UCF Game 2011

[CalallenStang]

Is everything that has happened since that game June's way of punishing the fans for not showing up to that game?

We collapsed and went 2-4 to end the regular season. We didn't prepare for the USM game. June nearly left for ASU then threw fan favorite assistant coach Klemm under the bus. We won the bowl game to save June's job. Then in 2012, we lost to Tulane and didnt take advantage of opportunities to beat TCU. Recruiting has been in the tank. He got bowl-eligible only to reward the players with a trip to Hawaii. We haven't been prepared for any games so far this year.

Food for thought

[LHS81]

Agree+1. . . SMU was 5-1 after the victory over UCF, and received "other" votes in the Top 25 polls. This was the peak of SMU football in the June Jones era. After the UCF game, and the "walk on player editorial" in the SMU newspaper. That is when the program started to stagnate, and started trending downward.

[Grant Carter]

Is everything that has happened since that game June's way of punishing the fans for not showing up to that game?

We collapsed and went 2-4 to end the regular season. We didn't prepare for the USM game. June nearly left for ASU then threw fan favorite assistant coach Klemm under the bus. We won the bowl game to save June's job. Then in 2012, we lost to Tulane and didnt take advantage of opportunities to beat TCU. Recruiting has been in the tank. He got bowl-eligible only to reward the players with a trip to Hawaii. We haven't been prepared for any games so far this year.

Food for thought

So you believe if he wanted to he could have won more games the last half of 2008 and beaten Tulane and TCU in 2012, but he just decided not to? I think a much more likely explanation for his failings is that he is trying as hard as he can and this is the best he can do.

[SMU_Alumni11]

I think its a mix of both. I think our 5-1 was only legitimized by beating TCU which was great but the other wins including UCF were not worth really mentioning. I think he essentially peaked and at this peak since nobody was rose covering the ground for him he basically went into quit mode. Had he been smart he should have shoved his ego off had the players battle extremely hard try some risky plays to get us forward and competitive. Had we beaten a tough USM we were 6-1 he could have given himself a wonderful case that he belongs at ASU.

[East Coast Mustang]

The fact that no one showed up to the UCF game was beyond pathetic. If I were a player or coach it would've been tough for me to get motivated after that as well.

Hey, but the Rangers were playing one of their 300 games that night, right?

[SMU2007]

The fact that no one showed up to the UCF game was beyond pathetic. If I were a player or coach it would've been tough for me to get motivated after that as well.

Hey, but the Rangers were playing one of their 300 games that night, right?

That is BS. You don't have a few good games to start a season and expect Dallas to come out in droves to see smu play UCfrigginF after decades of ineptness. Baylor, tcu, Texas tech, sure. But I'd bet 80% of "smu fans" have no idea UCF is even in our conference, let alone that they were our main competition for the conference championship that year.

[RGV Pony]

On the bright side, that USM team which smacked us in the mouth and had such a good year in 2011 has now lost 14 straight. At least we aren't them at this point

[PK]

The fact that no one showed up to the UCF game was beyond pathetic. If I were a player or coach it would've been tough for me to get motivated after that as well.

Hey, but the Rangers were playing one of their 300 games that night, right?

Yes, the rangers were on a world series projectory at that time. The problem was then and still is now...who in Dallas besides the 1500 die hard SMU fans cares about UCF? Most people in Dallas don't even know who UCF is. To reiterate what has been said many times before, if you want people to show up for the games, play someone people have heard of before and want to see...and then beat the SOBs.

[PonySnob]

The fact that no one showed up to the UCF game was beyond pathetic. If I were a player or coach it would've been tough for me to get motivated after that as well.

Hey, but the Rangers were playing one of their 300 games that night, right?

It also helps if you play teams that people have heard of or that have mattered in the college football world......

[East Coast Mustang]

Yeah, but we'd just beaten a top 15 team (our archrival, no less) and were playing on a beautiful afternoon in an accessible stadium (i.e., not that oasis in Arlington that takes 11 hours to get to). I'm not saying "Dallas" in general but not even our own fans/students/alumni bothered to come off the Blvd to watch the game. I couldn't believe it

[mustang1108]

The fact that no one showed up to the UCF game was beyond pathetic. If I were a player or coach it would've been tough for me to get motivated after that as well.

Hey, but the Rangers were playing one of their 300 games that night, right?

It was pretty pathetic that more did not attend our game, but yes as you pointed out it was the night of Game 6 of the ALCS in which the Rangers won to go to the World Series, which most impacted some fans from going to the game. I managed to make it to both games that day. I must admit I did end up leaving the game after the 3rd, but we did have the game pretty well in hand at that point.

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

No doubt that the UCF win in 2011 was the peak of the program under June. Also no doubt that June was shocked and angered by the low fan turnout for that game. It wasn't realistic, but I think he genuinely believed that the TCU win would galvanize the SMU community and somehow result in a big crowd for UCF. Just goes to show how little June understood about the deep-seated apathy of SMU fans, especially against an opponent like UCF. I don't think June was alone in his disappointment though. I suspect just about every coach and player for the Mustangs was hurt.

That being said, I seem to recall that the struggles the rest of the way that year had more to do with JJ McDermott playing hurt and being unable to really make the offense go. Once he had a month off before the bowl game, JJ and the offense looked very different than during the second half of the year.

I think that UCF crowd probably played a role in June "giving up" on SMU and deciding to entertain other offers, which of course didn't work out for him. And I agree that June subsequently "checked out" as far as SMU is concerned. But I have never seen any reason to think June has given up on his players. He seems to genuinely care about them and he continues to coach them up the way he has always done. I think the guy genuinely wants to win; he's just sick of SMU.

[Stallion]

I really don't get the argument that a program fell apart because of attendance of one game. June never hired the right coaching staff and floundered in recruiting from Day1 1-it just took awhile before it became obvious because it doesn't show for 2-3 seasons after the recruiting classes. Now June did benefit by being able to sign a higher level of talent because we broadened the recruiting pool-every year we had 8-10 guys that wouldn't have gotten in during prior coaching regimes. Take away the contributions from AK and June never had the 3 classes that are needed to turn things around. He doesn't have the talent even now. There's always a tendencty for people too close to the scene to think things are always getting better until time proves they were not-I really don't think there is much difference in the talent on our team from 2013 back to 2010 except perhaps a tad more depth.

[SMU2007]

I really don't get the argument that a program fell apart because of attendance of one game. June never hired the right coaching staff and floundered in recruiting from Day1 1-it just took awhile before it became obvious because it doesn't show for 2-3 seasons after the recruiting classes. Now June did benefit by being able to sign a higher level of talent because we broadened the recruiting pool-every year we had 8-10 guys that wouldn't have gotten in during prior coaching regimes. Take away the contributions from AK and June never had the 3 classes that are needed to turn things around. He doesn't have the talent even now. There's always a tendencty for people too close to the scene to think things are always getting better until time proves they were not-I really don't think there is much difference in the talent on our team from 2013 back to 2010 except perhaps a tad more depth.

The recruiting wasn't great but it certainly seems to have gotten even worse in the past 2 years, coinciding with June's complete lack of giving a sh*t post UCF. There's a really good chance we continue our downhill slide thanks to the horrible classes we've gotten.

[SMU2007]

Just goes to show how little June understood about the deep-seated apathy of SMU fans, especially against an opponent like UCF.

No way that is specific to smu fans. There's not a group of college fans that would give a crap about UCF when they've had that long of a period of irrelevance. The only time anyone's fans EVER care about a game like that is if it impacts a bcs birth or something of that magnitude