Thoughts on Kyle's struggles?

[Get_Some_Ponies]

Does anyone have some thoughts on what's going on with Kyle so far? I know his stats looked solid last week but there were some humdinger balls out there.

Is this an issue where he's regressed some, is something going on technique wise (like a starting pitcher), or is he hurting not having the big dog receivers?

[ender3]

My guess?

Last year he was the freshman, the backup coming in to try to save the day, there were no expectations, no pressure. After all, if he failed "Well, it was Bo's fault the season went to crap, anyway."

Seriously, think about it... does ANYONE hold Kyle even partially responsible for the Houston loss last year?

This year, he's the starter, there are WAY higher expectations of him and the team. If there is a failure to blame anyone for, then it's going to be Kyle that gets blamed. There's pressure.

He's young, he's terribly inexperienced, even for a college sophomore, he's feeling the pressure.

He'll get over it. He'll be ok.

[RGV Pony]

also, going into Nevada, the team had a month to prepare. Nevada lost their D-coordinator. Watched film for a solid month on what Nevada had done. When gameday came, the stars aligned. KP against Marshall last year wasnt all that different from what we've seen this year.

I think we're seeing the natural progression that should have been expected of KP all along. He was tough on himself w/ the Tech performance, and maybe that led to overthinking some plays where he tucked and ran the ball instead of standing in the pocket and hitting the open guy.

He'll be okay. From what I've seen, he played at least half the Tech game with some banged up ribs, then came out and ran for 66 yards vs UAB.

[Get_Some_Ponies]

I hear you on the overthinking bit. As to hitting the open guy, do you think he's taking too long back there and it's an experience issue of getting faster with the reads or is the line letting him down? Do the receivers need to be working harder? I know he's taken some shots. One last week he rolled right and just hung out until he got killed from behind.

[RGV Pony]

there are open guys on every play. I think vs Tech and WSU there was some pressure that hurried things. JJ said he thought WSU's front 4 was better than UAB & Tech, with the juco guys they added. Maybe it was coach speak, maybe not, but they had some big boys that gave some pressure

just my opinion

[fivemon]

it also has appeared that some of the receivers have made poor reads of the dbs and also they sometimes are not getting off the line with db pressure.

[Big Hoss]

I think it has to do with the receivers as well. The only 2 receivers that saw significant playing time last season were Robinson and Beasley. I noticed Robinson was getting double covered a lot in the UAB game. Beasley is still running those short routes and Kyle is finding him (albeit sometimes not getting it to him).

So I think it's a combination of nerves from "being the guy" and receivers needing to get a little more separation. Both should get better with time.

[SApony]

Looked like he held on to the ball too long against WSU. Almost like he felt guilty for running so much against UAB and was trying to make it up to his receivers by hanging in the pocket to find the open guy. He needs to make his decisions much quicker this week against TCU. That being said, he did have 4 TD passes and almost 300 yards passing last Saturday. Our offense will be really scary when they are hitting on all cylinders. The biggest difference between this year and last is the completion percentage. Once KP starts hitting 65% to 70% of his passes, everything else will fall into place. Definitely looks like he is becoming more comfortable with the receivers. I have been a little dissappointed in Beasley, as I thought he would be the guy to step up and be a possession type receiver.

[fivemon]

we are also missing emmanuel greatly..he was a special player that was always a go to player and almost always open

[cutter]

I have to agree with RGV Pony.
JJ has said after every game that receivers are open, and that KP will see that when he reviews the tape and will learn from it. Sure, there has been a drop-off of sorts in the receiver corp with Emmanuel gone, but in listening to JJ, it isn't a huge issue.
My take is that this is mostly due to the relative inexperience of KP, which is being slowly rectified with every game under his belt. Included in this, is dealing with the pressure of expectations, of course.
I think, we just have to be patient with his development.

[Get_Some_Ponies]

Good thread guys. Thanks.

[Mestengo]

Who knows? He has all day to throw the ball.

[San Antonio Mustang]

I agree with all of the posts. He will get better. This game will be a great teaching experience. TCU will be the best team he faces until the bowl game. I believe June is playing this just right. Win or loose this game does not effect our goal of winning the conference. So relax enjoy and have fun. What Kyle needs to do this week is work [deleted] preparation and then go out there and just play the game without pressure. Don't know if he can do that, but that will give him the best chance to win. What I fear are turnovers. As June said this week, if we do not turn over the ball we have a chance in every game.

GO MUSTANGS BEAT TCU

[Alaric]

I think we're seeing the natural progression that should have been expected of KP all along. He was tough on himself w/ the Tech performance, and maybe that led to overthinking some plays where he tucked and ran the ball instead of standing in the pocket and hitting the open guy.

The natural progression in this offense means he's now trying to go through all reads (which includes options with pretty much every receiver on every play) and make the perfect decision. Much more info to process compared to what was most likely a simplified gameplan of simply trying to hit your first or second read...simplified because he was new to the offense.

[ponydawg]

While I am glad he was a "gym rat" this summer, I think he put to much pressure on himself. He told Kate that he had some big goals but didn't want to reveal them until later in the season. Which leads me to believe that they were pretty out there. Also, we lost two offensive players to the NFL......that has never happened at SMU in 25 years. The second half was great for confidence against WSU. (even if their D was hot and worn out). Hopefully, our whole O will click in the first half so we can hang with TCU. I think Kyle will continue to grow and sooner or later he will see the field like the nevada game.