Where do you start?

[Nacho]

QB--I love Bartel. Everybody who has read this board knows that. I must say however that he should transfer to a d-1aa school after this season. He is a pure passer. He needs to be with a team with a good O-line and 3 good receivers. Running for his life is not his thing. Phillips or Meeks--whovever can run like mad and/or throw on the run will be the QB next season. Bartel will still play in the NFL.

Hats off to the O-line coach. He never gave up. Between every single series he huddled with the o-linemen and gave them detailed instructions. The O-line is not lacking for coaching.

Woods is probably the best WR in college football. He did the same thing to Garrett last year and Garett is now known as Baby Deion in St Louis.

We have no pass rush. None. Probably will improve in the WAC.

We have 3 slot WRs playing at the same time. Combine that with very little pass protection (generous) and you are not going to have a passing game.

Why has the punting gone south from last year?

Massey looks very fast and quick. It will be interesting to see what he does against WAC competition.

I hope that came across as somewhat constructive. There is no point in kicking this team. I'm still a fan and always will be. That said, what does it take for SMU to realize that it must play on a level playing field?

[This message has been edited by Nacho (edited 09-21-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Nacho (edited 09-21-2003).]

[sam]

I agree Bartel needs to find a program where he can be successful,he is wasted here. But I cannot understand why we are number 117 out of 117 Div 1 schools in offense. We had -1 yard of total offense at the half yesterday. OSU defense was not THAT good.This does not resemble the offense that Edmonson ran at La-Laf.

[Corso]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Nacho:
<B>QB--I love Bartel. Everybody who has read this board knows that. I must say however that he should transfer to a d-1aa school after this season. He is a pure passer. He needs to be with a team with a good O-line and 3 good receivers. Running for his life is not his thing. Phillips or Meeks--whovever can run like mad and/or throw on the run will be the QB next season. Bartel will still play in the NFL.

Hats off to the O-line coach. He never gave up. Between every single series he huddled with the o-linemen and gave them detailed instructions. The O-line is not lacking for coaching.

Woods is probably the best WR in college football. He did the same thing to Garrett last year and Garett is now known as Baby Deion in St Louis.

We have no pass rush. None. Probably will improve in the WAC.

We have 3 slot WRs playing at the same time. Combine that with very little pass protection (generous) and you are not going to have a passing game.

Why has the punting gone south from last year?

Massey looks very fast and quick. It will be interesting to see what he does against WAC competition.

I hope that came across as somewhat constructive. There is no point in kicking this team. I'm still a fan and always will be. That said, what does it take for SMU to realize that it must play on a level playing field?</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not so fast, my friends!

A couple of weeks ago, we're talking about how Bartel allows this offense to do things it hasn't done in years, and now you're ready to ship him out of here? The fact is that he was getting hit almost as soon as he got the ball, it seemed. That's not to say the offensive line wasn't trying, but we were facing the fastest defense we'll see all year, and it shows. I'm a fan of both Bartel and Wallis, but neither one of them -- or Eli Manning, for that matter -- is going to complete many passes with a DE draped all over them or when they're lying on their backs.

Bartel was less than fabulous last night - there's no way to argue that. But he also was in a can't-win situation. When the offensive line gets straightened out (THIS WEEK) against Nevada, let's see what Bartel can do. Remember, this is the same kid who was being annointed as a pro prospect after one game last year when he led us past LaTech. That was way too much hype then, and this is way too much criticism now.

[This message has been edited by Corso (edited 09-21-2003).]

[ponyte]

I finally saw my beloved Ponies in action. Now my observations for what it is worth.

Rutledge was simply overmatched. It was a physical mismatch and not a knock on JR's abilities. He gave his all.

A pass rush wasn't possible because the OSU OB simple took 5 step drops and laid the ball up. Fast, efficient and almost impossible to rush.

The O-line struggled. Blitzes killed any chance of effectively throwing the ball. In addition, our receivers simply could not get off the D backs and into their routes. Combine receivers held up and a tremendous rush and no QB can do a thing positive.

Special teams have a long way to go. We still seem to misplay punt coverage. That of course is assuming that our punter didn't wait too long for the ball to get to him before he started his kicking motion. Our punter needs to speed up just a tad.

Our run defense was very strong. The fellas in the box will be a force in future games. We will not face the best receiver in the country again. And we can stop the run. Our running backs showed strong determined runs.

We will be more competitive in future games. We have seen what it takes to win and now we can work to reach that level.

[mrydel]

Ponyte:

Excellent post. I agree with your analysis, but really wonder about our punter. Was his injured hand hindering his drop? He had no good punts and field position played a major factor in the speed in which OSU put us away. A good consistent punter would sure help in future games. I am looking forward to the conference now. The boys can take off the ankle weights and play on a more even field. Now lets start to show what kind of progress has been made since last year.

[Hoop Fan]

Hey Nacho, I agree with nearly everything you said. Thing is, I said that last week and you called the thread the dumbest in history. ? Its not Bartels fault at all. Like I said all week, we need an escape artist at qb. Houdini himself would not have had a chance last night. Bartel had no time to set up in the Baylor game either. No one is trying to run him off or even criticise him, its the lack of protection.

[Nacho]

Corso, I simply stated why Bartel would be better off in another program. I also stated that he would be in the NFL one day. Boy, that was some harsh negativity on my part. I have consistently stated that he is NFL caliber. I still believe it very strongly. He is currently in the wrong place at the wrong time. I hate to say it but it is true.

As for HF, I was a week late.

[Greenwich Pony]

I would have liked to do better than we did the past four weeks, but the season really begins against Nevada. There was no way we were going to beat Tech and OSU. We should have beaten Baylor; but even they were a team with better talent and more experience playing tougher opposition. I'm not saying that we'll beat Nevada, but now that we are entering the WAC part of the season, I think we will be faring better against similar competition. One day we'll compete with the likes of OSU, but this year and probably next year are too soon.

We'll know more about where we really stand in coming games.

[Corso]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Nacho:
<B>Corso, I simply stated why Bartel would be better off in another program. I also stated that he would be in the NFL one day. Boy, that was some harsh negativity on my part. I have consistently stated that he is NFL caliber. I still believe it very strongly. He is currently in the wrong place at the wrong time. I hate to say it but it is true.

As for HF, I was a week late.</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry, I must have still been recovering from last night when I responded to your post! Just re-read it, and it doesn't sound as negative as I originally thought.

Even so, I'd hate to see Bartel leave. I think he has a world of talent.