Time to get over it

[OldPony]

Let's stop the self flagellation and look forward. This team has some pretty good athletes. They are still too young. They need time to mature They will be better next year and better than that the following year. Recruiting must somehow remain as good as it was for the past 2 years. That is a big IF. No one but pollyannas thought this team could win more than 3 and certainly no one should be surprised that we lost the first 3.

[Mustang75]

Hey think positive...we've only played 2 games!

[H-E-B Mustang]

I agree completely. I try to be optimistic and think we can win every game we play. But, in reality, we didn't have a chance to beat TCU. I was just hoping to beat the point spread.

Our players are still young and learning. We can't turn this ship around overnight. It will take time.

[PonySnob]

Our players are still young and learning. We can't turn this ship around overnight. It will take time.

We have been hearing this for the majority of the 15 seasons that SMU has fielded a team post DP. The problem is that the team appears to be less competitive than the team was back in 1989. How much time is it going to take to field a competitive team? Even the undermanned teams of the late 80's - early 90's never lost 14 games in a row.

[Higher Authority]

The difference is that the players being recruited in the last couple years are of a different caliber than those who were recruited before. That's not meant as a slap to the guys who played before, but the fact is that we're signing bigger, faster, players. However, I have yet to discover a loophole in the NCAA bylaws that will allow us to recruit 25-year-olds. Until that happens, we need to have the patience needed to allow these young guys to grow up.

[Stallion]

yeah but they went 1-22 and 2-30 against Division 1A schools. During a completely separate period they went 4-26-3 under the legendary Tom Rossley. Under that analysis Bennett at 3-23 still has a chance to catch the legendary Tom Rossley with a victory over SJSU.

[The PonyGrad]

Excellent post. The best, most concise rebuttal to that ongoing rant I have heard.

[FloridaMustang]

Stallion makes me grin.

[EastStang]

Hey guys, if Bennett goes unwinning again, this year we can start the fire Bennett after the La. Tech game. It was an embarrassing loss. Bennett now has two seasons and two games under his belt. We have a young team out there. Almost everyone on this board figured we would lose the first three games. So, let's let these kids learn so that when we move to conference play we might have a chance to do better, if we're not too banged up or depressed.

[jtstang]

Almost everyone on this board figured we would lose the first three games.

Yeah, but even the most "realistic" among us, myself included, did not anticipate the ineptitude on display in FW Saturday nite. It was utterly unentertaining and they better fix that problem to have any chance at making Div. 1 home attendance requirments for this year. Basketball cannot get here soon enough.

[EastStang]

They only have to average something like 8000 the rest of the way.

[Casey]

.... Almost everyone on this board figured we would lose the first three games ....

That's what surprises me - when the schedule was announced, everyone was saying "wow, if we can only get through those first three games with the players in one piece." Then, with the excitement of two-adays, and the emergence of some players who are showing improvement, suddenly we were expected to win? Granted, I drove to FW hoping to see a more competitive game, like everyone else. But as much as the gloom-and-doomers hate to admit it, we're still very young and have little depth - which is being further depleted with injuries. This is a team that will grow together, like the squads Coach Rossley had, ultimately resulting in a winning season in Coach Cavan's first year. At the time, people hailed Coach Cavan as something of a genius, but the fact is that team was loaded with juniors and seniors, who not only had physical maturity but loads of experience, too. This team will do the same, and if we don't support them on the way there, we're doing them an injustice. They're playing hard, and the wins will come.

[jtstang]

They only have to average something like 8000 the rest of the way.

It's more than that. Don't believe that 36k number you saw for TTech, that had to be tix sold, not butts in seats. There were a bunch of empty seats on the west side of the stadium. I figure it was closer to 32K, and we have to average roughly 11.5k for the reast of the season. Tough to do, if we can't entertain folks more than last weekend. I'll be there, but will those kinds of efforts bring others to Ford?

[EastStang]

Yeah, but you have Homecoming in there and La. Tech which usually brings an adequate though not huge crowd. SJS and Fresno have always been problem games for us. Fresno might bring out the curious if they are still rolling like they're rolling now. They demolished K State.

[Greenwich Pony]

I agree that we should have been able to put up a better fight than we did this weekend, but didn't expect a win last weekend or this coming weekend. I would like to see a little more fight, but we just need to get past these three games with the core of the team intact (and we seem to be failing at linebacker from what I gather). I still think we will be better set up for the WAC schedule, but we will still take some lumps. We all knew we would still face some unpleasant games this year, but the team is improving. Everyone needs to calm down and let the kids settle down and play.