Embarrassing, Uninspired performance

[Texasscout96]

Some things I noticed today

1) For a championship game at a "neutral" site, it sure seemed like a home game for UCF.

2) Can we fire Tom Mason now?

3) All day long the defense was out of position. On runs our front 7 seemed to be running past the ball carrier constantly.

4) Our CBs were playing 12 yards off their WRs. Why?

5) Credit to Justin Smart. He played well when Yenga went out.

6) This was Padron's worst performance...EVER! Every pass was underthrown by at least 3 yards.

7) The O line actually did a decent job giving Padron time, but he reminded me of Ben Roethlisberger... standing and standing until the pocket just collapses. I yelled numerous times "Throw the ball!!!"

8 ) Aldrick should have come back to the ball.

9) Can June Jones have more guts when it comes to tough decisions?? Geez!! Go for it on 4th and 1!

10) I am a Zach Line fan.

11) We proved today that we didn't deserve to be in this game. UCF made us look like a high school team.

12) Time to start recruiting hard for next year.

[Hoop Fan]

sorry but most of that is ridiculous. 17-7 is not embarrassing. frustrating maybe but not embarrassing. Simply hit that entirely makable field goal in the first half and that drive at the end would have been to TIE the score on the road. Padron had an off day, but we competed pretty well I thought watching the replay. I agree that June makes some head scratching calls. Like, why punt on 4th and 1 situations, yet continually throw home run balls on consecutive first and second down plays which fail and stall a drive. go underneath and keep the drives going. yes, could be on padron, but i dont think so, those plays are called.

The result wasn't what anybody wanted, but our team had nothing to be ashamed of today.

[Donnell88]

Fire Tom Mason??? Dude, have thought this through??? We held UCF to 311 total yards, without much support from the offence. They were 5 for 5 in 3rd -down conversions on the opening drive; after that, they were 2 0f 8.
Losing 17-7 is not a humiliating defeat. Our program is so much better than it was two years ago.
Kindly renew your season tickets.

[goldenstang]

I think the defense played pretty well. Give Godfrey and the RB's credit for being athletes. They are all pretty good.

[RGV Pony]

Defense had Thompson on one leg , lost youri, and was down to corner #3 yet kept the game manageable. Mason and odum coached their [deleted] off.

[Stallion]

Padron has off days when the competition is tougher. So do his receivers if you note. Tech, TCU, UCF especially. UCF is a solid team-they were just flat better than SMU. I thought the Defense played with a heck of a lot of determination especially considering the injuries. Zero problems with effort given by defense although they are partly to blame for SMU's terrible field position all day. UCF repeatedly turned the field over forcing SMU to go 80-90 yards. I was there-I really didn't feel they were so uninspired-a little but more overmatched I'd say. The better team won

[Donnell88]

"Time we started recruiting hard?????"

FYI, recruiting started in the summer. We've already signed 16 three-star athletes.
I'm more than happy with that.

[Arkpony]

Gotta agree with Stallion and the other posters on this. KP was not good..period. But the defense kept the game manageable of the offense had only come to play. Fire Mason? You're kidding..right?

[SmooTen]

Some things I noticed today

1) For a championship game at a "neutral" site, it sure seemed like a home game for UCF.

2) Can we fire Tom Mason now?

3) All day long the defense was out of position. On runs our front 7 seemed to be running past the ball carrier constantly.

4) Our CBs were playing 12 yards off their WRs. Why?

5) Credit to Justin Smart. He played well when Yenga went out.

6) This was Padron's worst performance...EVER! Every pass was underthrown by at least 3 yards.

7) The O line actually did a decent job giving Padron time, but he reminded me of Ben Roethlisberger... standing and standing until the pocket just collapses. I yelled numerous times "Throw the ball!!!"

8 ) Aldrick should have come back to the ball.

9) Can June Jones have more guts when it comes to tough decisions?? Geez!! Go for it on 4th and 1!

10) I am a Zach Line fan.

11) We proved today that we didn't deserve to be in this game. UCF made us look like a high school team.

12) Time to start recruiting hard for next year.

1) Just like the bowl game here will basically be a home game for us.

2) Stick to watching football and stop trying to observe. Like everyone has already said, they did well for what they lacked. And no one side is to blame for the game. The offense had chances to move the ball and the defense had chances to stop. It goes both ways.

3) You most have been watching the wrong channel. They were good backs. Also if you run into the blitz, it looks like the defense is running by.

4) No they werent, Safeties are at 10-12...corners are at 5-8

5) Yes he did, he's always been good, just hampered by injury.

6) Worst performance ever? Great assessment John Gruden...since when did you become a quaterback's coach?

7) They usually always give him great time, but again....see 6.

He's taught to run fast, you want to put shackles on your deep weapon? And you also need to pinpoint which play because a lot of the time it was just great coverage. The corner used great technique despite being slower than Al. One perfect example was the deep ball in the endzone #20 knocked away. All had him beat but #20 used his technique (swiping at al's arm to catch up).

9) It took guts to take this project on as well as hawaii....i think he has plenty.

10) As are many

11) it was 17-7......really?

12) Someone already stating that recruiting for next year started a long time ago.

In conclusion....you dont know [deleted].

[sbsmith]

Gotta agree with Stallion and the other posters on this. KP was not good..period. But the defense kept the game manageable of the offense had only come to play. Fire Mason? You're kidding..right?

Mason deserves a raise like now.

[planoponyfan]

This is completly off the mark. Yes, Padron had an off day. He also has a bum leg. We were playing a very good team. Padron got rushed and sacked several times. He had some throws that were right on target and were perfectly knocked away by a defender. UCF is a really good football team. SMU should aspire to be that good. We lost by 10 points, not 35. We fought hard to the end. We didn't quit.

I think what we're seeing here is frustration from fans who have come to expect SMU to win.
It actually makes me smile. In some ways, this is the way it should be. Yet, you have to remember where we've come from in just a short period of time. From 1 win two years ago to playing for a conference title today. I'll take that, even if it was a loss. I'll also greatly enjoy seeing SMU in a second consecutive bowl game after a quarter of a century drought ended last year. Even better, the bowl is a home game on our home turf against Army. Should be a lot of fun.

[joeybradford]

Just as far as your #1 goes. C-USA doesn't have neutral sites for it's championships. The team with the best record gets to host.

[mrydel]

"Time we started recruiting hard?????"

FYI, recruiting started in the summer. We've already signed 16 three-star athletes.
I'm more than happy with that.

Slight correction. We have signed no one in this years class. We do however have an above average group of committments. Signing is not until February.

[SMUguy]

• Bowl game will not be like a home game. I heard today that Army already has asked for more than its normal allotment of tickets. Every PonyFan in north Texas HAS to be there, and a hell of a lot more fans from neighboring states and around Texas, too. We HAVE to make sure we have more fans there, but the service academies always draw well.

• Coach Mason did a sensational job. With Taylor Thompson hobbled, Yenga gone in the first few minutes of the game, Sterling Moore helped off, Bennie Thomas banged up, SMU held UCF to a lot fewer yards and less than half its scoring average.

• Padron was ... OK. Not horrible, but not great. Protection was good most of the time, but he had to take off more than I assume he would like. He does have to get rid of the ball more quickly.

• "Guts" is not a problem with Coach Jones. Look at his résumé. He has a history of going for it plenty.

• "Didn't deserve to be in this game"? What are you smoking? We lost by 10 points to the best team in the conference in that team's home stadium when our QB didn't have a great day and we had a bunch of guys hurt. The loss is disappointing, but hardly unexpected by rational observers. Didn't EVERYONE predicting in the DMN choose UCF? Didn't Vegas have UCF favored by 9.5 or so? There's a reason for that — the Knights are a good team.

[couch 'em]

The defense did excellent in this game! Tom Mason has been wonderful. What are you smoking? We should win when the other team is held to 17 points in this league. This isn't 1968 where 9-6 is a high scoring affair.