We Need a QB That Can Win Games!

[Digetydog]

I agree Ponyte, it is a team effort. I don't think the blame can be placed on one guy.

I'm not saying that Hicks is not going to develop at all or anything like that. His confidence not getting shaken with the lack of OL has been really amazing.

But the staff absolutely went into spring thinking Hicks would challenge for the starting spot. And they went into the Fall thinking the same thing. Not just words, they absolutely thought he was going to do exciting things, and soon.

Don't keep using Jones's last couple of classes as a crutch. Here are some facts:
- The last two Bennett classes were rated worse than the last two June classes.
- The first two Morris classes were rated better than the first two June classes.
- June had two good OL players in his second year, which Morris doesn't have, that were from the previous regime.
- That said, June found a QB from scratch, he found a standout RB, he had only one great receiver but found creative ways to get him the ball in pretty much every game.
- Morris is starting with a leftover DL and Secondary that is much better than June had.
- June found two great LBs (Davis and Reed) to fill in that gap on defense, and Morris hasn't found that guy regardless of the higher recruiting rankings.

June took a team that was just as devoid of talent as Morris' and got them to a bowl game the second season. You name Sanders and the two OL, and I will give you Sutton, Millines, Wyatt, and Richardson.

With Morris' ability to recruit and very well regarded recruiting classes, we should expect more out of this team than 3-4 wins.

The staff is very, very young and not very experienced. As much as it really helps in recruiting (and there is no doubt about that), it is hurting us in game execution right now. And that is okay, I am willing to give them time to grow. But we should be able to be honest about it.

Did June lose his starting QB, RB, LT, backup LT, DE and 3rd String QB to injuries early in season 2? Btw- in season 2, June had three WR's who are still the NFL + lucked into McNeil.

'http://www.totalfootballstats.com/Team_College.asp?id=131&Season=2009

[Rebel10]

Every person on the OL that June inherited was better than any line June recruited. So stop the revionist history JB. Also June won in a weak CUSA and the vast majority of June's wins were against bad teams. You can't compare the 2 situations because they are different. Your sucking up to June is sickening. It took USF 3 years to get to a bowl game under Taggert and he recruited better than HCCM. Yes, if we were still in CUSA we should expect more than 3 or 4 wins but we are not.

[JasonB]

True that on the injuries, and also on the level of competition in the league.

I don't think anyone was thinking 8-5, but going into the season with a 3-4 win target is way too low.

McNeil was recruited as a transfer, that isn't luck. It counts just the same as anyone. But he did miss a couple of games that season with injury. He ran off his Matt Davis the year before and had to bench his starter BLM in favor of Padron. He had recruited more than one player at the position, and thus had another option, which is something we hammered June for not doing enough of later in his tenure.

2008 wins: SFA, UAB, ECU, Tulsa, Rice, UTEP, Tulane, Nevada

UNT = UAB, Liberty = SFA, Tulsa = Tulsa, Tulane = Tulane, ECU = ECU

Nevada back then was probably about what Temple is now. They had Kap, but you have to throw in the Hawaii shenanigans factor.

So, yeah, we don't have a Rice or a UTEP. 6 or 5 wins on this schedule is probably the equivalent. Not 3 or 4.

[Rebel10]

If SMU were still in CUSA then you would expect 5 or 6 wins. USF only had 3 or 4 wins during Taggert's second year and he had recruited the top classes in the AAC. Most on here predicted 3 to 4 wins except you. And June had a good OL that Bennet left him. As sbsmith so accurately said that you overestimated SMU's team and underestimated everyone else and now you are blaming the coaches. Ridiculous.

[sbsmith]

If SMU were still in CUSA then you would expect 5 or 6 wins. USF only had 3 or 4 wins during Taggert's second year and he had recruited the top classes in the AAC. Most on here predicted 3 to 4 wins except you. And June had a good OL that Bennet left him. As sbsmith so accurately said that you overestimated SMU's team and underestimated everyone else and now you are blaming the coaches. Ridiculous.

JB is even starting to invoke our 2009 season as some sort of justification for his inaccurate BS

[Digetydog]

If SMU were still in CUSA then you would expect 5 or 6 wins. USF only had 3 or 4 wins during Taggert's second year and he had recruited the top classes in the AAC. Most on here predicted 3 to 4 wins except you. And June had a good OL that Bennet left him. As sbsmith so accurately said that you overestimated SMU's team and underestimated everyone else and now you are blaming the coaches. Ridiculous.

JB is even starting to invoke our 2009 season as some sort of justification for his inaccurate BS

The failure to recognize the impact of injuries is the fatal flaw in his analysis.
- 2 wins against the expected teams
- 2 played both BU & TCU very close for a half. Without the injuries, we "might" have been able to sneak in a win.
- 1 Temple - bad loss
- 1 Tulsa - despite the injuries, we tied the game up when we could have given up. To win that game, we need just a little "more."

Future Schedule: http://www.espn.com/college-football/st ... /group/151

Memphis, UH, Navy and USF are good teams. In the Big12, they would be contenders for top half and almost certainly bowl teams. Worst of all, ECU is better than the record suggests.

With our OL problems, 4 wins will be a major achievement.

[JasonB]

. I'm suggesting that the 3-4 win expectation prior to the season starting is the mistake. Before the injuries. Without the injuries, considering JJ didn't have an established QB, you could argue that we should have expected 6 wins minimum, even with the better conference.

All bets are off with the injuries of course. That does change everything. If Pursley is on one tackle and Natour on the other, this is a much better OL. I'm just trying to do a like-for-like comparison.

I'll also add that despite the OL falling apart at the end of his tenure, JJ never made the adjustment to stop looking deep before going short. Morris at least has made that adjustment.

I'm just trying to be objective about the coaches. If you watch the last two years of June, we had missed assignments all over the place. That isn't on the players, it is evidence of bad coaching. When you watch our OL, the technique is there and the positioning is right, they just can't execute. That is on the players, the OL coach is actually doing a very good job.

On the other hand, when we see one missed assignment or one player who gets dominated leading to a really long touchdown, that is on the coaches. When Rhone gets trucked on the first long TD run, that it physical ability, but having nobody else in the vicinity to breathe on the RB 20 yards down field, that is coaching. Yes, young players are going to blow their assignments from time to time. It happens. And when it leaves Alex Honey alone on the sideline, you expect a bust to lead to a long play. But for a bust to lead to a super long TD right down the middle of the field, either 3 or 4 players are missing assignments or the scheme is not good. And those are coaching issues. It isn't like lead blockers are freeing off the line and walling players off downfield and getting some downfield blocks. We just aren't anywhere to be found.

The coaching staff is young and inexperienced and coaching positions they haven't coached at before. They are going to make mistakes, and they are going to grow just like the players. I'm not saying to fire them. But for Tulsa, while the recruiting and motivation made us competitive in the game, at the end of the day some of the coaching stuff cost us the chance to win. And keep in mind that if Tulsa catches those INTs or has even a relatively decent penalty night, it is a huge loss.

[Donnell88]

I am missing something. Our defence surrendered 562 yards and 34 first downs to a team that lost 48-3 to Ohio State. Ben Hicks threw no interceptions and put 40 points on the board. And we're blaming him?

[Wild Mustang]

The topic of this thread is "We Need a QB That Can Win Games!"...

No one is blaming the Tulsa loss entirely on Ben Hicks. Respectfully we can probably all agree that there is more than enough blame to go around... Coaches, Special Teams, Run Defense, Dropped Passes. One of my original main points is that by no stretch did our QB play a good game. Our QB had more than his fair share of opportunities to make plays. Our QB even had multiple opportunities to win the game for our team. I am not confident that Hicks can lead our team to Wins. See the games that Hicks has started for us this season. We should expect our starting QB to not throw interceptions. Yes interceptions happen, but Hicks has been horrific this season. Congrats on having four quarters of not throwing one interception. Congrats on scoring in the red zone. That should be the norm not the exception.

With the talent that we have recruited on the Offense Side of the ball at WR and RB I am constantly surprised how little success our QB has every game. Yes our WRs have been dropping balls lately (and that is on our WRs). Setting aside the dropped passes, look at the overthrows, the bad playcall adjustments at the line before the snap, the interceptions, and ducks that are thrown throughout the game. My guess is that if we gave the Temple QB, the Tulsa QB, the Baylor QB, the TCU QB, or even some other SMU QB with moderate talent the same weapons... WRs like Courtland Sutton, James Proche, Xavier Castille, Alex Honey... West and Freeman at RB... something tells me that you could get more production on offense.

This topic is not solely about interceptions. Hicks continues to throw ducks and overthrow receivers. Look, leaders make plays. Leaders find a way to win. Leaders instill confidence in their ability from their fellow players. Leaders to some extent are playmakers. Talent-wise HIcks is below a serviceable QB. Honestly I am not sure what made Hicks such a heralded recruit. I have not seen his High School talent transition to the college game. Truth be told, unfortunately we could almost put anyone in at QB this season and get the same level of production that we are getting out of Hicks. I recognize that our depth is shot at QB so we are probably stuck with Hicks this season. Hicks makes bad decisions with the ball, makes bad adjustments at the line, cannot run, cannot throw a spiral, cannot hit an open receiver. Someone please help me understand what he can do. Other than having confidence, being tough, and being cocky...What true football skills does Hicks bring to our team?

Being an SMU Alum, Hicks is not a guy that I want leading my Football Team. I have higher expectations for our Football Program and our QB Position.

My hopes are that Brewer, Peavy, or another QB next season can "win" games for our team.

[Donnell88]

Cannot throw a spiral, cannot hit an open receiver. You might want to take another look at the 45-yard touchdown pass he threw to Alex Honey.

[Pony Boss]

Wild Mustang what do you think of Matt Davis?

[OLfan]

I am missing something. Our defence surrendered 562 yards and 34 first downs to a team that lost 48-3 to Ohio State. Ben Hicks threw no interceptions and put 40 points on the board. And we're blaming him?

Good point. Tulsa game loss was not due to Hicks's inefficiencies. If you have the game recorded, watch Defense in slow motion. LB play is just embarrassing and atrocious. Gave up 315 yards rushing. When a team has 2 RBs with over 125 yards rushing, you're probably going to lose. Most of Tulsa's big plays came off of LB error, including the dagger in OT.

Too slow, can't shed blocks even from smaller RBs, and they CANNOT tackle. All of the improvements seen this year with DBs and DL are offset by this gaping hole. Guaranteed that remaining opponents are scheming/focusing on LB matchups. Hopefully those young red shirts standing on the sideline are a little more athletic. Maybe the coaches should specifically call out the LB corps like they did with OL last week.

Other big contributors:
-Special Teams- not sure what's going on there? Problem in every game thus far this year.
-coach play calling. Especially 3rd down. West can contribute, but relying on him for 3rd down conversions has been a disaster all year. He's fast but needs space.

Team is headed in the right direction. Long way to go and to your point, Donell88, ...it ain't all Hicks! Ha

[Stallion]

Ben Hicks was arguably the Offensive Player of the Game and played to his potential more than any player on the team. His job was to score enough points to give SMU a chance to win the game. No turnover-hit on what 56% of his passes with about 4 drops including 3 big ones that cost about 80-100 yards. He gave us a shot and it probably would have been enough without the horrible special teams play

[sbsmith]

:). I'm suggesting that the 3-4 win expectation prior to the season starting is the mistake. Before the injuries. Without the injuries, considering JJ didn't have an established QB, you could argue that we should have expected 6 wins minimum, even with the better conference.

You could argue "6 wins minimum" but you'd sound delusional in the process. People who make predictions like that obviously don't follow our competition or else they'd know better. Those same people have been underestimating this conference since we joined (BTW we're 6-20 in AAC play ).

[mtrout]

Beat UNT(#141), Liberty(#146), Temple(#66), Tulsa(#75), Tulane(#103), and ECU(#80). That was insanely out of the realm of possibility during preseason predictions? Those numbers are current Sagarin rankings in case anyone's asking.

So I guess this year's summary is looking like "better but hurter"?