OFFICIAL: SMU vs Missouri State Predictions

[ALEX LIFESON]

Mustangs head to Springfield, Missouri, for a 2:30 kickoff on CBSCS Network. Mustangs will play in a 17,500 seat stadium, with many tickets remaining. Yes, this is going to be weird. Forecast has 93 degrees at kickoff. SMU opened as a 29 point favorite, that is down to 27. Remember, SMU was a 50 point favorite against East Texas A&M....Florida State beat that same East Texas team, 77-3, last Saturday. The Bears...not to be confused with Baylor, beat Marshall on the road last Saturday. Let's have your prediction and who is going?

[highlander]

I think we're pissed off, and we bounce back and take our frustrations out on MSU. 45-13

[GHammond]

We are going as the Mrs. has family coming up from Tulsa....I think we have 8, 6 Ponies and 2 Bears. Hopefully, we get some of that KC and STL Pony crowd to show up...it might be a weird vibe but looking for a 52-17 regroup.

[Charleston Pony]

Missouri State has a bunch of P4 transfers as they compete in their 1st year at the FBS level but we have more talent and depth so SMU wins this one relatively easily but I don't expect a blowout. I hope we have a comfortable lead going into the 4th quarter so Hawkins can get some snaps, I will go with 41-20 SMU

[peruna81]

Pain

38-13 Ponies

[Pony ^]

44-21

[Arkpony]

I will be there with 2 others

[Bear Nation]

Missouri State 49-SMU 48

Maybe it is wishful thinking that we can win the ballgame, but I know we can score against the SMU defence. Your offense will present a big challenge but if we can catch a few lucky breaks, the atmosphere and crowd will make it a tough atmosphere to overcome. It's going to be the biggest sports weekend in Springfield since the major league Cardinals came to town to play against the AA Cardinals in an exhibition game.

[Charleston Pony]

Missouri State 49-SMU 48

Maybe it is wishful thinking that we can win the ballgame, but I know we can score against the SMU defence. Your offense will present a big challenge but if we can catch a few lucky breaks, the atmosphere and crowd will make it a tough atmosphere to overcome. It's going to be the biggest sports weekend in Springfield since the major league Cardinals came to town to play against the AA Cardinals in an exhibition game.

Always good to be optimistic but I'm afraid your QB Clark (a local kid from Rockwall, TX for those who might be unaware) is not going to light up our defense like he did Marshall's. We aren't what we were last year and I don't expect a blowout like you experienced at USC but I think you will see there is a pretty significant talent differential between what your program has and what a P4 roster looks like. I don't think our guys will be at all intimidated by your home crowd considering a lot of our guys experienced playing Clemson in Charlotte and had to travel to Happy Valley and play Penn State last year. Hopefully our fans will turn out when your guys visit Ford next year and we'll see which venue might be more disruptive.

[Bear Nation]

Missouri State 49-SMU 48

Maybe it is wishful thinking that we can win the ballgame, but I know we can score against the SMU defence. Your offense will present a big challenge but if we can catch a few lucky breaks, the atmosphere and crowd will make it a tough atmosphere to overcome. It's going to be the biggest sports weekend in Springfield since the major league Cardinals came to town to play against the AA Cardinals in an exhibition game.

Always good to be optimistic but I'm afraid your QB Clark (a local kid from Rockwall, TX for those who might be unaware) is not going to light up our defense like he did Marshall's. We aren't what we were last year and I don't expect a blowout like you experienced at USC but I think you will see there is a pretty significant talent differential between what your program has and what a P4 roster looks like. I don't think our guys will be at all intimidated by your home crowd considering a lot of our guys experienced playing Clemson in Charlotte and had to travel to Happy Valley and play Penn State last year. Hopefully our fans will turn out when your guys visit Ford next year and we'll see which venue might be more disruptive.

I didn't intend to start some sort of home atmosphere intimidation measuring contest so I apologize. I don't doubt that SMU has played in some hostile environments in the past. It's always tough that first game of the year on the road, having to deal with travel, staying at a hotel, and being forced to use a silent count.

In talking about conference strength, there is a massive gap between where we were at in the MVFC (which is like the SEC of FCS football by the way) and the Big Ten and SEC. It's not quite as big between that level and the rest of FBS football, the ACC and Big 12 included. We just went into a hostile environment in West Virginia and beat the defending Sun Belt champions after having to play an elite Big Ten school last week on the West Coast. It is true that we were completely outclassed in that ballgame, but I seem to recall a certain team in the state of Texas having some difficulty in Happy Valley and being down 28-0 before Bryson DeChambeau could ever arrive at the stadium.

This is the biggest home game in school history and there will be a lot of doubters and critics. But we were sparring with the Marshall fans last week on their board and they were just as confident and boisterous as you all are here. We are underdogs but I stand by my prediction.

[b_caesar]

Mustangs win 31-17

[Mustangs_Maroons]

Giving the whooping USC put on this team, if SMU doesn’t win by at least 5 TDs, it will not have done enough to begin to wipe away the stink of losing this past weekend.

Hope the score is so lopsided we get the Freshman kicker in to practice a FG for fun (I want to see how he is because I think Rogers may be done). Then need to beat TCU to try to correct course.

[Charleston Pony]

Giving the whooping USC put on this team, if SMU doesn’t win by at least 5 TDs, it will not have done enough to begin to wipe away the stink of losing this past weekend.

Hope the score is so lopsided we get the Freshman kicker in to practice a FG for fun (I want to see how he is because I think Rogers may be done). Then need to beat TCU to try to correct course.

Like the Bear's fan said above, their team will be jacked coming off their 1st win in FBS play and playing their home opener in front of an enthusiastic crowd. This game might be tighter than we would like early and I don't expect a USC type blowout but coming off a disappointing loss I think our guys will be out to prove themselves and we come away with a 3 score win. It would be nice to get more snaps for our backups but that would require our guys coming out strong and building a big lead early and I'm not sure this game will unfold that way.

[Finally]

[quote="Charleston Pony" post_id=<a href="tel:1394445">1394445</a> time=<a href="tel:1757351725">1757351725</a> user_id=267]
[quote="Bear Nation" post_id=<a href="tel:1394442">1394442</a> time=<a href="tel:1757349702">1757349702</a> user_id=168964]
Missouri State 49-SMU 48

Maybe it is wishful thinking that we can win the ballgame, but I know we can score against the SMU defence. Your offense will present a big challenge but if we can catch a few lucky breaks, the atmosphere and crowd will make it a tough atmosphere to overcome. It's going to be the biggest sports weekend in Springfield since the major league Cardinals came to town to play against the AA Cardinals in an exhibition game.

Always good to be optimistic but I'm afraid your QB Clark (a local kid from Rockwall, TX for those who might be unaware) is not going to light up our defense like he did Marshall's. We aren't what we were last year and I don't expect a blowout like you experienced at USC but I think you will see there is a pretty significant talent differential between what your program has and what a P4 roster looks like. I don't think our guys will be at all intimidated by your home crowd considering a lot of our guys experienced playing Clemson in Charlotte and had to travel to Happy Valley and play Penn State last year. Hopefully our fans will turn out when your guys visit Ford next year and we'll see which venue might be more disruptive.
[/quote]

I didn't intend to start some sort of home atmosphere intimidation measuring contest so I apologize. I don't doubt that SMU has played in some hostile environments in the past. It's always tough that first game of the year on the road, having to deal with travel, staying at a hotel, and being forced to use a silent count.

In talking about conference strength, there is a massive gap between where we were at in the MVFC (which is like the SEC of FCS football by the way) and the Big Ten and SEC. It's not quite as big between that level and the rest of FBS football, the ACC and Big 12 included. We just went into a hostile environment in West Virginia and beat the defending Sun Belt champions after having to play an elite Big Ten school last week on the West Coast. It is true that we were completely outclassed in that ballgame, but I seem to recall a certain team in the state of Texas having some difficulty in Happy Valley and being down 28-0 before Bryson DeChambeau could ever arrive at the stadium.

This is the biggest home game in school history and there will be a lot of doubters and critics. But we were sparring with the Marshall fans last week on their board and they were just as confident and boisterous as you all are here. We are underdogs but I stand by my prediction.
[/quote]

SMU would hang 60 on Marshall. I understand this game is a big deal for your program, but I think that statement alone speaks volumes to the talent disparity between these two teams- going to the playoffs last year was a big deal and a milestone for SMU. A big milestone for mO state was beating marshall… we used to beat up on Marshall 15 years ago. That’s how far your program is behind. Yes, the team got whipped that day but how do you think Missouri State would have fared? this team lost a lot on defense but still returns a lot of talent from that team.

You saw the Baylor game and think because you scored three touchdowns against Marshall that all you need to do is get a couple of stops and it’s a winnable game. If your team played Baylor, it would look like the USC game. You’re seriously suggesting the Missouri Valley conference. Isn’t a far stretch from the ACC? The ACC has about six quality FBS top 25 teams this year. How many does the MVC have? It seems to be that your argument is because SMU lost to penn state, and MO state lost to USC, the teams are on equal footing.

Nobody is being boisterous or arrogant, we are politely giving you side eye because somehow you are equating an invitation to play in what has become the worst FBS conference and winning a game as the ability to compete with a still mostly intact playoff team from last year. I’m sorry, but you are confusing possibility with plausibility: is it possible what you said will happen? Sure. Is it the least likely thing that will happen out of all given scenarios? Yes.

Edit: just saw you said we might be forced to use a silent count in a stadium with a capacity of less that 18,000. Now I’m convinced you are a troll.

[soccermom]

Just read someone’s post on X about all of the injuries we have going into this game. Hoping it’s not accurate.