Okay, I'll bite

[JasonB]

First of all, I'm not a sunshiner. I had low expectations coming into the season because of the QB and oline situations (regardless of whose fault they are), and fully expected 5-7, 6-6, or 7-5. When the line and QB are inconsistent, these types of games happen - outgain Tulane by a ton, move the ball up and down the field, and still find a way to lose.

Almost all football games end up being close. Good teams find a way to win those games. Bad teams find a way to lose. It is pretty clear what category we fall into today...

Do I think there were a couple of calls that could have been different? Sure! I typically have a mindset of playing to win, not playing "not to lose". As I said in the game thread when it was happening, I would have gone for the TD at the end. Then again, i think all of us probably would have gone for it on 4th down instead of kicking a 52 yard field goal, and without that field goal, we aren't even in a position to extend the lead at the end of the game.

Losing this game wasn't about play calling. It was about bad offensive line play and inconsistent QB play. The negative plays and false starts inside the 5 absolutely killed us. Last year, we could blow anyone off the ball and get to the second level, so we could run inside the 10. This year, our linemen lose a lot of 1v1 matchups, so if they expect us to run, we are in trouble unless they are exhausted at the end of the game or Line does something incredible.

The other thing is that if we get a ton of players here, and they still can't do anything, then fine, you call out coaching and scheme. But we don't have the players good enough to call out the scheme. So complaining about offensive scheme is just noise. Do you really think that our receivers would turn into number 1 draft picks with a different scheme? Or that the oline would suddenly gain the agility and skill to block if we ran the triple option (which is incredibly more difficult to block for, FYI)?

And the people who say we have the worst offense ever weren't around for the 90s and 2000s. Our offense was always, always awful. It was always a struggle. This is much better because we can actually move the ball without relying on one single superstar player (Flanigan, Willis, Charles).

Anyway, our line is not good right now. It just isn't. There was obviously a gap in recruiting between 2 years ago and 4 years ago where the talent evaluation was horrible and we missed on a lot of players. Whose fault is that? No idea. In the end, everything comes back to the head coach, but I don't know if Jones made final decisions on linemen or McKnight made all the calls during that time period. The players from last years class, as well as Gottchaulk (from Klemm) and Lasecki (from Klemm) actually look good, so hopefully the athleticism and abilities on the line improve next season (I think they will significantly). Because linemen take longer to obtain the size and strength for the college game, assessing a talent gap takes a little bit longer. So what we are seeing right now is a result of recruiting done by, I suspect, McKnight and judging by the young players seems to have been resolved. But feel free to chirp in if you know otherwise from a recruiting standpoint.

And yes, I do think Lasecki will be good with time. He is a redshirt frosh center and shouldn't be starting at his age. He had a very poor game (cleaned it up in the second half) today, but I think he will be good in the future.

At QB, in this offense you need a 67% completion rate, minimum. Obviously, we are nowhere near that. I talked last week about how I think there are some mechanical flaws with Gilbert. Those seemed to be toned down a little today, but he was still very inaccurate and was lucky to not be intercepted more. Give him credit for coming together on the last three drives of the game (well up until the 37 second one), and bringing the team back, but he needs to be better. I probably would have brought CP in at halftime, but that would have been a mistake with the way we moved the ball in the second half. Things have to get better though or else you need to make a change.

As far as QB recruiting:
1) BLM - didn't pan out. I was never really impressed
2) Padron - an obvious reach who showed some flashes, but never got it all together after the bowl game.
3) Kaiser - not a stretch - he was decently well regarded. But he got sick, we will never know.
4) CP - Great kid. Better regarded recruit than the other three, so a step up. But remember, he was not a 5 star guy, he is a 3 star guy. 5 star guys can come in as a redshirt frosh and play and star. 3 star and 4 star guys typically take a little while to come along. We would have been in trouble if he had to play based on the spring performances, but he really progressed as the team moved through fall practice. He knows the offense really well. But, keep in mind that part of the reason he has not come in is because he is not getting reps in practice. Instead, those reps are going to...
5) Birchum - he has all the tools. I thought he was the second best QB we had the very first day of practice. He is obviously the most well regarded of all of the JJ recruits, and it shows. He is going to be a good QB.

The one mistake that I think might have been made is that Birhum is taking second team snaps instead of CP right now. Because CP isn't getting reps in practice, the leash is longer on GG until Birchum is ready. If CP was getting all of the second team snaps, I suspect that he would have been put in a couple of games by now.

From a QB recruiting perspective, I think we all hoped JJ could lure a 5 star player or a diamond in the rough and come and play incredibly well. and it hasn't happened. That said, the QB recruiting has gotten better with every class. And I think the three we have right now would all be successful behind a good line.

The other hole we have always had is the defensive secondary. There have been a ton of injury issues back there that always hurt depth. Losing Bell a couple of years ago was a killer. Losing JR this season hurt a lot. And the people who didn't make it for school - McConico, the louisiana kid last year, Gamble, there were some really good corners that dropped out. Evaluation hasn't been a problem, but going after kids who could stay in school has been.

This season, we have a lot of injury issues in the secondary. JR, Parks, Smith, it all hurts. And with all of the dropouts, we don't have the depth just yet (better than last two years though).

Next year looks great though. Acker, JR, Montes, Horace Richardson are show really good skill. And parks and Poston will provide depth. At safety, we have some concerns, but Randolph and Justice should be able to push for starting spots with Scott and Roundtree. Randolph will be a really special player for us. We have improved drastically from a depth perspective over Bennie Thomas and Chris Castro.

So basically, my position is this: I don't want to lose again. I suffered for 25 years. But June took us to 3 straight bowls, and I expected this to be a down season (funny that down for all of us now is 5-7 after years of that being a great season). He gets one season. But next year, the QBs have experience, we have good young WRs, the oline will be better. Defensively we are going to be loaded, because Joyner, Pope, Seals, those guys are going to fill in no problem even with the people we graduate. Someone in the game thread asked why we have not seen spike - well, we actually have depth at DT now. Next year I expect us to play well, even though we are stepping up in competition. I fully expect us to compete in the Big East and if we don't, I'll be right there suggesting we have to make a change.

And please, don't let anyone on here talk you into thinking that any coach would be better. There are still a lot of battles that have to be fought within the school, as well as with recruiting for us to be able to keep winning. Bringing in an assistant coach would be a HUGE mistake. The next coach after June has to be a big time name, otherwise we will take a giant step back.

[78pony]

I knew it was coming. Prozac?

[Rebel10]

OL is playing fine Zach got 160 yards and by other accounts should have gotten the ball on the 1 yard on 4th down. You could see this happening a mile away with the recruiting of skilled position players. Sounds like a bunch of rhetorical mess to me but one thing you are saying is that YOU are not wanting JJ gone this year.

[mrydel]

You could not be more wrong. I do not care how much of all of your garble is correct, we were in position to win the game. If Jones had run the ball down on the goal line rather than the fade pass that stopped the clock, time would have nearly run out regardless if we kicked a field goal or ran the ball on fourth down. Sure, if everyone plays perfect and there are no mistakes we win. But that happens in every game.


Trying to over analyze this is ridiculous. Jones is a terrible game management coach and it showed today with a loss to the worst team in the nation at the time. He has now wrestled that title away.

Jones gets credit for getting the entrance rules relaxed. We needed that. Now he needs to move on.

[Junior]

Can someone summarize Jason's post for me?

[Rebel10]

And if you think SMU will be competitive next year you are sick.

[SMU_Alumni11]

Yeah it was too long to argue but essentially he blames GG low percentages on GG when it's the WRs at least before this mess. Throwing passes inside the 5 is soooo smart. JJ is apparently a god. That sums it up

[Rebel10]

Can someone summarize Jason's post for me?

He won't put any significant blame on Jones and thinks SMU will be competitive next year. He wants Jones back because he thinks SMU can't do better.

[Mustangs35SMU]

Can someone summarize Jason's post for me?

Whole post is just trying to convince himself why June should be given another year.

But there isn't a single reason in year 5 that we should be losing to the worst team in FBS football.

[Oldmins]

Is there a Jason's Post for Dummies?

[Treadway21]

You could not be more wrong. I do not care how much of all of your garble is correct, we were in position to win the game. If Jones had run the ball down on the goal line rather than the fade pass that stopped the clock, time would have nearly run out regardless if we kicked a field goal or ran the ball on fourth down. Sure, if everyone plays perfect and there are no mistakes we win. But that happens in every game.


Trying to over analyze this is ridiculous. Jones is a terrible game management coach and it showed today with a loss to the worst team in the nation at the time. He has now wrestled that title away.

Jones gets credit for getting the entrance rules relaxed. We needed that. Now he needs to move on.

Could not agree more.

[SMU_Alumni11]

Hopefully Jason can have a rebuttal after he witnesses the rage against JJ that is happening (and he fully deserves)

[Rebel10]

And JasonB won't acknowledge June's poor playcalling.

[SMU2007]

you lost me when you claimed

Losing this game wasn't about play calling.

Watch that GD playcalling around the goal line, and tell me you honestly believe that. That disgusting attempt at a fade pass to dieter from the 2 or whatever the hell it was, was one of the most embarassing thing i've seen this team do. there was a better chance of zach line winning the heisman than that stupid playcall succeeding. and there were plenty more examples.

[sbsmith]

Typical All Quit No Grit June lover post