RED BLUE GAME THOUGHTS

[westexSMU]

I was unable to make the spring game but I saw it on Mustang access live. From what I could see, I thought the offense looked pretty good all things considered. Willis looked sharp considering his hand problem. Slater looked good throwing the ball at times. Zach Zimmerman made some good TD catches and Sanders had some nice catches as usual otherwise too many dropped passes by receivers.............I thought Martin looked stronger and faster as claimed and Mapps showed what he is can do on his long run. Nice cutback at the end of run but he was out of bounds. The offensive line appears stronger and improved..............The defense looked better than I thought it would at this time though obviously missing the front four starters of last year. Carrington and Mc Cray are solid at LB and the secondary looked improved with Brandon Jones back and Mc Cann maturing and playing well. DT Charlie Berry had a good game and looks to be in better shape. I thought DE Kyle Griffin had a respectable game as well............Maybe this is the year we turn the corner, Bowl Game, Improved Recruiting, Improved Fan Support, etc. Some real sunshine would be nice !

[smu diamond m]

Isn't Willis' NON-throwing hand injured? 2 months after surgery I think he should be fine. I think Slater will be giving him a run for his money. Which will (in theory) make them both better QBs.

[mrydel]

Isn't Willis' NON-throwing hand injured? 2 months after surgery I think he should be fine. I think Slater will be giving him a run for his money. Which will (in theory) make them both better QBs.

I hope it is his throwing hand that is injured. He was WAY off on many of his passess. Seemed to have trouble gettng it to the sideline except on a bounce. I was discounting this due to the injury.

[PonyCat]

It was his throwing hand that he broke.

[Arkpony]

I agree with MRYDEL...The number of badly thrown passes was depressing. ...by all the Q-Backs! And the number of dropped passes when they WERE on the mark was awful!

[Stallion]

SMU was extremely careless with the ball and probably would have been blown out in a real game. Slater threw the ball up at least 5 time-Wills had several others. Slater was lucky to only have 2 INts and a fumble-actually I believe he had another fumble on a handoff. Not ready for prime time. Plus Slater and Willis hitting on 45% of your team's passing attempts in this offense is awful.
Has Emmanuel Sanders grown-looks about 6-2?

[expony18]

atleast tcu's qbs didnt do to much better in their scrimmage, come on defese

[ALEX LIFESON]

I agree that the offense was disappointing. Dropped passes, fumbles by running backs, receivers, punt and kick returners, interceptions, balls thrown into crowds, out pattern/sideline routes thrown late, poor execution in general. This team has a lot of work to do. Still looks like a sandlot offense to me.

[drs1310]

None of the big three running backs had any fumbles unless i missed one. The running backs that did fumble are deep in the rotation and will rarely see playing time. I still thought Martin looked slow and weak this guy is huge he should be running over smaller players! It seems that he is looking for holes to open for to long when he should be rolling forward building up power. But after all that he did look better than last year. Now Mapps had a couple of nice long runs that we can come to expect from him and he hung on to the ball which is good. Ced also looked well on his runs. Now the qb situation was pretty sad, not to mention it lookd like T.O out there dropping passes left and right. Ive heard through the grapevine that the qb's havent looked very good in practices either but still way to soon to worry bout that. The defense looked....how to say it ok at best. They did have a hand full of nice plays and big hits! This didnt look like the mustang team from last year because they gained most of there yards on the ground instead of the air. Either the runningbacks are on their game or the run defense isnt! I give the overall game a C. So they still pass but passing will not beat most of the teams on there schedule

[Ponymon]

I met Derek Lilly and his mother, Janice, at the Mustang Club luncheon. Janice was ecstatic that her son was going to SMU. She said that Derek was a late comer on the recruiting scene because their coach at Mansfield was "old school" and didn't put out a highlight film on Derek until his senior year. UT and A&M really liked what they saw, but couldn't make an offer because their offensive line scholarships were all committed. She said that didn't matter to her or Derek because they both REALLY like Phil Bennett and SMU. Janice couldn't stop talking about how down to earth and wonderful Coach Bennett was when they visited with him during the recruiting process. He had just the type of personality that they were looking for. Derek already benches well over 400 lbs. She said that he and his younger brother really loves to lift weights. What is really scary to her is how much the younger son lifts. He already lifts well over 400 lbs and he still has a several of years to go before he graduates from high school! Hopefully we now have the inside track for him as well. Its great to have them in the Mustang fold!

[PonyLove]

I sat with the Zimmerman family...really nice people and they are very happy about their son being here also...Plus, he had a nice game.

[westexSMU]

[quote="PonyLove"]I sat with the Zimmerman family...really nice people and they are very happy about their son being here also...Plus, he had a nice game.[/quote]................Does anybody know how fast Zimmerman is ?

[Horseshoe]

My thoughts:

* DeMyron Martin, Kenard Burley, Thomas Morstead and maybe Bryan McCann will get all-conference honors. Or at least they should.
* Did everyone see Bradley Haynes at the Red/Blue game? The guy looks (physically) like a grown man. If he can catch and learn the offense, he looks ready to play.
* Thomas Morstead is going to go down in the record books as SMU's best punter.... ever.... and he'll play on Sundays.
* Bryce Hudman looks like a more than capable replacement for Joe Sturdivant.
* Corey Slater looked a lot better. Nobody wants to see Willis get hurt or benched, but I feel a lot better if something does happen.
* Zach Rhodes looked OK at WR. Not ready to start or anything, but he sure has nice wheels. Guy can run!
* Cory Muse had better be 100 percent this year.
* Wilton McCray and Reggie Carrington and Tony Hawkins look like pretty good tutors for the young LBs (Bon, Sowe, Strodtman, etc.)

[smu diamond m]

* Thomas Morstead is going to go down in the record books as SMU's best punter.... ever.... and he'll play on Sundays.

Right now, barring a massive emergence from another player, I think he's the only NFL player on the team. That kid is already a monster, and will soon become an absolute freak. I bet he walks in circles if he doesn't watch himself real close. He tweaked his knee a little bit on Saturday, supposed to be getting an MRI tomorrow. Mainly as a precaution.

[Stallion]

he is easily the best professional prospect at SMU in 17 years. No SMU punter since I've been watching has kicked a higher better ball