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Last report of the season... this one will be pretty short.

- First and foremost, what an awesome season. We are way ahead of where the program should be in year one of the ACC. This is only the beginning. Yes, we were a little fortunate with a down year for the ACC. And yes, as much as there is a gap between G5 and P4, there is another gap between the standard P4 and the elite P4. Thank you so much to the players and coaches for everything you invested in the season, and the joy you gave us in the stands. It was awesome and something none of us will ever forget.

- The three turnovers were a killer. One of the differences when you play against the elite teams in the P4 versus the standard P4 is converting turnovers into points. Clemson punished us early in the ACC championship. Penn State punished us in this game, scoring TDs after every turnover. When we turned it over against Duke, they didn't score. Turnovers are something you can't afford against good teams.

- Coming in, I knew 11 was going to be disruptive against Byrd. I actually had it in my mind before the game that we might end up playing Chamblee after halftime if the first half was as bad as I thought it might be. It was worse than I thought it was going to be, and I am a little surprised that we didn't make that switch. Byrd has done a great job working his butt off to play three different positions this season for us. But at the end of the day, I think he is a guard trying to play tackle. He doesn't have the balance or quickness on the edge right now. A first round draft pick is going to really take advantage of that.

- I was surprised that PJ struggled so much against 33. That was a matchup I thought we could win, and it never materialized.

- The first INT, Clark just let the DT run free, and that can't happen up the middle. Yes, Jennings needs to either spin out of it or eat the ball on a sack instead of trying to make that throw, but you just can't have that happen with a senior center. That was uncharacteristic of both him and Jennings.

- The second INT was what I was afraid of before the game. Jennings rolling right with 11 putting pressure off the edge, 4 had the WR on lockdown, and Jennings throwing late back towards the middle. That throw was an example of how the cold impacted the game - when the ball is a frozen rock, making touch passes over a LB is next to impossible. As a QB, you lose the feel of the touch throw, and the ball came out like it did. That is an example of how inexperience in cold weather costs you. It will be a learning experience for Jennings. These home games are a massive advantage for teams in the north.

- The third INT was something we haven't seen all year from Jennings. He has done such a great job of switching arm angles all season to avoid blocks, and seeing him get a pass deflected like that is a real oddity. Might be another example of how the conditions affected the play.

- Important to note that 13 and 00, who created the turnovers, were the people we needed to take advantage of during the game. Their secondary defensive players were huge and really played a big part in the result.

- Drops kill you in big games, and I'll say it again, I think the cold weather has a lot to do with it. We didn't see these problems with drops all season.

- We missed that big, elite target in the passing game. In games like this, you can't hold the ball in the pocket for long, and the defense is really good, you need that guy you can throw the ball up to and expect to come down with it. Someone who has the size and athleticism and strength to go up and win a jump ball. We don't have that guy on the roster right now. A lot of good receivers, yes. But not THAT guy. A couple of the incoming frosh have that ability, and it will close a big gap that we have on the roster right now. RJ would have been awesome to have in a game like that as well.

- LJ looked better than we have seen in a while - like he did in fall camp with his burst back. Promising for us ahead of next season.

- I think we can see where our OL was really good against OK teams, but once we went up against the great DL, they struggled some. We aren't quite up to the level of BC or Penn State on the OL. I think PJ can get there. Parr is solid. The Arkansas and OU players are going to compete inside. We need to find a really good tackle to pair with PJ on the outside so that we can move Byrd inside where I think he can become a physically dominant guard. Maybe that is Chamblee when he gets healthy, but we need another transfer at that position to create competition and quality depth.

- I'm surprised that we didn't take advantage of Junior more in the game. They were in a 4-3 a lot of the game (which is why 0 got the INTs). It is great that they respected our running game enough to play that alignment, but we needed to take advantage of it at TE and the slot and we didn't threaten them enough there. I'd like to hear a little from the staff on why Penn State was able to shut that down. I know that Jennings took one sack when RJ had leaked out deep wide open down the middle. I'm not sure if that was happening more frequently and we just couldn't hit it or what the deal was.

- The defense was great, and is good enough to play at the highest level. They weren't the problem today, obviously. The dawg goes out of you when the offense isn't doing anything in the second half, they weren't a problem.

- Smoke played a lot. Not sure if Deuce got hurt? Smoke got caught inside on the long TD run from 13. That was his responsibility.

It is a tough way to end the season. But the team did a great job this year, and we are set up for great things going forward! Again, thank you to the coaches and players for this incredible season.

To have a shot at this again next season, we need to pick up the following players in the portal: 1 DE, 2 or 3 DT, 1 LB, 1 OT, 1 RB, and 1 WR. And that will put us in a good position to reload and compete next season. The schedule next year will be much more difficult - Lousiville, Miami, and Clemson are going to be good and Stanford, Syracuse, and BC are all teams on the upswing. But hopefully we have the opportunity to do this all again!

See you at spring practice!

Great write up and great season. Kevin Jennings will learn from this and be even better because of it. Pony Up. The Pony Express is back. Expect this team to start in the top 25 next year.


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FWIW, we learned two games in a row that you can't win the game in the 1st quarter but you sure can lose it.

We lost 3 games this year where the oppositions' defense used blitzes early to disrupt our offense. Failure to be prepared for this is mainly a coaching issue.

Ball protection, smarter decisions at the QB position, better preparation by the coaching staff and fill some holes in personnel will be key to a more successful team next year.

This was a very good team. And the success gave this team and coaching staff exposure to the elite level of college football teams and staff. We needed this learning experience against elite programs and got it. Without such a successful year, we don't get this rare learning opportunity.

This^^^

I believe I heard during the Clemson game that we script the first 15 offensive plays each game. That's a lot. I think this could also be related to some of our 1Q problem. Our OL isn't very good and I think teams are able to read/prepare for these first handful of plays and blitz us accordingly. Blitzing cools off after the first few drives and I think that's about when the script runs out.

First, if we ever play at PSU again, we gave away 14 points on false starts caused by 100,000 Pennsylvanians scream at the top of their lungs. The 4th and 1 at their 19, KJ had the first down easy, bad decision by young QB. Also if I ever want to drive to Penn State just shoot me. Parking was totally confusing. Tickets wouldn’t upload. And everyone was standing on the metal benches which made the feet even colder. I will say wow great season. We see where we need to improve. But we did kick in the door this year. So here’s to a great year and many more to come.

A couple of thoughts:
Penn State was the more physical team on both sides of the ball. The more physical team usually wins...and did.

As JasonB, ponyte and Dukie have noted throughout the year, the bill of 'too many penalties' finally came due.

Turnovers...I would have preferred cherry rather than ours.

As far as the naysayers that will bleat their "Bama should have been in" et al, the CFP committee chose SMU by the criteria it announced. We played our worst game of the year on the biggest stage, and will take home a painful but needed experience. What we do with that experience will be the next important step in the long-term standing as a program on the rise. And quite frankly, I am happily at an age that talking heads, Finebaum callers and Stephen A Smith types really don't register on my "care-a-meter".

It's GREAT to be a Mustang. Grateful for a season that FAR exceeded my expectations. Somewhere I imagine jtstang and Stallion are quietly proud....

Devastated by the game today more because of what I felt it could have been without the turnovers and mistakes (false starts and needless penalties) but proud of what we accomplished overall.

I guess the saying, “misery loves company”, applies to me tonight because I was glad to see Tennessee get beat up similarly in an away game tonight only to stop (or at least diminish) the SEC homers from saying team X should have been in instead of SMU.

Mustangs_Maroons wrote:Devastated by the game today more because of what I felt it could have been without the turnovers and mistakes (false starts and needless penalties) but proud of what we accomplished overall.

I guess the saying, “misery loves company”, applies to me tonight because I was glad to see Tennessee get beat up similarly in an away game tonight only to stop (or at least diminish) the SEC homers from saying team X should have been in instead of SMU.

Yep, there's at least some narrative of "wow, home teams won all 4 games in dominant fashion" to compete with the expected "wow, IU and SMU shouldn't have been in."

First, disappointing game, but great season. Thanks to players, coaches, staff and fans. From The Athletic:

"Just to get it out of the way, yep, home favorites all won comfortably. That doesn’t mean the underdogs should’ve been excluded.
The weekend's losing teams who caught the most derision were Indiana and SMU. Lane Kiffin joined in on the griping, implying a spot should’ve instead gone to an SEC team like his Ole Miss Rebels — whose three losses included 4-8 Kentucky.

But since when are postseason games guaranteed to be close? The average score of a CFP game from the four-team era was 40-21. The average BCS Championship: 33-18. What, are we gonna redesign the NFL playoffs if the NFC South champ looks crappy?"

AusTxPony wrote:First, disappointing game, but great season. Thanks to players, coaches, staff and fans. From The Athletic:

"Just to get it out of the way, yep, home favorites all won comfortably. That doesn’t mean the underdogs should’ve been excluded.
The weekend's losing teams who caught the most derision were Indiana and SMU. Lane Kiffin joined in on the griping, implying a spot should’ve instead gone to an SEC team like his Ole Miss Rebels — whose three losses included 4-8 Kentucky.

But since when are postseason games guaranteed to be close? The average score of a CFP game from the four-team era was 40-21. The average BCS Championship: 33-18. What, are we gonna redesign the NFL playoffs if the NFC South champ looks crappy?"

Kiffin just likes to whine. It's much safer being on the outside looking in and complaining about being left out. Maybe he should get his team to actually EARN an invitation one of these years...and he better hope they get a home game if and when that day should ever come!

it was much closer game than what final score indicates.but for next few weeks all talk is Should SMU be in CFp

I wonder how the game would have changed if we had scored (or at least got the first down) on that opening drive. That play completely changed the game

Terry Webster wrote:I wonder how the game would have changed if we had scored (or at least got the first down) on that opening drive. That play completely changed the game

Yea that seemed to be a huge momentum shift early on and the poor throw by Jennings was an indicator of how his accuracy was going to be that day.

I think he should have kept running but Hib was open just a poorly thrown ball. SMU moved it well that drive too. That long throw with the PI helped but even that was almost caught.


Just hope Jennings is supported these next few weeks. SMU fans/players/coaches have his back but the media won't be so kind. He'll come back strong in the spring practices.

Our AD ought to pick up the phone and say, we'll be happy to play Ole Miss two home games and one away, if Kiffin has the stones to schedule it.