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Stallion wrote:You know most schools are able to build a program without cutting these kinds of corners.

We ain't most schools, but I trust June more than our school or our school's past.

Stallion wrote:here's the responses in the Las Cruces paper-pretty much getting grilled

http://www.topix.net/forum/source/las-c ... 6QT465LBR5

did you actually read the article before you posted it? absolutely nothing in that article that falls under the category of "incredibly negative press"

basically just states the facts about his past and talks about how hard he's worked to get to where he is now. no surprises there.

SMU2007 wrote:

Stallion wrote:here's the responses in the Las Cruces paper-pretty much getting grilled

http://www.topix.net/forum/source/las-c ... 6QT465LBR5

did you actually read the article before you posted it? absolutely nothing in that article that falls under the category of "incredibly negative press"

basically just states the facts about his past and talks about how hard he's worked to get to where he is now. no surprises there.

I think that was Stallion's point...he just baited you to go figure it out yourself.

I think Kenny would have selected SMU had we offered. I think we had a chance to stay with Tech and TCU if we would have had him. Now we may get jacked up by Tech and TCU because we now have 2 freshman RB's that may take almost half the season to learn the system and get accustom to the speed of the college game. Not getting Kenny sets the program back about one year IMHO.

That's ridiculous. First of all, on paper, we would be underdogs against Tech and TCU with or without Turner, and in JJ's scheme, the running back's first requirement is pass protection. Do we know if he can block? No - that never makes it on highlight tapes. Who knows, maybe he would have taken a few weeks to pick up JJ's system, and just as we don't know Turner would have picked it up right away, we don't know that Fields and Pope won't, or that either of them will even start ahead of Butler. Not getting a guy we never had doesn't "set the program back" at all.
Time to move on.

Rebel10 wrote:I think Kenny would have selected SMU had we offered.

Are you sure we didn't offer?

Furthermore, coming into JJ's offense from another gives Turner, Fields and Pope the exact same chance that McNeal had last year. And to add to Higher Authority's point, they'd all have to win out over Butler. And don't forget Zack Line, who to the best of my recollection actually WAS a starter last year (not meaning to bust your chops H.A., but I can't remember a single carry from Butler last year). And don't forget Anthony Beard, who JJ compared to Zack Line in terms of bruising physique, except that Beard is supposed to be a step faster - and JJ likes those kind of backs.

Point is, nobody will know until Fall, so the prognosis of losing Turner setting the program back a year is a bit premature, don't you think?

Are you people insane? If you think Fields has more than a 1/1000 chance of coming in as a true freshman and doing half of what Turner was going to do, you are fooling yourselves.

Hey, we all have opinions and we all can guess.
I guess I'd like to read opinions about guys playing for the Mustangs.

I think Line, Fields, Pope, & Butler can carry the load. One of them may or may not distinguish himself from the pack next year, but a) they will much more likely do so the following year (2011 season). And frankly, I think the four of them can carry the team yardage-wise what McNeal & Line did this last year in this fall. I strongly believe, freshman or not, that they can be as productive if allowed to be in the offense.

Would it have been nice to have Turner as at least additional ground game comfort, and very probably a difference-maker (for two reasons: one, his production, and two, the allowing of a redshirt with at least one of the freshman)? Hell yeah.

But it didn't happen. Next.

one thing we will have next year that we did not have this year will be better placement of short passes by our QB. As mentioned on the Hawaii message boards, as impressive as KP was during the Hawaii bowl, there is much to be improved on w/ regard to RAC yds with better ball placement. Once that happens, our de facto running game (i.e. short passes) will open up even more.

That's true - a sharper quarterback will make the running game more effective. Besides, I still like Coach J's comments about Fields running like Eric Dickerson and Pope running like Earl Campbell. I'm pretty sure those two could have run on every team on our schedule!

RGV Pony wrote:one thing we will have next year that we did not have this year will be better placement of short passes by our QB. As mentioned on the Hawaii message boards, as impressive as KP was during the Hawaii bowl, there is much to be improved on w/ regard to RAC yds with better ball placement. Once that happens, our de facto running game (i.e. short passes) will open up even more.

Correct, one of the things that was impressive about the Hawaii Bowl was how much KP had improved on short passes since the end of the season...a few flashes of brilliance came through in that first half, but there's still a ways to go.

One quote I remember from the Hawaii message board: "Is it just me, or does this team run the June Jones offense better than we did?"

Now regarding the backs...Shawnbrey ran exactly 1 play last year (play, not snap). Anyone with good physical tools and RB vision can have SOME success with our run game. SM had great vision - in 2007, we didn't have anyone with vision and it was apparent by the fact that they couldn't find the holes (which were small due to our young offensive line). The back who has the best vision will stand out.

the key for Fields in this offense as with many big backs is whether he has a quick first step-I'm not talking about his 4-5th stride- if you closely read his scouting reports they mention that "once he gets a head of steam he's got great speed". Fields is a 200 Meter and 400 Meter guy-they aren't always the quickest backs. Big backs who don't have a quick first step can struggle in a finesse running game. DeMyron Martin is an example. He lost his quick step after his freshman year and defenses were able to close up some big holes because he couldn't hit the hole fast enough.

Stallion wrote: if you closely read his scouting reports they mention that "once he gets a head of steam he's got great speed"

how are his hands? does rolling out help getting past the 1st step if it is an issue?