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Thoughts on the Houston Game

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Thoughts on the Houston Game

Postby JasonB » Sun Nov 06, 2022 2:27 pm

Well, I said it would be high scoring because of the matchups. But WTF. I mean, seriously, not to overcomplicate it, but WTF.

I also thought going in that turnovers would be the difference. Well, the were, just on the other side of the fence :).

Mordecai was amazing. That first deep ball to Maryland he saw really late on the rollout, and I thought that it would be a sign all night of him running for his life and just not seeing receivers quickly enough, but he ended up fantastic. Dimes everywhere, hitting people perfectly in stride. Makes you wonder what the season would have been like if he didn't pick up the injuries earlier. Clearly Rhett is to be trusted when he talks about players working through injuries, because we saw the legit TM last night. Anytime you throw as many incompletions as TD passes it is a good sign, especially when it involves 9 of each. And in a game where both teams were marching up and down the field, waiting for someone to blink first, he kept playing smart and aggressive, until the player who everyone coming in thought was the top TD blinked. I don't recall a single pass the entire game being close to a pick.

The other thing I will throw in is that the week off may have done him good... not just from a healing perspective, but watching PS and KJ throw to secondary receivers. He stopped staring down Rice and trusted the other guys, and they massively delivered. That is the most important factor coming out of this game. RJ, Kerley, Goffney, Dixon all had explosive plays during the game. That is what we have been waiting to see this season, and is incredibly important.

It is also great that we learned our lesson at RB. Having all purpose backs can be great, especially if you can sustain blocks and get linemen to the second level. But if you can't, you either need a battering ram or an explosive runner to hit the hole fast. Lavine has been great, and he does damage when he has to face the secondary. And Wheaton and Gardner hit the hole quick enough and can make people miss at the next level. Having a running game makes this a much better team overall. Lashlee talked in the postgame about the difference being that we could run the ball pretty well and Houston couldn't. If we had only had that in the Cincy game when we were playing against the wind. The stretch play looked horrible earlier in the season when TJ or Siggers would kind of drift out left or right. But when Lavine slams into the hole, it is 5 yards, and Wheaton and Gartner have the quickness to hit the gap before it closes. Massive difference.

On the defensive side, it was pretty bad. It was clear that we haven't practiced or played in cold weather, because the Tune run in the beginning and the tackling at the start of the second half, it was awful. Everyone was afraid of the pain when you hit in cold whether. 17 missed tackles is a LOT. We barely got credit for many tackles, the gap between the number of tackles and the number of plays illustrates how many times we gave up TDs, had INTs, and just needed people to run out of bounds.

That said, there were some really good signs. Samuels had a series where he was involved in every play. He is going to be a beast the next 4 years, and so will Smith. We have never had bookends like that since the death penalty. They are both players you build your defense around. I really thought the ends would cause more problems, but the lack of holding calls was pretty limiting on them as well at Chatman up the middle.

In the secondary, Armani Johnson actually made a ton of tackles out there, and didn't miss anything. According to PPF Tune was 5/6 against him for 50 and a TD, which considering the game wasn't that bad, he was probably our best corner. Rogers had a BPU, a forced incompletion, and a pick, which is great, but also gave up 7/10 for 121 and a TD. Basically, he either made the play to force an incompletion or it was complete. But the plays he made were really huge, and hopefully a sign that he can turn a corner. Westfall didn't give up horrible numbers - 4/6 for 66 and a TD. But no breakups and he gave the horrible effort to tackle Tune on the first TD run. Crossley also had a rough game at nickel - 5/6 for 70 and a TD and a missed tackle. The one that stands out is that he should have broken up one of those 4th down hail marys in the endzone.

At safety, Massey and Roberts played every single snap. Now, Roberts is going to get the praise for the two interceptions. The second was a great break on the ball, which we haven't seen around here in a long time. But the first, TBH, he was three yards beaten and made an athletic play on a bad drop. Outside of those two interceptions, Tune completed all 7 passes against him for 124 and 2 TDs, and he had a bad missed tackle. The bigger news is Massey seems to be coming back. Not only did he have the opening kickoff return, but tune was only 1/2 against him for 9 yards, and the incompletion was a big pass breakup in the endzone. He did have two missed tackles, but we are starting to see the Massey that we expected to see coming into the season, which is great setting up the last three games of the year.

Overall, again, WTF. But still, great signs with the running game getting straightened out, TM playing well when healthy, secondary receivers stepping up, the young ends coming along, and Massey is back.

The fact is that odds are there will be a team with 2 losses in the conference championship game. What separates this year's ACC from the past is that there aren't two clear teams separated at the top and in fact there are 6 good teams - UCF, Cincy, Tulane, Houston, SMU, and ECU. Basically, we need:
- SMU to win out
- Houston to beat ECU (we hold the tie breaker over Houston, and it would be a 3rd conference loss for ECU)
- ECU and Tulane to beat Cincy (3 losses)
- UCF to beat Tulane (so Tulane would have 2 losses and we get a tiebreaker)

That would put us in the championship game against UCF. The odds aren't great, but it is still possible...
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Re: Thoughts on the Houston Game

Postby Charleston Pony » Sun Nov 06, 2022 2:38 pm

Miracles do happen and it would be nothing short of a miracle for a 2 loss SMU team to make the AAC Championship game via the scenario you mention. Hopefully Camar is back and healthy for the stretch run. Regardless of what everyone else does, I would love to see this team run the table and finish 9-4 on the season as that would be a tremendous accomplishment after a rough start to this season.
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Re: Thoughts on the Houston Game

Postby mrydel » Sun Nov 06, 2022 2:58 pm

What will be a miracle is to see Houston stop Ahlers from throwing more than 600 yards.
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Re: Thoughts on the Houston Game

Postby Charleston Pony » Sun Nov 06, 2022 3:04 pm

mrydel wrote:What will be a miracle is to see Houston stop Ahlers from throwing more than 600 yards.


Especially with that game being played in Greenville
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Re: Thoughts on the Houston Game

Postby Mustangs35SMU » Sun Nov 06, 2022 4:04 pm

Charleston Pony wrote:Regardless of what everyone else does, I would love to see this team run the table and finish 9-4 on the season as that would be a tremendous accomplishment after a rough start to this season.


Completely agree.
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