Injuries force secondary shuffle

[PonyPride]

The season-ending injury to safety Randy McKinnon and the uncertain status of cornerback Sterling Moore have forced SMU secondary coach Derrick Odum to consider all options for his rotation of players in Saturday's game against Washington State.

Moore said Monday that he hopes to play, but doesn't know if he will be cleared by the team's medical staff. Head coach June Jones said Tuesday he hopes Moore is back on the practice field by Thursday.

"We'll shuffle things around a bit," Odum said when asked how he is approaching Saturday's tilt with the Cougars. "Sterling will be a game-time decision, I'm sure. That was a scary deal when he went down, but it sounds like it turned out to be a scare, more than anything. I think a lot of us were afraid it was going to be a lot more serious."

Moore said (viewtopic.php?f=1&t=47797) Monday that he wouldn't like it, but he would accept sitting out the Washington State game if it meant he'll be ready the following week when SMU hosts TCU. But Odum said that if Moore can play against WSU, he will.

"Every game is important," Odum said. "It's not like we get three wins if we can beat TCU and only one for beating someone else.

"We'll see how it shakes loose in practice this week."

If Moore can't play, Odum has four cornerbacks available as replacements: veterans Bennie Thomas and Chris Castro, and freshmen Kenneth Acker and Chris Parks.

"We've got guys who can play, and we're going to go out there and compete," Odum said. "Who starts (if Moore can't play), I don't know, but I've got confidence in all of those guys. I'd feel comfortable putting any of them out there."

Odum said the secondary will be challenged Saturday by Washington State, which features an array of big receivers.

"They have a lot of tall guys," Odum said. "(6-foot-4) Jared Karsetter is a big guy who can run a little bit and seems to have good hands, and he runs great routes. They also have a big freshman (6-3 Marquess Wilson, who leads WSU with seven receptions) who might be their most dangerous guy downfield."

The Cougars come to Ford Stadium after splitting their first two games. WSU lost its opener, 65-17, to Oklahoma State before rallying to knock off Montana State, 23-22, but Odum said the Cougars' offense presents more of a challenge than two games of statistics might suggest.

"The score might not show it, but I think things got away from them a little bit against Oklahoma State," Odum said. "When I look at them on film, I see them doing a lot of good things on offense — they look like they can be very formidable. They have the ability to be a pretty vertical (passing) team, and they like the quick, three-step (drop) game, too. They give us a lot to prepare for."

[ponyte]

The biggest barrier to a very successful season was injuries. The lack of quality depth at some positions could be a significant factor.

One question mark going into this season was the quality and depth of the secondary. Looks like we will get an education about the secondary come Saturday. Bad news is injuries have occurred. The good news is we are playing WSU.

It would really be nice if the front 7 had a dynamite day putting pressure on the QB Saturday. That would relieve the secondary of some pressure.

[GeorgiaMustang]

I am looking for more of what we saw against UAB from our front 7. If they can put consistent pressure on their QB it will really help alleviate some stress from our banged up secondary.

[that's great raplh]

Go ponies

[Charleston Pony]

more pressure now on the front 7 to support the secondary; think we'll see some blitz packages?

[Junior]

more pressure now on the front 7 to support the secondary; think we'll see some blitz packages?

I think we have to. JGD could have a monster game.

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

Not good news on a must win game week. Hope #2 is good to go.

[Otto]

Don't know that it is a must-win game — definitely a certainly-should-win game, but if we lose, it doesn't affect what we do in conference games. With the secondary banged up, and therefore playing more young guys, I certainly don't care about covering a 20-point spread, or whatever it is. Tighten up some loose ends and win by at least one point. Then move on from there.

[ponydawg]

Agreed conf play is more important, but we also want to be bowl eligible again. So it being a home game where we are favored, it could be considered a must win for eligibility reasons.

[Hoss]

Home, road, favored, underdog ... they all count as one win toward bowl eligibility.

[GeorgiaMustang]

at this point in our evolution, every game is a must win.

[squire]

I think the WSU game is more important, in a way, than the TCU game in terms of bowl elgibility.
It will take a huge upset to beat TCU. But the WSU game is winnable, and crucial to bowl elgibility, if the Mustangs are a borderline bowl team in the neighborhood of 6-6 or 7-5.
No one will agree with me!

[The PonyGrad]

I think the WSU game is more important, in a way, than the TCU game in terms of bowl elgibility.
It will take a huge upset to beat TCU. But the WSU game is winnable, and crucial to bowl elgibility, if the Mustangs are a borderline bowl team in the neighborhood of 6-6 or 7-5.
No one will agree with me!

Only if we lose the game.

[stc9]

I think the WSU game is more important, in a way, than the TCU game in terms of bowl elgibility.
It will take a huge upset to beat TCU. But the WSU game is winnable, and crucial to bowl elgibility, if the Mustangs are a borderline bowl team in the neighborhood of 6-6 or 7-5.
No one will agree with me!

I have to agree to a point. Bowl Committees will overlook the fact we lost to TCU (that is expected given the ranking difference - not going to happen just hypothetically speaking); however, they will think twice if we blow a home game we are heavily favored in to Wazoo.