Thoughts from the game

LA_Mustang · Post by **LA_Mustang** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 1:50 am

1. We by far had more fans than Pitt at the game... 2 to their 1 in my humble opinion
2. Birmingham is a very welcoming and friendly city. Great hosts
3. Great college football fans in the area. Can't tell you how many locals I talked to who were there just to see a good game. They were very impressed with our team.
3. Loved J Clyde's
4. We were the more talented and physical (which surprised me) team
5. Pitt's offense is pretty bad but our defense played the best game i've ever seen us play.
6. Our receivers were outstanding, D.J. and Cole in particular.
7. J. Davis, Reed, T.T. and Margus will be playing on Sundays
8. Couldn't make it to Hawaii but I'm so glad I could to Birmingham. Best SMU roadtrip ever

redpony · Post by **redpony** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:58 am

I hope Coach Mason and the other D coaches got some nice bonuses. They really earned it after this season. The D kept us in a lot of games and was totally dominant today. They also finally managed to get some TOs. Thanks to all of the coaches and players for their efforts this year.

GO PONIES!!!

Eddie P · Post by **Eddie P** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 1:02 pm

I'm beating a dead horse here, but remarkable how beer being sold at the game assists with demeanor of the crowd.

ponyte · Post by **ponyte** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 3:37 pm

This was a great bowl. For those that dodn't get a chance to attend, you missed out of a good one. The spirit of the fans was a notch or two above the usually. The team was firing on all cylinders. The hotel before and after the game was electric. And so many wonderful fans to celebrate with! A blast weekend.

Stallion · Post by **Stallion** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 4:37 pm

Road trips are fun. Fans don't sit on their [deleted]. Next stop Waco-seriously let's take 5,000. Its just down the street. Great location for Road Opener. Shouldn't be a seating limitation like TCU this year

Dutch · Post by **Dutch** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 4:40 pm

Yep. Waco is good and their fans are welcoming

ontheedgeofmyseat · Post by **ontheedgeofmyseat** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 5:03 pm

9. Cole B's Dad dancing at the pep rally before he "took the stage" to rally the troops....ALL good!
10. The packed house at Bacchus....thanks for the party Steve O. and Alumni relations!
11. Legion Field rest rooms were........interesting!
12. Our band, "though small"

..kicks as_. LOVE their sound! THANKS for showing up for the pep rally, pre game and for making the game time experience / halftime show superb.
13. When did we triple the size of our cheerleading squad? WOW!
14. Glad to see McD make some plays..way to step up in the pocket!
15. Eric D. signed autographs for a LOOOOOOOOONNNGGG time, what a stud, nice gesture!
16. Saw a bunch of ex players...Joe Bays, Clement Fox, ED, Wes Hopkins, Richard Neeley, Chris "go deep" Rentzel, Blaine Smith...just to name a few..I am SURE there were many, many more.
17. We had a MOST enjoyable family weekend! GO MUSTANGS!!!!

skyscraper · Post by **skyscraper** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 5:05 pm

Didn't know what to expect in B'ham, but I was won over.
Everywhere we went people were friendly and welcoming. There were lots of Compass Bowl signs in windows or employees wearing Compass Bowl buttons on Friday.
The SMU folks who showed up brought their 'A' game. No half hearted golf claps that seem to plague Ford Stadium.
Team really seemed to enjoy the crowd support.
Thought SMU as an institution was represented really well by the team, cheer/mascot/band and fans.

Junior · Post by **Junior** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 5:10 pm

Dutch wrote:Yep. Waco is good and their fans are welcoming

some of them, yes. but some are a-holes. like the ones i sat next to last time i was there.

well travelled pony · Post by **well travelled pony** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 5:30 pm

Wow. I am so jealous. I was glad to watch, but my heart was there. Yes, Birmingham and much of Alabama is a surprise, and nice. Been there twice on movies. Wes Hopkins?? Man, I always loved watching him. So great for SMU!

Go Ponies!

DanFreibergerForHeisman · Sun Jan 08, 2012 5:32 pm

Birmingham was great. Everybody everywhere was so friendly and helpful. Great college football fans too - cabbies and hotel attendants all seemed to know a decent amount about SMU which was impressive.

It was so great to see people in SMU stuff all over the city all weekend as well.

Also, you couldn't ask for better evidence than Saturday to see our band was only one-third the size of Pitt's but ours was louder.

Mitch McConnell · Post by **Mitch McConnell** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 5:51 pm

Really wished Pony in SA and I could have made it work. He called me Friday afternoon saying, "We should be on the road to Birmingham.''

Sigh...

But this was a great day for our family.

smupony94 · Post by **smupony94** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 6:13 pm

skyscraper wrote:Didn't know what to expect in B'ham, but I was won over.
Everywhere we went people were friendly and welcoming. There were lots of Compass Bowl signs in windows or employees wearing Compass Bowl buttons on Friday.
The SMU folks who showed up brought their 'A' game. No half hearted golf claps that seem to plague Ford Stadium.
Team really seemed to enjoy the crowd support.
Thought SMU as an institution was represented really well by the team, cheer/mascot/band and fans.

I honestly think I saw a few players turn around and think what the hell is that? As in lots of fans in the stands. They did play up to that

JasonB · Post by **JasonB** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 8:58 pm

The most impressive thing to me was that Pitt didn't even try their power running game against our front 7. What beasts. Pitt has no chance offensively because of them.

Our linebacking core is going to be so good, and so deep, next season it is ridiculous.