athletes. Very long drives require that the vast majority of individuals execute on each play and that critical players not make mistakes. This is a very difficult thing to do.

Thus, the turnover situation also contributed to our difficulties consistently executing on offense.

Not so worried moving forward as all the receivers, the QB the o-line and running back position will be improved next year. And hopefully, we will start to get more turnovers which will shorten the length of drives and reduce the pressure on flawless execution for long drives.

Smuuth - Recruiting more academic minded student athletes is a recipe for disaster. We have seen that movie already. It doesn't end well.

Please point out all the academic minded student athletes at any of the top 20 programs in the country. Can't be done because there are none (and dont talk about Stanford - i'm talking about the football players - not the school).

The weaker the school the easier it is to keep the non students in play. Therefore TCU has not much turnover, and SEC rules the day. Its pretty easy really.

Stanford is a good example, as is ND, historically. USC can be selective, as well.

The real advantage flows to state schools, based on budgets and fan base. I think academics are not our issue. Players want to play for winners and those that provide the best path to the NFL. SMU is making progress, but the journey is long. However, Jim Harbaugh did it quick at Stanford, from 1-11 to 11-1.

ponyte wrote:...
Thus, the turnover situation also contributed to our difficulties consistently executing on offense.

Not so worried moving forward as all the receivers, the QB the o-line and running back position will be improved next year. And hopefully, we will start to get more turnovers which will shorten the length of drives and reduce the pressure on flawless execution for long drives.

Ding, ding ding...

Look at last year and this. We were very much on the plus side of the TO margin last season and very much on the minus side this season. We need to work on fixing that on both sides of the ball.

We moved the ball very well against Army. We almost doubled their yards. The offense is very close to being what we expect it to be. Even with the two picks Padron had a 150 pass efficiency.

The sky is not falling folks though I had that feeling in the first half and even until I reviewed the game on TV.

The PonyGrad wrote:The sky is not falling folks though I had that feeling in the first half and even until I reviewed the game on TV.

The window to become an elite non-AQ team is closing quickly......... 8-5 & 7-7 seasons do not garner much national interest for teams in the "lesser" conferences.