Next Year's Expectations

[Mustangs35SMU]

With an obvious show of that this team has improved and can win againist ANY and everyone they play againist (unless it's againist Texas A&M at Kyle Field)..What do think the expectations are for next season?

We've lost 4 games by 7 or less points..and we've actually won 4 games in itself...So lets look at the 2006 Schedule.

Our schedule is being brought back up to 12 games next season.

Our four non-district games including games againist Texas Tech, North Texas, Arkansas State, and Sam Houston State.

ASU and SHSU are for sure at home. North Texas is in Denton and we seem to be getting conflicting reports about the Texas Tech game being in Lubbock or Dallas.

Either way, IMO I think our expectation is to open the season with a 3-1 record. Can we beat Tech will be the question IMO. If we come out and beat Texas Tech right off the bat I think the expectations will rise very very fast in my eyes. Even if we take them down to the last play of the game.

Conference slate has..
@ Tulane
vs Marshall
vs UAB
@ ECU
vs Tulsa
@ Rice
vs Houston
@ UTEP

I haven't looked at what any of these teams have coming back expect I know Houston has some coming back.

Now the question, Should we expect this '06 team to make it all the way to the conference championship and win it. Or should we expect just a winning season and a bowl appearance.

Your thoughts?

[Nacho]

4-7

[EastStang]

Remember, we'll have a new QB next year for all intents and purposes, so there will be a curve there. If we don't have any early season conference games, we might do real well in conference, although I do see some roadblocks. UTEP on the road and Rice on the road. If we go 4-4 in conference and 3-1 out of conference, then we'll be 7-4 and bowl eligible. If we go 5-3 in conference, we might be western division champs.

[BrianTinBigD]

What learning curve could our next QB have in this typical HS offense. This offense is not nearly as complex as what most of the HS teams in Texas run. Willis only needed the summer to figure this thing out. Probably because Denton Ryan ran a more complex offense. He just needed to figure out the terminolgy and learn the defenses that he will be facing.

My guess will be 8-4. We get hammered by Tech, but we get wins against:
Ark St.
Sam Houston St.
North Texas State.
UAB
Tulane - if they field a team
Tulsa
Rice
Houston

We create our own bowl game at Ford and we call it the Love Bowl and we get Southwest Airlines to sponsor it and buy all the TV ads to trash the stupidity of the Wright Amendment.

Now wasn't that easy

[Stallion]

the "Love Bowl"---I Luv It! Absolutely Luv it!!! Now you are thinking like Brad Thomas/Russ Potts. The Uniqueness of the name itself would be worth the advertising. Give that man a contract. Of course, we would need to find a new travel airline since we use American right?

[gostangs]

Lift the stupid wright amendment and we can fly love to all of our CUSA games.

Great idea - Love the Love Bowl.

Tech kills us - also although I think we do well vs UTEP this week playing them away is tough, and they will have 10 new JUCO's. Rice away will give us problems - I think we win 6, maybe 7 games. We get a sympathy bowl and Bennett gets a new job.

[JasonB]

We a few holes to fill, the biggest at OLB, QB, K, and Punter. I am excited about all the progress we have made this year. And I think that next year's QB, whether it be Phillips, Willis, or a JC, is going to be a step up from Romo.

That said, I think that you can count on some stupid mistakes at the QB position, just due to inexperience.

The Dline has been fantastic and will only get better. The OLine should improve with experience and some of the younger guys are going to challenge for spots. So I think we will be better on both sides of the line, and this year has been the best performance on either side of the line in quite a while. O-linemen aren't ready to play until their Junior year (with few exceptions), so I am looking forward to seeing what the o-line can do next year.

I am a big fan of the fact that if you can win both sides of the line, or at least be competitive in that area, you are going to at least stay close in a lot of football games.

OLB and backup MLB are going to be huge positions to fill. We depserately need a JUCO to come in and take charge. Nnabuife, Harper, and Humphrey are huge losses on defense, but I think Nnabuife will have the biggest impact.

So, what I am looking at is a team that could have a decent o-line, some good athletes at the skill position, but inexperience at QB which costs you in close games.

I am looking at a defense that won't be quite as good as this year.

I am looking at special teams that are going to have an inexperienced kicker and punter, both of which are areas that saved us this year at times.

So, that means that we are going to probably lose the close games again next year...

3-1 heading into conference. UAB rebuilding because they lose the QB, that should be a win. Rice SHOULD be a win because of our improved d-line, but the saftey and OLB replacement are important against the option. Marshall, Tulane, ECU, Tulsa, Houston will also be tough.

UTEP is a loss.

So, 3 wins, 2 losses, and 6 close games. Unfortunately, because of the lack of experience (and from what I have seen, the backup kicker isn't that good), and until I see something out of OLB or QB in the spring game, I think that we will only win 2 of the 6 close ones at most.

I am thinking 6-6 next year is probably about as positive as we should expect. 5-7, unless we see something in the spring at OLB, QB, FS is probably more realistic, because that UNT game isn't a given next year because of the Tech game (see Tulane).

[BUTitan]

Man,want to switch schedules?

[mrydel]

Man,want to switch schedules?

Sure if we can switch conferences!

[Stallion]

I think- but hope I'm proven wrong- that Humphrey will be a very big loss. We've got some decent young guys at CB in Haynes and Lindley and McKinde who have the athleticism but I've have yet to see them play at a particularly high level. I'm concerned we will not have a shut down corner next year. LB is just plain scary right now. I'm sure its a focus of recruiting so I'll reserve judgment at LB and hope-no pray for reinforcements. Kicking Game? Problems loom. Wide Receivers-need to improve that position as we have had to do just about every year. We have about 5 WRs who have ZERO TDs and play substantial minutes. I believe I'm correct that our WRs have a TOTAL of 5 TDs(Chase 3, Pellerin 1, Lowery 1) We need playmakers to improve this offense. QB-BIG QUESTIONMARK. There is a big difference in hoping a QB can emerge and having proven depth. We've had about 15 allegedly promising young QBs over the year who at best were mediocre. I'm not a big fan of our offensive line-think we are below average there and likely will be only marginally better next year.

[PlanoStang]

4-7

It's a 12 game schedule. Who are we conceding the forfeit to?

[LawSchoolPony]

I think that a winning record, and possible contention for C-USA West champions is a legitimate goal if we see continued improvement and we are able to fill in holes from this year's seniors. I think we're still young enough that we will be fine in that regard. I see Demyron maturing into an even better work-horse for us next year.

I predict winning record, w/ a possible bowl and maybe West championship contention. Go Ponies.

[abezontar]

While I love seeing all the optimism(sp) I hope everyone isn't too discouraged if we come out worse next year then this. We have only won 4 games, and while there has been improvement on the field in some areas there have been some areas that haven't been any better. Until I see several years of continuous improvement I am not going to start predicting sunshine and lollipops for this program. Let's not forget that 6-5 season in 97. I am sure a lot of people saw nothing but bright promises for the future and unfortunately it went the other direction.

[Nacho]

Correction. 4-8

[RGV Pony]

My heart says 9-3, but my head says 6-6, which gets us bowl eligible, and I'm guessing a spirited argument right here on pf.com whether or not SMU is a farce, shouldn't be bowl eligible, there's too many bowls, since when does .500 get you into a bowl, along with some statistics about the number of .500 teams that have gone to bowls and how they've performed, etc. etc. etc.

Following said bowl, SMU either a) gets trounced and we hear the bellyachers saying we should be lucky w/ even sniffing a bowl; b) a close game lost in the last three minutes in which case cut & paste the comments after Marshall, ECU or possibly Tulsa; c) the Ponies win and it's anticlimactic for fear of being labled a 'sunshiner' who needs to be warned about how a 7-6 record does not warrant a celebration on any level, and that tougher times are coming with x# of graduating seniors.

Did I leave anything out?