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Southlake Carroll vs Rockwall on TV Thursday night. Since Braden is the quarterback for Rockwall it should be interesting to see if he can pad his top-rated statistics against strong competition!

So how did he do tonight?

He looked pretty damn good. SLC ultimately won...they were up 49 to 42 with 40seconds left in the game, but Rockwall gave them a good fight. Braden generally made quite a few good passes, was able to elude the defense in most cases when they started to pressure him in the back field and he had a number of nice runs although he is not generally thought of as a running QB.

DMN statistics for Brader were 25-38 for 292 yards, 3 TDs, and NO interceptions. Sounds like he could start for us right now!

He looked like a pretty good high school QB. Believe it or not he was completely outplayed by that North Texas QB signee who threw for 7 TDs. No comparison on the velocity on the ball or their execution of the offense between the two QBs either. SMU doesn't execute their offense half as well as that high school team in Southlake. I'm waiting to cast my Davy O'Brian QB of the Year popularity vote for Willis until he can execute SMU's offense half as well as that high school team without running around and improvising his own play 75% of the time even if he is often successful. Dodge can and will be a very successful college QB. That was a great game-better than 80% of the college games you will see.

Ponymon wrote:DMN statistics for Brader were 25-38 for 292 yards, 3 TDs, and NO interceptions. Sounds like he could start for us right now!

I laughed at him, but maybe MM65 will be right, that he'll get some better offers and jump ship, now that it's pretty unclear who SMU's coach will be next year

For the first time in a long time, the QB play of SMU is not the problem. I am a big fan of Willis. It is hard for him when our undersized offensive line does not give him a lot of time to throw. It is also hard for Willis when we cannot run the football. The problem with SMU is the lack of size on the lines. The Ark. St. qb was never under pressure when he threw the ball (at least most of the time) and they had some success in running the football. We, however, could not run the football and Willis was not given a lot of time to go through his reads.

Smith was awesome last night.
With Willis clearly the man, and with Rhodes, Turner and Smith as backups, I feel a lot more comfortable about QB depth than I have in a long time.

Hoofprint wrote:with Rhodes, Turner and Smith as backups, I feel a lot more comfortable about QB depth than I have in a long time.

With that line up we could run a 2 tight end set and still have a back up if Willis got hurt.

Give this man an A++.

Check out the following link: Nice things to say about our boy. http://hs.beloblog.com/archives/2007/09/wrappin_up_carroll_vs_rockwall.html

For those too lazy to open the link:

3) Braden Smith = real deal. That was a masterful performance in a losing effort. I sat next to the King O' Blogging himself Tim MacMahon all evening, and we marveled at Smith's ability to make both the tough and the easy throws. And to escape trouble with his feet. And his leadership. The kid is for real and, as T-Mac remarked tonight, "We're probably watching the two best quarterbacks in the area."

And it's true. Who else can you name that is in the discussion with Smith and SLC's Riley Dodge as the best quarterback in the area? Royse City's Richard Morrison? Maybe. But there is no doubt that Smith is an elite quarterback.

Of course, we all know they're not the best QBs in the area, just because guys who make their living watching these guys say they are. Rivals says they're not in Coach Bennett's top 10 QB prospects!

FYI: I don't know Greg Teberer, or whatever this new guy's name is. But Tim McMahon has covered high school football in this area for years, and he seems to be a very good evaluator. If he or Recruiting Guru says it, it generally turns out to be right. Not every time, of course - nobody is right about recruiting every time - but as far as I can tell, their track records are pretty damn good.

You make it sound like my claim that Braden Smith wasn't even among SMU Top 10 QB targets before the season is some kind of wild irresponsible claim. Its not. There are 17 QBs in Texas rated higher than Smith-all of whom have gotten Division 1A offers- and that DOES NOT include QBs like Riley Dodge listed as an Athlete. Probably then Smith is somewhere in range of the No. 20th rated QB in Texas. Not including out-of-staters SMU might have looked at. Smith was the 5th QB offered by SMU. There are probably at least 5 others in the Top 100 which SMU as cited in another thread didn't even bother to offer. Top 10 SMU QB target was being kind. Fact remains that almost every team in Texas has signed a much more highly recruited, quality prospect than Smith. So I'd say SMU is once again looking at a talent disadvantage HOPING that a kid comes through. How has that worked out for SMU over the years.

Question, not a rebuttal. How high was Willis rated out of High School? I know he went to the State Championship, but I do not recall his area, State or National ranking.

He was a 3 star recruit with several if not numerous offers.