Bright spots...

[RGV Pony]

Admittedly, not many. But a few I noticed:

The D not buckling to a 'sudden change....' holding Baylor to a missed FG attempt after the blocked punt. The D later with the goal-line stop. It was on the 4th and goal that I saw something I previously said I didn't think I would...a play where SMU's guys looked well coached. Specifically, the play Baylor beat aTm with, which they tried on 4th and goal...rolling the qb out, hitting the TE. Our guys stayed home. Unfortunately, that glimmer of preparedness vanished later on the 2-point conversion which was successful.

Our pass rush looked decent for about two-thirds of the game.

Our D got some takeaways.

On the other hand, I remember saying to someone next to me after a Bobby Chase drop for what would've been a first down..."hey...he's supposed to be our best WR."

I'm afraid next week we're going to see the option run up and down the field on us, at least in the second half for sure. I hope I'm wrong.

Anyone else miss Rossley's run-and-shoot?

Two more parting thoughts: 1) how the h*ll did that team hang 30+ on aTm & beat them last year? and 2) how different might things have been with Jimbo Fisher at this point vs. Coach B?

[oakley]

well, you asked so I will answer:

BU played like PU; it was not a game that BaylorFans came away from feeling great about, even in victory. Visit Bfans..com is you doubt this. BU played about as bad as we could play, and win. I never felt that BU was in danger of losing, but it was frustrating to see the Bears shoot themselves in the foot time and again. We need to get back to work.

i think our team is much better than we showed, and I think smu will surprise some teams this year. good luck to the ponies and third down thunder.

[Corso]

A few more positives:

• Welcome aboard, Richuel Massey. Run wild, young man.

• With the exception of the blocked kicks -- and I realize, those can't be overlooked -- the special teams played very well. Punt coverage was terrific. Ro Humphrey and Cortley Blackmon were studs.

• Sticking with the special teams, how long before Jessie Henderson breaks one? Fastest Mustang I've seen in ages. He's even faster than the great Kevin Garrett. And it was awesome to see Robert Gilmore out there on the kickoff return team. That's a guy whose dedication and perserverence should serve as a lesson to all.

• Adrian Haywood was in the backfield numerous times. He's quick and gets good penetration. He and Brandon Bonds might do pretty well together.

• Justin Rogers played well, Don Ieremia-Stansbury was better.

• I can't put my finger on the specifics, but they played with a much better attitude and/or intensity. Two blocked kicks and they didn't quit. The defense showed great ability and heart. Two interceptions -- didn't the radio guys say we only had six last year?

[H-E-B Mustang]

Another positive for us was the number of penalties. Only two for 20 yards. For an opening game, I thought that showed that our guys were mentally ready. Baylor had several penalties for false starts, which is what you might expect for an early season game. Also, Baylor tried to make head tackles, which cost them a couple of face-masking penalties.

Fumbles hurt us. I thought when they were reviewing our fumble on the kick-off return it might be overturned when it was reviewed by the officials. It looked like the play was over when the fumble occured.

[ponyte]

This is relative, but our QBs didn't make stupid mistake. Sure, they simple didn't execute in the passing game. Throwing off the back foot, missing wide open receivers. Terrible QB execution. But they didn't make stupid mistakes. A huge improvement over the last few years.

Our D was super the first half and worn out in the second half. A weak offense left our D out on the field too much the first half. We had some speed in the D and didn't give up any big passes (another big improvement over previous years). BU may be disappointed in their play but that is a team without strong talent. And as bad as BU fans thought their team play, the bottom line is coaching cost SMU the game. We simple didn't make the adjustment we need to make at half and one is hard press to ever remember a worse coaching decision than to risk a whole half of momentum and great D play by going for a fourth and 5 on the BU 45. We gave Bu a gift at the end of the half and those 3 points were a key strategic factor in the second half. Bottom line, we had some speed, talent and extremely poor coaching. Coaching, not talent lost that game.

[Arkpony]

Amen Ponyte! Coaching cost us momentum also when he didn't play Romo after the fumbled punt inside Baylor's 20! Where DOES he get these ideas????

(Sorry I missed you on the Blvd..got to visit with Mrydel tho)

[ponyte]

Sorry I miss you, Arkpony, and Mrydel. There were some old teammates (Sr when I was a Fr) that I haven't seen since football days. I was total engrossed in visiting with them and I wasn't paying much attention to anything else. Kinda sad since I hear gals were dress in a provocative fashion and I missed all that.

[mrydel]

In line with questionable coaching comes my complaint of last year that carries over to this year. Special teams play. Apparently special teams are an after thought. Close games by less talented teams can be won, or lost by special teams play. I could not believe that our first 2 ST plays were a blocked punt and a blocked field goal. Fundamentals are greatly lacking. I am sure I am in the minority on this, but I still am trying to have full faith in Bennett. We have more talent and depth than in the past several years, but we are not going to be able to dominate anyone. We have to be near perfect in our play with who we have in order to win, and that includes SPECIAL TEAMS PLAY!

That said, I did see great improvement in the defense, but they were on the field entirely too long. Not enough running game and terrible quarterback execution. Exciting kick returners although very risky at times. Too many people around a bouncing ball not knowing where it was (ST play). We will have a turnover by being hit by a ball on a punt before the year is over. Secondary coverage was pretty good, and a great improvement over last year. Need better OL blocking, and better DL penetration. I really think we will do well in conference if we are not mentally defeated by the time we get there.

When we held Baylor to start the 2nd half and then moved down the field to score I remarked that was an excellent job of good coaching by making proper halftime adjustments. I was proven wrong in the remainder of the half. Hopefully more lessons were learned and improvement wll continue to come, but it needs to pick up the pace right now.

[mrydel]

Sorry I miss you, Arkpony, and Mrydel. There were some old teammates (Sr when I was a Fr) that I haven't seen since football days. I was total engrossed in visiting with them and I wasn't paying much attention to anything else. Kinda sad since I hear gals were dress in a provocative fashion and I missed all that.

Yeah, I missed them too. Mrs. Mrydel will not be attending any more games with me. Not a good mix. Great wife, great mother, terrible football companion. Hope to see everyone one this Saturday!