Relax folks - the future is bright

[Billy Joe]

I find it amusing that everyone is in full panic mode after we won our first game of the season. Many people are alarmed that the passing game was not sharp, the win came against a Div. 1-aa team, or the 'sell out' was not really a sell out because there were some empty seats. Do you people realize we have one of the best head coaches out there and an assistant coaching staff with real credentials now? We have seen improved recruiting with JJ despite not having a winning season yet. The team is still young and most of the starters will return. To put the win in perspective, there were several Div 1-A teams that have had much more success than us that either lost to a Div. 1-aa team or barely won. SFA had their whole team back from last year and had several starters that transfered in from quality Div. 1-A schools. And guess what? The offense played bad and we still won! I am not predicting a bowl game this year or even next. But I am excited with the direction of our football program. I am proud to be associated with the program and to call SMU my team. Let's quit being so negative on this board and start enjoying this turnaround....it is happening as we speak. Go Mustangs!

[SMU 86]

I am with you Billy Joe. No need to jump off the Tallahassee bridge.

[StallionsModelT]

The full panic mode stuff is rediculous and reactionary (of which I can certainly be guilty of at times). I think much of the frustration arises from not seeing much progress on either side of the ball against vastly inferior competition. We should have ran SFA out of Ford by the half. Instead we muddled around on offense and thankfully capitalized on some terrible turnovers by SFA in order to get the win. We allowed massive passing yardage (again) and looked completely inept at times in simple things like catching a ball when no one is around you or hitting wide open receivers.

Yes, the future is bright here (we think) and there is no reason to sign the suicide note just yet, but there are obvious things that lead me to believe we are looking at another 1 or 2 win season. I think 5 wins at this point is going to be extremely unlikely.

[smupony94]

Do I have to wear shades?

[BU Express]

I am with you Billy Joe. No need to jump of the Tallahassee bridge.

......the Tallahatchie Bridge, either.......

[BUS]

That's good Austin.

OK, I reacted to sloppy play when I was ramped up for improvement.

JJ and crew are good and we will get there.. Sat. was a let down.

Beat UAB.

We are getting better, we are upset with a win.

[gostangs]

I am so ready to be an optimist - but sorry - that game did not make me think we are any better then last year.

Hopefully there was a flu/funk underway and it was an isolated occurance - but the reason everyone is in a fit is becasue if that is representative of our talent this year then we just saw our only win this year.

Hoping it was not representative is all we can do at this point.

[ponyboy]

Trees meet forest.

[SMU 86]

I am with you Billy Joe. No need to jump off the Tallahassee bridge.

......the Tallahatchie Bridge, either.......

And all these years I thought she was saying "Tallahassee". I guess you learn new something everyday.

[mathman]

Thought the defense looked a little better but coud have been the competition. The offense revolves around the QB and if he is off the whole thing looks bad. At least this year we have a RB that can take up some of the slack. I still don't know how good/bad we are.

[The_RichAlum]

I think folks want to see signs of improvement. No one expects us to turn the ship around overnight, but last week's performance was concerning.

I had predicted 4 wins for this season, but that may turn out to be a stretch. If June can't get 4 wins, then it means we are a lot further away which is a problem and the future ain't all that bright.

Bo Levi may or may not be the future of this team, but the decision around J Willis may play out very badly in terms of future recruiting that was lost. We need to play to win now to get ourselves a chance on the recruiting front. We don't have time for BLM's internship during the real deal. I realize the Willis thing is a done deal, but JJ's decision on this needs to be severely questioned.

Hopefully, BLM just had a bad day.....

[San Antonio Mustang]

I saw a lot of improvement in the defense. More than two players were actually tackling. They also played better pass defense. There is still room for a lot of improvement. For example, Yenga is still learning pass defense. As for the offense, the receivers and Bo were not in sink and when he did hit them they dropped way too many balls. The good news was in the running game. Not only do we now have a Running Back that is a breakaway threat, but the offensive line made blocking adjustments that made the long gains possible. Special Team play was much better than last year. The coaches now have some real game film to use in teaching. All in all we are a better team than last year. Our record will depend on the improvement during the season.

SFA is a better team than they were last year. They will have a very good season if they can keep their first team healthy. Unfortunately for us UAB is better than last year. It will take a focused SMU team executing well to win this weekend and that is exactly what I expect.