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Pros:

1 - Great student turnout. Great energy in the stadium. Brought a little Moody Magic with them even.
2 - Finally got the damn uniform right!
3 - OL looked much improved for 3 quarters. Actually opened up some running holes (small) and gave some time (occasionally) for Matt to throw.
4 - Matt Davis, Courtland Sutton, and Xavier Jones are the real deal.
5 - We actually ran the ball a little bit. Was happy to see that, physically on offense, we played tough.

Cons:

1 - We still got blown out and got worn down. Not surprising, but it's always the same story ("no depth, their offense is just too potent" blah blah blah).
2 - Our defense doesn't look much better than last year. Absolutely no pass rush, secondary is junior varsity. DL was nonexistent. Very very disappointing. And, yes, I understand it's Baylor.
3 - End of first half?!? WTF? How do you NOT come away with ANY points on the 3 yard line with 30 seconds left?!? Should have gone into halftime tied up at 28. Then getting the ball back first in the second half. Very June Jones-esque.
4 - Matt Davis missed some key throws. Under thrown ball on his first pick. Sutton not running down the sure touch down catch when he was slightly overthrown (dive for that [deleted]!).
5 - Jeremiah Gaines nonexistent in the passing game.
6 - Xavier Castille did nothing. For all his speed, he did nothing to separate.
7 - Kickoff return blocking. Other than West's one great return (did he play back there anymore after that?), we looked the exact same in the return game as last year. Lucky to get the ball to the 20 yard line.
8 - Kevin Thomas. Did nothing. Even let a throw get intercepted because he didn't even fight for the ball. He'll be a stud I'm sure, but he did nothing in this game.

Before I get flamed, I have no doubt we are headed in the right direction and there was a moment there where I was getting very excited. But the net result is always the same: hung for a while and then their depth and talent wore us out and we got absolutely destroyed.

I still have high hopes for the program under HCCM. We were "right there" for a bit, but then the same old same old happened again. Same book, different chapter. Let's see what 3 more recruiting classes can do for him. We need help on defense more than anything. And, as I've been saying, we need DL recruits more than anything right now.

Pony Up! The next game will be a true measuring stick.

ojaipony wrote:Finally got the damn uniform right!

Yes!!!!

To say same old thing when you are playing this quality level is just pretty stupid. Really - you should consider not watching sports if that is the best you can offer.

We hung with them for over three quarters. Yes i expect better later, but i think this team is a team that can hang with AAC mid level, and that is pretty amazing considering where the program was left.

gostangs wrote:
We hung with them for over three quarters.

Yes, we have been saying this for 30 years. But, we did NOT hang with them for over three quarters. Their offense scored at will.

But thanks for the personal attack [deleted] hole.

gostangs wrote:Really - you should consider not watching sports if that is the best you can offer.

Post something original, some kind of worthy observation about something not just criticizing some else's post. You should consider not reading message boards if that is the best you can offer.

Not sure how tonight was anything we've watched the past 8 years. Not even close.

We don't have the guys right now to beat a Baylor type team. It's not hard to see. The fact that we still hung around in the game into the second half says a whole lot about this coaching stuff.

The timeout taken on 1st down cost us points but what can you do. Learn from it and move on. Exciting time to be a Mustang fan imo.

stupid criticism is not original around here. In fact it is the opposite. If you are going to be a nit wit you will be called out for it.

There was some bad clock management at the end of the half. Learn from it. But if you were there and could see the sideline, it told me just as much as the play on the field. These kids are ready to play and just need to keep going like they are and they will be fine.

Gaines had to stay home and be an extra OL this week. Gaines worked his tail off.

this was the best first game freshman class performance in forever. Castille made some plays-Thomas caught a pass-they are just getting their feet wet. Xavier, Braeden West and the Waskom kid all made contributions. Eric Dickerson was mediocre third string RB as a freshman but the experience prepared him for breakout Sophomore year-that's how this works

It is mind blowing that anyone could be anything but excited after this game when compared to last year. We have tons of major problems, but far fewer than we all expected.

couch 'em wrote:It is mind blowing that anyone could be anything but excited after this game when compared to last year. We have tons of major problems, but far fewer than we all expected.

Absolutely agree.

Two things-

-Limited pass rush- BU was doing a bunch of Packaged Plays (aka POP plays) where runs are blocked for and Passes are tagged on like option reads behind whoever are the additional run support players. QB decides to hand off or sling it quick depending on what those players do. It goes in the stat sheet as a pass but it's not a typicaly dropback and unless the QB just holds the ball it's rare it ever gets real pressure on him barring an OL getting dominated. The Hitch TD to Jay Lee was one of these and the long pass that was called back for illegal downfield was also.

- Limited catches for TE Gaines- BU's scheme was aggressive enough that slower developing plays to the TE weren't ideal. Needed to get the ball out of QB's hand and holding the ball to let him run a wheel or seam route from the backfield isn't a good fit for that. Add in how he'd usually be needed for protection and it makes sense without being any slight to the guy.

watching replay-SMU deep Blue uniforms contrasted with Red trim look even better on TV-its a High Definition Age-bold colors look best-not our boring Red

OP-

it just seems like the same old same ole because of the final score and the fact that Baylor is deep and very good and did wear down an under talented team...


BUT
You cannot possibly say while watching this SMU offense execute with these young players and new coaching staff that there
was anything remotely the same about this team. Night and Day!

The Uniforms are classic, and I will even enjoy it when they break out the red chrome, although I don't get the chrome.