W2W4 - HCU

[JasonB]

Once again, I'm not going to spend time on the other team. Instead, I'll go position-by-position about what we want to look for.

QB - At some point this year, we are going to evolve into having two offenses. RPO when Jennings is in and an open passing offense when Stone is in. The question is when it is going to happen. Last year, after a really poor performance by the offense against ECU, we opened the game up against a weak opponent - Temple - and just destroyed them. Do we make that adjustment now, or do we wait? I am guessing we will see 3 drives of Stone in a passing offense, then 3 drives of Jennings with the RPO, so that we are running both styles with the first team players. Close the half out with Stone, run the third quarter with Jennings, and then Luster is in the 4th.

RB - As I mentioned last week, I would like to keep Brashard Smith to 15 touches per game - running, catching, and KR. I want him quick and fresh all season long, it definitely needs to be under that this week. With the changes up front in the line, I want to see both Rooster and LJ over 4 yards per carry, and I am looking forward to see the freshman in the 4th quarter. I kind of expect to see 1 RB per quarter.

TE - Maryland was awesome last week. Get him going early. I want to see consistency from him this year - 5 catches per game. There isn't any reason for it not to happen. I would love to see HIbner get more involved this week, especially in the RPO game with Jennings. And then Luster to Man Man in the 4th.

WR - Brinson was 3 for 3 last week in targets. I would love to see Stone in the passing offense start looking his way first and going right to left instead of left to right. One of the outside receivers needs to make a statement this week and be well over 100 yards. My bet is on Brinson. Smith should have had the long play early but Stone underthrew the ball. He and Hudson need to both be around 50 yards with multiple catches. Their catch to target ratio was unacceptable last week, but a lot of it was early with a more conservative offense. I want to see what they can do when we open things up. But Brinson is the guy I expect to explode. In the slot, I would not be surprised to see RDJ start after his performance last week. I want to see him put together back to back strong showings, because he has the ability to really make some things happen.

OL - PJ is really the only lock. I want to see dominance and wipe out the holding penalties. With Chamblee out again, and after Anderson failed, Osborne is being pushed outside. I think this is really a battle between Clark at C and Byrd at LG. Clark was exposed last week at guard, and he has been moved inside to see if he can grab that spot. Byrd has looked really good in practice ever since moving back to guard. Who will play better? If Byrd does well and Clark doesn't, we will see Osborne back to center once Chamblee is back. If Byrd struggles, then Parr will move back to LG and Osborne to RG after Chamblee returns. If Clark doesn't do well, then we might even see a little Parr at C in the second half. With Osborne outside, it will be interesting to see if he still has the agility to play there after practicing at C all spring and fall. When watching Clark and Byrd, we are looking to see who can really drive players off the ball. As the game opens up, I am interested to see if we see a lot of Caleb outside or if Anderson heads back out there. Or is Anderson inside at LG with Byrd for good. As we get into the 4th quarter, Uter, Large, and Woods are the three young players that I look to have a very positive impact.

DT - I expect our deep DT group to be able to hold their own in the running game and bottle things up. The question is if they can actually get stops - there were a ton of people running outside their gap and also missed tackles in the group. I thought H-H really struggled against Nevada, so I am looking forward to seeing if he can dominate while playing his role on the defense. He needs to have a standout game for us. Jefferson and Roberson I thought did well against Nevada, and want to see that continue. Lockhart is the missing piece and I would love to see more from him in this game. We will see a lot of Allen, Burris, and Sandjo in the 4th quarter. Of that group I am looking forward to watching Burris to see if he can be a depth contributer at NT this season or if he is more of a future play.

DE - I hope that Turbo starts, and I want to see if he has really taken that giant leap forward that it looked like against Nevada. I really expect the three of them (Turbo, Harvey, Roberts) to dominate in this game. Watch Cam on the strong side as a backup to see if he has really shaped his body to move over and handle the physicality and add depth. It is an important piece. As we move into the 4th quarter, I want to see Abor and Walton really put on a show and get us excited about the future.

LB - I thought Walker and especially Wilson were very meh last week. Bad lines, missed tackles. I hope they are frustrated with it and want to see them stand out like last season. The guy I have my eye on is Kilgore, who was fantastic last week and honestly probably deserves a start. I want to see back-to-back really good games from him, which we didn't necessarily get last year. He is an NFL guy. Miyazano played as the 4th LB last week and was not good in his few snaps. We are going to end up seeing a lot of him, Medlock, Smith, and Booker in the second half. I've heard that Medlock closed out camp really strong and that Booker is a stud on the level of Kilgore. That 4th LB spot is open and I want to see who steps up and grabs it.

S - All these guys are great. I am interested in seeing the backups - JMJ, Chambers, and Mohammed. Those guys need to show that they are ready to be involved in the rotation. JMJ is who I hear the most buzz about, so looking forward to watching him to see if he can rotate with Sanders.

CB - This is where we need to watch the closest. Smoke has speed, but he doesn't really look ready to play the ball. Deuce looks much better than early camp, and was probably our best corner against Nevada. AJ I think has a lower ceiling that then others, but he doesn't seem to mess up as much. Rogers I thought looked really good in camp, but struggles against deep routes. Crossley has to be frustrated with the ejection. And then there is Speedy Nettles, who I think is the most natural corner of all of them. When you play against a lower level opponent, and you are confident in your speed and athleticism, you should be able to cover your guy while also having your eyes ont he backfield, ready to make a play on the ball. That is what I am looking for. Who is so gifted with speed and athleticism that they are playing above the game, as opposed to working hard just to keep up and do your job. I want to see Deuce and Crawford do a lot of positive things and win the starting spots, and I want to see Nettles play off the bench and get an INT. What I saw against Nevada has me worried that this will be a problem spot all year. We need guys to take a step up.

I would be really disappointed if SMU scores less than 50 and gives up more than 10 points this week. 40 points in the first half. We got in our own way for three quarters against Nevada, there is no way that game should have been close with the talent difference. If we can't destroy this team, it doesn't look good for us in the ACC. The penalty issue was a problem all spring as well as in the first game. I don't think that gets resolved immediately, but I am hoping that the changes on the OL at least resolves that part of the problem. We need to get under 50 yards in penalties in this game heading into BYU.

I'll be an outlier in the predictions and say SMU hits our favorite number. 69-3 Mustangs.

[Mustangs35SMU]

Love the read.

Pony Up.

[carolina stang]

Thanks Jason. Great overview. Thumbs up, way up on the prediction!