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From the SMU athletic department:


SMU Football Team Adds Three
Bennett Signs Trio Of JC Standouts
For Immediate Release
Thursday, December 18, 2003

DALLAS (SMU) - The SMU football team has signed three junior college standouts for the 2004 season, Head Coach Phil Bennett announced Thursday, Nov. 18. Wide receiver Bobby Chase and quarterbacks Tony Eckert and Jerad Romo will join the Mustangs after solid junior college performances.

Chase, a native of Irving, will enroll after one season at Blinn (Texas) College, where he caught five passes for 40 yards. The 6-4, 210-pound wideout was a member of Dave Campbell's Texas Football Top 300 as a prep senior at Irving High School. He was an All-District 8-5A selection for Head Coach Jim Bennett and was rated a two-star prospect by Rivals.com. As a high school senior, Chase caught almost 60 passes for over 800 yards. A big receiver, Chase is also known for his speed, having been clocked at 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash. He will have three seasons of eligibility at SMU.

Eckert arrives on the Hilltop after two seasons at Tyler Junior College where he led the Apaches to their first 10-win season since 1969. As a sophomore, Eckert completed 135 passes on 255 attempts for 2,359 yards. He had 24 touchdown passes and just 10 interceptions. In 2003, he guided Tyler to a 10-2 mark overall including a 55-3 win over Rochester (Minn.) in the Heart of Texas Bowl where the 6-3, 190-pound signal caller was 14-of-24 for 259 yards and four TDs. A 2002 graduate of Lumberton (Texas) High School, Eckert was District MVP and an honorable mention All-State as a senior, completing 203 of 373 attempts for 3,023 yards and 21 scores.

Romo comes to SMU from Antelope Valley Junior College where he completed 125 of 206 pass attempts for 1,731 yards, 10 touchdowns and just two interceptions as a sophomore in 2003. He had a quarterback efficiency rating of 145.34 in leading AVC to a 5-5 record. As a senior at Tehachapi (Calif.) High School in 2002, Romo led the Warriors to a 10-3 mark and a South Sequoia League championship as the high-powered offense scored a school-record 33.3 points per game. For his performance, the 6-2, 210-pound quarterback was named a first-team All-SSL selection.

All three players will enroll at SMU in January and will participate in spring practice.

Good to get an official time on Chase. I know he was working to improve his speed and had clocked some unofficial 4.4-ish times in the past. By far the best attribute about Bobby Chase are his hands. Finally, we'll have a large, acrobatic, catch-all receiver on the team! CBs beware.

Well, you always want to have at least 4 QBs on the roster and we now have the two JUCOs along with Phillips and Meeks competing for playing time. The next question is whether Tate Wallis and Ashton Nixon will return next year and if they do, will they be contributing as scout team QBs or will they get a look at another position?

Didn't Wallis play some LB in H.S.? We are going to be think at LB next year. Is Nixon athletic enough to contribute somewhere?

Well, if these JC QB's are worth a damn, I think this definately points toward Phillips being redshirted next year. Which, personally, I think is fantastic. One will start, the other will back up, and Meeks will be the emergency next year.

I'm confused: http://ulmathletics.ocsn.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/eckert_tony00.html

Looking at his Tyler JC stats.. Eckert looks like the much better signing. His stats are impressive.

<small>[ 12-18-2003, 11:47 PM: Message edited by: FloridaMustang ]</small>

Originally posted by Mike Damone:
Well, if these JC QB's are worth a damn, I think this definately points toward Phillips being redshirted next year. Which, personally, I think is fantastic. One will start, the other will back up, and Meeks will be the emergency next year.

I agree. Phillips won't like it -- in fact, I'd WANT him to be angry about it, because that's the kind of competitiveness you want from your QB -- but in the long run, it might benefit him greatly. He'd have a full year to learn the new OC's system, and a full year to get even bigger and stronger. If the JUCOs can play, let's hold Phillips out a year. And when the improving talent level is ready to play, he'll still have three years of eligibility left.

I have to think that the primary reason that Bennett signed these JUCO QB's is to provide quality depth at the position. I think Phillips will start Spring Ball as the #1 guy, but Bennett knows that if either Phillips doesn't continue progressing OR he gets injured we're in some serious trouble. For two (2) straight years Tate Wallis has proven he's better suited at another position. Bennett knows we need depth and that's what he's hoping he got from these kids.

....the best kid PLAYS PERIOD. Forget about 4 years from now and play for today. Phillips will be difficult to dislodge and at 0-12 I seriously doubt the best QB will be riding the bench. Some of you go a little bit overboard on redshirting. Redshirting is Nice-Winning is Better.

<small>[ 12-19-2003, 06:43 AM: Message edited by: Stallion ]</small>

You also have to figure in that if our OL is in disarray again next year, we can't afford to have Phillips sitting out as a redshirt when he is a mobile QB. I also like the fact that Meeks and Phillips are separated by a year now.

Originally posted by BigEasyPony:
For two (2) straight years Tate Wallis has proven he's better suited at another position.

EasyPony I love your way with words. :thumbupcool: