7 Reasons the Arkansas St. Game May be a Classic Trap Game

[Stallion]

1. SMU beat the hell out of Arkansas St. last year at home and therefore will disregard the other reasons listed below;
2. ASU beat the conference champion Troy on the road several weeks before Troy dismantled Rice in the New Orleans Bowl;
3. ASU beat NTSU by 19 last year;
4.ASU Beat Memphis on the road;
5. ASU beat Army;
6. ASU held Auburn to 27 points on the road;
7. ASU held Oklahoma St. to 35 points on the road

I'm not sure why ASU seemed to play worse against some of the poorest teams on its schedule but they did have the same record as SMU 6-6 and handled teams that ruined our season last year. Everybody has this game marked as a sure win. I dunno-I agree just like last year against NTSU that SMU should win but this is a classic trap in which a team embarrassed on the road gets to play a revenge game at home. Watch out. I'm not even sure SMU will be favored. Should be a Tossup-. Generally the line mirrors somewhat the Sagarin ratings. SMU was about 2 points higher in the Sagarin ratings but when you factor in home field advantage you got nothing better than a tossup.

[LakeHighlandsPony]

I agree this could be an ambush!

[Cadillac]

Beating Army (even with ol Boss Ross) isn't sayin much. I mean, its like beating... well... um.... SMU.

-CoS

[expony18]

i agree, not necessarily for all of those reasons... but i expected last years game to be much closer, and have been telling people thid could be the north texas game of last year. hopefully the team knows they can't under estimate anyone this year if they want to go to a bowl game

[westexSMU]

No question this game could be a trap if our guys aren't ready. Not good for developing the program. Kind of like playing at NTSU last year.. why ?.... it just makes no sense to play up there. They would probably play us at Ford anyway if we said no way to going up there. It is really a no win situation. It is their game of the year. If you win so what, you were suppossed to. If you loose it can hurt recruiting in the area. I say play NTSU and Ark. St only at Ford or forget it. This was something Copeland set up. I hope Orsini can put us in better shape in the future with our schedule........Some say it is a natural rival to play NTSU. Ok but only at Ford.

[jkflamebo]

they beat memphis i think on a last second hail mary, so they got lucky there too. but yea i do agree this game could be very dangerous if we don't take them seriously

[PhirePhilBennett]

No question this game could be a trap if our guys aren't ready. Not good for developing the program. Kind of like playing at NTSU last year.. why ?.... it just makes no sense to play up there. They would probably play us at Ford anyway if we said no way to going up there. It is really a no win situation. It is their game of the year. If you win so what, you were suppossed to. If you loose it can hurt recruiting in the area. I say play NTSU and Ark. St only at Ford or forget it. This was something Copeland set up. I hope Orsini can put us in better shape in the future with our schedule........Some say it is a natural rival to play NTSU. Ok but only at Ford.

You are incorrect. Why would they play a 2-game series with SMU all at SMU when their alternative would be to drop SMU and play a 2-game series at "FILL IN THE BLANK BUT THIS TIME IT IS A TEAM THAT WILL PAY THEM $750k per TRIP"

[ponyfan84]

bottom line is that if this is the year we go to a bowl, SMU should not overlook ANY team on the schedule. no game, despite the opponent, is a def. win this year. with our questionable D and lack of an O-line plus unproven recievers (not counting Sanders), SMU could easily go 4-8. It wouldn't surprise if they had a big let down this year. good thread.

[FordtoTolbert]

..so people actually sit around and think about this kind of stuff? Wow!!

[MustangStealth]

This was something Copeland set up. I hope Orsini can put us in better shape in the future with our schedule........

No, these are the games that replaced the Boston College and Wake Forrest series that Copeland set up.

[SMU Football Blog]

This is absolutely a trap game.

Though to be fair, that Army game was a little suspect. Half the starting O-line had to sit out that game because of eligibility questions. THose questions were later cleared up and Army almost beat A&M.

[MustangStealth]

Oh yeah, and

8. Because we're still SMU

[Nacho]

All games are trap games for SMU.

[ponyboy]

You two ought to be ashamed posting crap like that, Stealth and Nacho.

Stallion: I like your reasoning. Clearly a trap game. I do have to say this though. You were giving SMU no love at all for winning last year's game against ASU. That was clearly wrong. We dominated them as if it were 1982 and we were playing Tulane.

[EastStang]

It could especially be a trap game if we were to pull off an upset against TCU.