NTXCoog wrote:ThisIsOurTime wrote:if they are as good as you think, why did they have trouble with UCLA and UTEP? Those are two teams that are not exactly top teams. If Houston has not even played one team with a top 50 defense, couldn't it be that maybe your opinion of Houston's offense is just a tad overstated?
UCLA was opening game and Keenum had some rust but I know you're only looking at the final score. UH was up by 17 at half time and up by 10 with 1:30 left to go. UCLA is a hit or miss team. Sometimes they look good. Sometimes they look horrible. If the season ended right now, they would play in the Pac12 championship game.
As I said before, UTEP is one of those matchup problems, especially in El Paso. Just like UH is a bad matchup for SMU. But we won and scored 49 points doing it.
We've improved as the season has gone along. Unlike 2009 where the injuries started piling up, basically our whole team is healthy.
So you tell me, how does SMU beat UH this year which is where this all started? You point out poor performances by UH, care to look at SMU this past week losing to a 4-6 Navy team. A Navy team that lost to a 4-6 ECU team that UH beat 56-3. SMU has a signature win against TCU, but they've lost 3 of the last 4. They look like they've given up at this point in the season.
Give me your argument on why SMU will beat UH this week.
I don't know if SMU will beat Houston or not. I was bringing up the thread b/c a lot of posters on this forum thought SMU had no chance which didn't make a lot of sense to me. There was a defeatist air which seemed strange considering they had knocked off TCU earlier in the season.
They mentioned 3 losses but I don't think that necessarily means anything. I said all this before but I guess I will have to say it again.
Losing to Tulsa or S. Miss may not turn out to be such a bad thing as they could be the best teams in the conference.
I don't even really consider the Navy game that much because playing option teams is always tricky. Most schools can't properly prepare in a week of preparation which is why the academies are occasionally able to upset some teams they otherwise would not. Option attacks can eat up a lot of time of possession which results in reduced chances of scoring which would hurt a team like SMUs. I also saw part of that game and the parts I saw, SMU was able to freely move the ball and so feel like they may have just had a bad game on offense in the other parts. In the end, they lost by 7 points so I just don't see it as that big of deal.
Now, why I think SMU could beat Houston is because they do have a high scoring offense that has been able to put up points against TCU, Tulane, UCF, and Memphis. I suspect that just judging by the opposing teams scores on Houston that SMu can also put points on the Houston D. I also think Zach Line if he plays provides SMU with a solid running threat which will probably be the best RB Houston faces all year.
How SMU's defense fairs will be the big factor on how they do against Houston if SMU's offense shows up like I think they can? I was impressed with the defensive line play of SMU in the TCU game and suspect that if they get similar pressure on Houston, they could give Keenum some trouble. SMU really just needs to find ways to slow down the Houston offense. They don't have to shut them down. If they can do that, they will give themselves a chance.
FInally, its college football. Upsets happen all the time. What if Keenum has a bad game? What if an SMU player has an unbelievable game? What if there are a number of turnovers or Houston can't handle the pressure of a big game before a national audience? My point is upsets happen and often it can be a little thing that makes it possible like coach's seeing a mismatch or an injury that creates an opportunity. TCU was a 15 point underdog against Boise and beat Boise. Tech was I think a 35 point underdog to Oklahoma and they upset them. If Boise and OU could lose, why couldn't Houston also?
Go Ponies.