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Well, we lost the bowl game. Frankly, I'm not too worried about it. It was great to see the atmosphere at Ford yesterday. Sold out game, post-season appearance, great tailgating, national TV exposure, prominent former alumni in attendance, and (at least one half of) good football. Our program is simply worlds away from where it used to be. I couldn't help but think back to the dark days of watching the Ponies lose in the 3/4th empty Cotton Bowl in the mid-1990s.

Sure, Tulsa and UH will be better next year and we have a tough non-conference schedule. But we also have yet another solid recruiting class coming in, we are returning almost everyone, and we will be starting an upperclassman QB for the first time since Romo (I think). The defense looks good and is getting better. They played very well against both UCF and Army. The offense struggled this year, but June and co. have another off-season to improve things. And Padron, although young, appears determined to get better. I am confident our offense will be MUCH more consistent next season.

Our schedule is definitely getting tougher next season. But I don't see any games where we are totally overmatched. We'll lose some. But we may also win some we aren't expecting to. It's going to be a fun year. I'm calling it right now. . .we are going to win either the A&M game or the TCU game.

Happy New Year!

Margin for error will be razor-thin next season, either Kyle takes a big step forward or we'll be missing the postseason in 2011.

if padron is our biggest problem, we are gonna be in very good shape. If we are going to struggle on one side of the ball right now, I am actually glad its the offense and not the defense in strange sort of way. I do think JJ will find a way to get his offense going. As long as the Defense plays well and keeps getting stronger, the team could start playing very well and turn the corner in a hurry when the offense starts clicking. Hope we bring in a few jucos but the current recruiting class is filling up.

The stat that has to change is turnover margin (-12). Before the bowl we were ranked #108 in the NCAA. Its a miracle we won 7 games turning the ball over that much.

Hopefully another year of maturity will drastically reduce this number and swing us into the positive category. That can only help.

I'm optimistic regarding a bowl next year. Our home schedule looks 6-0 (best) or 5-1 (worst) to me. And Memphis away should provide the margin for bowling. Beyond that though, it's gonna be tough.

I think next year will be great, but I am really excited for 2012! As the talent from the last couple of recruiting classes really begins to work itself into the starting rotation, I think we are going to see a very solid team.

Despite the loss, I had a great time yesterday. I agree with Hoop Fan that if we have to have one side of the ball struggling right now, I want it to be the offense. June will find a way to fix things and I have great faith in Padron with another spring to practice. More than anything though, I think it is a huge advantage for our team to really have some competition for starting spots. In years past, several key positions went into the spring knowing they were firmly entrenched in their spots for the upcoming season. This year, we will have competition at every spot. We will also be able to use more contact at training camp to prepare for the season, unlike previous years when we needed to worry about injuries. I think this is a huge boost in game preparation.

We really are turning the corner and there are great things to come! Now we just need a BCS conference to realize a value play when they look at SMU and understand just what we will be able to bring to the table in the next couple of years...

next year liberty bowl or ticketcity bowl

A great QB wins 4 more games this year two in the post season.
We need more talent at that position to take us to the next level BOOK IT

And please don't embarrasse me with this talk of anything other than CUSA it's a joke!

Big east with Moody ball and 15,000 in Ford a game.... Please.

One Trick Pony wrote:And please don't embarrasse me with this talk of anything other than CUSA it's a joke!

Big east with Moody ball and 15,000 in Ford a game.... Please.

WOW!!! I didn't realize I had struck such a nerve with my sunshiner comment... If you went to that game yesterday and weren't able to find some type of a silver lining to brighten the sky, then you must live in a pretty dark world. There are plenty of gloom and doomer threads running right now for folks to go argue their glass is half empty scenarios on.

Yesterday truly showed what SMU can offer on a gameday and I for one thouroughly enjoyed it despite the loss.

You had me at hello. It was the conference thing that set me off.


I've been to all of the games except ECU and NO

We may all be disappointed with Padron at the UCF and Army game, but seriously guys, where was SMU football 2 years ago? 5 years ago? 10 years ago? 20 years ago? This is the best the school has been at football since Dickerson and James. I still find it shocking that people are able to find doom and gloom after what Jones has been able to accomplish. I can't wait to see the next couple of years when Jones' recruitment really starts to show its results. Appearances in bowl games are helping out the image of the university, admissions went up 30% in a year, it's truly a positive orientation for this school at the moment. Enjoy it guys, and quit crying about uniforms.

Comet wrote:We may all be disappointed with Padron at the UCF and Army game, but seriously guys, where was SMU football 2 years ago? 5 years ago? 10 years ago? 20 years ago? This is the best the school has been at football since Dickerson and James. I still find it shocking that people are able to find doom and gloom after what Jones has been able to accomplish. I can't wait to see the next couple of years when Jones' recruitment really starts to show its results. Appearances in bowl games are helping out the image of the university, admissions went up 30% in a year, it's truly a positive orientation for this school at the moment. Enjoy it guys, and quit crying about uniforms.

That is the problem with success...it compounds itself and that a good thing....

Expectations are rising and with that will come more expectations on fans in terms of giving, just like last year...

This is how it is with every gig in the country...Its good to be pissed off and want more and this is the correct forum to do it.

Besides that we need to vent for two days before I go positive .

NickSMU17 wrote:

Comet wrote:We may all be disappointed with Padron at the UCF and Army game, but seriously guys, where was SMU football 2 years ago? 5 years ago? 10 years ago? 20 years ago? This is the best the school has been at football since Dickerson and James. I still find it shocking that people are able to find doom and gloom after what Jones has been able to accomplish. I can't wait to see the next couple of years when Jones' recruitment really starts to show its results. Appearances in bowl games are helping out the image of the university, admissions went up 30% in a year, it's truly a positive orientation for this school at the moment. Enjoy it guys, and quit crying about uniforms.

That is the problem with success...it compounds itself and that a good thing....

Expectations are rising and with that will come more expectations on fans in terms of giving, just like last year...

This is how it is with every gig in the country...Its good to be pissed off and want more and this is the correct forum to do it.

Understood, but some people here tend to blur the line between reasonable expectations and a sense of entitlement.

Comet drop $10 grand a year on SMU football related stuff and get back with me.