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Let's just bring Bennett back-problem solved. That would be as good a solution as most I have seen on this board.

Stallion wrote:"Outside receiver is a major issue. Holman made several catches in the second half, but you watch him and he just doesn't get the position yet. His adjustments are horrible, which was really evident on a play where GG scrambled to his right, was trying to get Holman's attention to come back to the ball, and he wasn't even looking back at the QB."

I was going NUTS on that play. That could have been a big play with a competent receiver. Also the Thompson deep ball. The ball was thrown outside away from the DB and Thompson is just lost. I have described Holleman play against Baylor as "running around in a Fog." There have been plays like that all year. Thanks for reminding me. That's why I truly believe this is more than a Gilbert issue. Think about some of the catches made by Sanders, Robinson and Johnson over the last few years-WRs are not fighting for the ball like those guys

My thoughts exactly. We know the Oline is iffy, but by far the biggest disappointment for me thus far have been the receivers. I think GG is just fine - he's much more talented than most of that offense and therein lies the problem. I hope this bye week sees some light bulbs going off for the young guys such as Dieter, etc . . .

Bottom line - we are a "top tier" CUSA team and have been recruiting as such. Probably the best we'll ever be in this regime (best since I've become a Mustang in 1991). The problem is I just don't see who can take this team to the next level whose out there . . . it's a cultural thing around this program . . . I fear whomever is brought in will have an uphill battle . . .

RockStang wrote:Let's just bring Bennett back-problem solved. That would be as good a solution as most I have seen on this board.

I be fine with it as a temp solution so long as he gets the same treatment with lower academic standards on players and such. He seem to be more SMU than JJ ever has been. I would even give Todd dodge a chance over JJ simply because knowing him as my HS coach he made team spirit, he showed passion and he try every damn play before deciding to put the freaking white flag by kicking a meaningless fg

I made it to the SFA game and watched the others on TV. My thoughts:

1. Gilbert looks like a quarterback who just started playing with his receivers. Of course, Gilbert IS a quarterback who just started playing with his receivers. He has a strong arm and good accuracy when he's not likely to get hit, which might explain why he looks so good in practice. Whether that will sharpen up as he gets more comfortable, I don't know, but I hope so. The fact that JJ named him the starter so early might say more about what the coaches know about the other QBs than it does about GG.

2. The offensive line has done a good job so far, but not a great job. A lot of plays are being called to get the ball out of GG's hand in a second or two, which I assume has to be to help the offensive line. If any of the starters get hurt, we're in trouble.

3. The WRs need to get better.

4. We need more from the defensive front seven. Two sacks from LBs (one each from Taylor Reed and Ja'Gared Davis) and two from DLs (one from Margus Hunt and one from Gareth Riley-Ayers).

5. We're woefully thin on the OL, at WR and in the secondary.

Thumper wrote:I made it to the SFA game and watched the others on TV. My thoughts:

1. Gilbert looks like a quarterback who just started playing with his receivers. Of course, Gilbert IS a quarterback who just started playing with his receivers. He has a strong arm and good accuracy when he's not likely to get hit, which might explain why he looks so good in practice. Whether that will sharpen up as he gets more comfortable, I don't know, but I hope so. The fact that JJ named him the starter so early might say more about what the coaches know about the other QBs than it does about GG.

2. The offensive line has done a good job so far, but not a great job. A lot of plays are being called to get the ball out of GG's hand in a second or two, which I assume has to be to help the offensive line. If any of the starters get hurt, we're in trouble.

3. The WRs need to get better.

4. We need more from the defensive front seven. Two sacks from LBs (one each from Taylor Reed and Ja'Gared Davis) and two from DLs (one from Margus Hunt and one from Gareth Riley-Ayers).

5. We're woefully thin on the OL, at WR and in the secondary.

Wow never thought I would agree with someone who has a democrat picture but I think this is a great breakdown. So many people blame GG because it's simple and easy but the fact is those damn WR (except dieter) need to learn to play or step aside and let someone else who has the guts to give 110%. Oline I feel for them since they're young but they need to train and work hard and get better to help ZL. Defense needs to learn to never give up and play as hard as they can till the game is over.

Ponymon wrote:

ALEX LIFESON wrote:Agree with all of the above. As for Ace Holloman, don't hold your breath. Ace is fat, lazy, and out of shape. Many of our receivers seem to be on a morning jog, and no idea where the ball is or that the qb is running around for his life...come back to the qb, help him! Our inside guys have been bounced around and bullied, they look like high school kids out there. Darius Joseph doesn't have a clue, and is afraid to get hit. We have a mess here fellas.

Do you mean all of these "hidden Gems" are still just that? Look at our current recruiting class. It is full of "Hidden Gems"!

"You have some diamonds and you have some poo poo, but it all looks like poo poo."

Thumper wrote:The fact that JJ named him the starter so early might say more about what the coaches know about the other QBs than it does about GG.

Has June recruited that poorly at the QB position?

I agree with the WRs struggling assessment that is so prevalent on here. Here is a question for the people in the know...Why isn't Dieter out there more? I know he probably isn't perfect but he was at least seeming to make a few plays early on against A&M on the WR screens or whatever you want to call them. It's all very frustrating.

The defense held the Aggies for the entire first quarter. By the second quarter, they were gassed and we do not have depth and the Aggies to their credit made adjustments. So the Ags got 21 points in the second quarter. We had to score more points. We knew that the Aggies would force Gilbert to throw and we had to beat them in the air. We couldn't get the job done. Was it Gilbert or was it our receivers, it was a mixture. There were two long passes that Gilbert threw to low for the receivers to run under in the first half when we were still in the game. Give us those two scores and things change. On the other hand receivers were not adjusting to what the Aggies gave them. Bad reads by them made Gilbert look even worse. That said, I'm actually thinking we have a good chance in conference play. No one in CUSA looks very good except Tulsa.

Yea it is hard to understand if you haven't ever set foot on a football field. That is why you don't get too high after a win or too low after a loss. the wonderful thing about football is it will test your character to see will you come back and work hard and give it your best effort the next game or do you start feeling sorry for yourself and blaming other people. How do you think USC feels today....or VA Tech...or the Cowboys and Saints.

plus our two stud LBs who were making plays all over the field in the first :20 minutes got hurt on successive plays on that key drive. They came back limping and several times Manziel ran away from them after that.

Stallion wrote:plus our two stud LBs who were making plays all over the field in the first :20 minutes got hurt on successive plays on that key drive. They came back limping and several times Manziel ran away from them after that.

Very good point. JG and Treed were running pretty much everything down - they've got great wheels. But you could see the frustration in JG's body language that he just couldn't run after his injury. It was a hammie was it not?

Anyone have any injury updates yet by the way? Rogers? (who played his best ball I've seen so far - he was a beast against the run).

We are deep at LB. For what it's worth, and it's hard to imagine, the word is that some of the younger guys like Sanders have more upside even than JG and Reed.

PerunaPunch wrote:We are deep at LB. For what it's worth, and it's hard to imagine, the word is that some of the younger guys like Sanders have more upside even than JG and Reed.

Now that sounds encouraging to me because we lose 6 of the starting front 7 next year. With depth like that we should not get lit up like a Christmas tree again next year against the 4 Big12 teams we play.

I don't blame the receivers as much as I blame GG. Maybe it is a timing thing that will work its way out, but you've got to be seriously lost to be consistently over and underthrowing a guy like Darius Johnson. Hell, DJ caught my nachos when they slipped out of my hand at concessions.