ADRIAN KLEMM: Noise shouldn't matter
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 1:25 pmSeveral SMU players, including senior WR Cole Beasley and sophomore CB Kenneth Acker, said after Monday's lightning-shortened practice that the largest crowd they ever have played in front of was the 57,528 in Lubbock last year when the Mustangs opened the season at Texas Tech.
This week's season-opening opponent, Texas A&M, plays in Kyle Field, where it is a safe bet that just about every one of the listed 82,600 seats (and perhaps standing room-only accommodations) will be full. Aggie fans are known not only for their loyalty, but for the volume of their cheers, especially when the visiting team is on offense.
More than any other game in recent memory, Sunday's opener in College Station will require the Mustangs to rely on hand signals and confidence that teammates know their assignments and will execute them correctly.
"The only thing will be communication issues," Klemm said Monday. "But we have been working on that (compensating for Kyle Field's famously loud fans) since the spring. We have to be a little bit more focused in front of a crowd like that, but we should know how to handle it.
"We have a veteran line, guys who have been doing this together for a long time. They have played together for a long time, and they're running the same thing I ran (as a player) at Hawaii."
The star of the 2010 Texas A&M defense was defensive end Von Miller, who was drafted (as a linebacker) in the first round by the Denver Broncos. Klemm said he doesn't expect Miller's exit to mean a dropoff in the tenacity of the A&M defense.
"It's not any one individual (who stands out)," Klemm said. "They have a lot of quality players. I don't expect them to change anything up (with Miller gone). They have another year in that system, and they're going to be even ore comfortable running it than they were last year."
This week's season-opening opponent, Texas A&M, plays in Kyle Field, where it is a safe bet that just about every one of the listed 82,600 seats (and perhaps standing room-only accommodations) will be full. Aggie fans are known not only for their loyalty, but for the volume of their cheers, especially when the visiting team is on offense.
More than any other game in recent memory, Sunday's opener in College Station will require the Mustangs to rely on hand signals and confidence that teammates know their assignments and will execute them correctly.
"The only thing will be communication issues," Klemm said Monday. "But we have been working on that (compensating for Kyle Field's famously loud fans) since the spring. We have to be a little bit more focused in front of a crowd like that, but we should know how to handle it.
"We have a veteran line, guys who have been doing this together for a long time. They have played together for a long time, and they're running the same thing I ran (as a player) at Hawaii."
The star of the 2010 Texas A&M defense was defensive end Von Miller, who was drafted (as a linebacker) in the first round by the Denver Broncos. Klemm said he doesn't expect Miller's exit to mean a dropoff in the tenacity of the A&M defense.
"It's not any one individual (who stands out)," Klemm said. "They have a lot of quality players. I don't expect them to change anything up (with Miller gone). They have another year in that system, and they're going to be even ore comfortable running it than they were last year."
