why play Wazzu anyway?

[Pony_Fan]

We have plenty of tough Texas teams coming in '11 and '12. Enjoy the easy teams now..

[leopold]

I know of some cases where administrators use games as a way to increase exposure in certain parts of the country. Pacific NW sure has plenty of academic talent, might have asked JJ to work with them on that.

[Nacho]

i was at that wisconsin game. they have some of the worst fans i have ever been around.

[The PonyGrad]

i was at that wisconsin game. they have some of the worst fans i have ever been around.

That's nacho cheese, that's Wisconsin cheese.

[Hoop Fan]

i was at that wisconsin game. they have some of the worst fans i have ever been around.

That's nacho cheese, that's Wisconsin cheese.

yea man, ironic that Nacho is bashing the Cheesy Ones.

[Nacho]

i'm the one with a cheese head on at the smu games.

[Hoop Fan]

i'm the one with a cheese head on at the smu games.

better than a bag over your head like we've had to do in many past SMU seasons.

[Caballo]

Was at that Wisconsim Game... There were at least 50 Campers with Wisconsin plates parked on campus. We were out numbered at least 2 to 1 (more like 3 or 4 to 1) by cheese heads in the stands. We played really tough in the first half... then... well... we... we had a really strong first half. I think we might have been leading going into the locker room.

Not so fast on the revisionist history there, my friend. We actually almost won that game. We played them in Ownby in 1993 on a very hot and humid day in September. By the middle of the 3rd quarter the midwesterners were sucking wind due to the weather. They had a good running game with some guy (can't remember his name) that still holds their all time rushing record for a season.

We had them on the ropes until the middle of the 4th when a couple of questionable calls went against us. We went on to lose by 8, 16-24. I ran out of the stands as the refs were leaving the field and dropped a bundle of F bombs on the ref who made the bad calls. Not one of my better moments, but definitely a game we could have won. Wisconsin went on to the Rose Bowl that year with a 10-1-1 record.

I have always said after that game that we should schedule at least one mid-level Big Teneleventwelve school every September. They are definitely not used to the heat.

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

Are you referring to Ron Dayne?

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

Scratch that. Dayne played from 1996-2000. I bet it was Brent Moss.

[Otto]

my guess is that JJ scheduled Wazzu based on one of his Pacific Northwest past connections. Maybe we didn't have any other options because of time, but I sure haven't seen any strategic scheduling from SMU football. We need wins/competitive games against D-1 name schools and we also need butts in seats, and the lower tier Big10 schools are perfect fits and they would come. When was the last Big 10 school we played? Wisconsin at Ownby in 1994? The big10 with its lack of overall speed is the perfect scheduling target for a southern school of marginal size (on the field and off) like smu.

That was my guess, too.

Who cares? Let's beat a team from a BCS conference. Wazzu, Baylor High, Vanderbilt — they're not real BCS-caliber teams, but I'd still like to see us beat teams like that if we can get them on the schedule.

[Dooby]

I always thought that the deal was really for a body bag game up there. We would play the game up there, they would get what they thought was an "easy win" for their young team, then they would buy out the return trip, schedule a second home nonconference game against some MAC school and we would use some of the money to lure a I-AA team to Ford.

Well, the economy sucks; they suck; the money isn't really there to buy the game out; not at all clear if they did buy the game out that they could make the money back at their own gate and pay another team; finally, it was the one game they won all year. Accordingly, they elected not to buy the game out. SMU was fine with that, because they want revenge for last season.

[skyscraper]

Beating Wazzu is another bullet point to add for the 2010 season accomplishments - beating a BCS team. Yes, it's Wazzu, but it's something reporters can put in their stories to add to the JJ revival narrative that SMU has going in the media.
That alone is worth it.
And watching the Wazzu players melt in the humidity by the second quarter.

[Charleston Pony]

west coast exposure; this coaching staff has lots of western connections and our being in Dallas where "America's team" resides can ultimately help recruit those west coast kids and go a long ways towards building a national image. That's the goal, isn't it?

Besides, we have a better chance of beating WASU than we would have U of W or Oregon or Cal or AZ. Never bad for an "also ran" to beat a BCS program.

[Cardinal Puff]

Was thinking of that Wisconsin game and the heat beat down. Hoping to see the same impact on Washington St.