SI ranks SMU 110 out of 117

[BRStang]

That's interesting (and encouraging, I guess, maybe, huh??)...SI found 7 teams worse than us despite our dismal 0-12 fiasco. Gotta love Buffalo and Army!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/m ... index.html

Things are lookin' up...I suppose...possibly...could be...oh, I don't know...

[jtstang]

That's interesting (and encouraging, I guess, maybe, huh??)...SI found 7 teams worse than us despite our dismal 0-12 fiasco. Gotta love Buffalo and Army!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/m ... index.html

Things are lookin' up...I suppose...possibly...could be...oh, I don't know...

Well one of the teams below us in the poll we play in our second home game. Gives us a decent shot at 1-3 in September, which is better than last year!

[GoRedGoBlue]

Well, looks like they are not 'quite' the giants we thought...according to SI.

#39. Tech
#?? TCU? Must be TOP25
#48. OSU
#111. SJSU

Best Case Analysis:
TECH:
Starts a JUCO QB (a TOP RECRUIT, but may not gel right away, but we saw what happened last year (though that QB did have 4 years of practice)) vs. strength of our Defense - CB.
Returns most WRs. Lines should be tough.
Tech insiders say this team is better than last year, though.

TCU:
Our offense finds a rhythm and scores enough against a suspect TCU "D".

OSU:
Loss of Tatum Bell, Josh Fields, and Rahaun Woods keeps their offense from destroying SMU, makes game competitve. They lose experience, but have talent.

[Webmaster]

Like SI has a clue... Heck, some of our writers occasionally contribute to Sports Illustrated, so obviously their rankings aren't the result of some incredible brain trust.

[JasonB]

Tech's defense will be better, but their offense will take a hit. They lose their QB and several receivers from the offense, and it will take some time to start clicking.

Even though we have much more depth in the secondary than we have the past couple of years, I would not go as far as to say that our secondary is a strength. We return 4 starters on the D-line and have faster linebackers than before; the front 7 is our strength. The secondary is fast, but inexperienced depth will hurt us.

That said, I think we can slow them down at least offensively. The only question is whether or not we can establish a ground game and hold on to the ball. That is how we will stay in the game.

The TCU game will be tough as well. Away against a top 25 team. That said, the strength of their offense is running the ball, and our defensive strength will be stopping the run. We may be able to keep it close because of that.

Finally, OSU. They are majorly rebuilding on offense, but still have weapons. Again, the key will be to shut down the passing attack.

I think we have the ability to keep each game close, but only if we don't turn the ball over and can run the ball. Even if we do that, it will be tough to pull the games out. I definately do not fore-see the 50+ point drubbings we took last year though.

[WreckEm16]

SI picked us as #74 last year, and projected us to win 4 games.

[Stallion]

I'll bet the Tech fans(58 points) and OSU(Woods-7 TDs) will be shaking in their boots when they hear CB is a team strength. Every corner on the team is a questionmark to me-the one that played Humphreys often wasn't in the same zip code as his receiver last year. But I'll say right now that we are going to be substantially better than 110 in the nation.

[PK]

Stallion, you're going to ruin your reputation if you don't stop making these sunshiner posts.

[GoRedGoBlue]

I'll bet the Tech fans(58 points) and OSU(Woods-7 TDs) will be shaking in their boots when they hear CB is a team strength. Every corner on the team is a questionmark to me-the one that played Humphreys often wasn't in the same zip code as his receiver last year. But I'll say right now that we are going to be substantially better than 110 in the nation.

Turnovers killed SMU in the 58 point Tech blowout where they scored, what, 28pts in a 3-4 minute stretch? The game was closer than that final score.

Woods was a man amongst boys, and Jonas didn't cover as coached. We started 2 FR DL in the rotation, and didn't we start a FR Safety (joe sturd.)?

The OSU game was the first game that I ever walked out of at Halftime, I was so pissed.

But the game steam rolled out of control from the muffed KO return that set up the first pass play for SMU that was intercepted and run back for a TD (I think, or close thereby).

These aren't excuses, but those games should not have been so lopsided.

The difference between the teams isn't going to be as great as before, and that is my only point.

Now, tell me, I would THINK that DBackfield was a strength of this team, but I would have to think that LB was as well.

Haven't we been getting TopTexasTalent at the LB position for some 2-3 years now?

[OldPony]

Stallion- What a pollyanna you've become.

[jtstang]

These aren't excuses, but those games should not have been so lopsided.

Really? What is your definition of "excuses" if the majority of that post doesn't fit? Does it make you feel that much better to know we only shoulda lost to Tech 30-10?

Look, this team should be better this year, but that in no way changes the fact that they were every bit of 0-12 last year. Just enjoy this season tossing back a few cold ones on the Boulevard and knowing that if we win one game we have shown improvement.

[JasonB]

Yeah, we got run out of the stadium against OSU and Tech. They were way better than us, period.

Our corners will be better, but I still don't think they will be the strength of the defense. That is the front 7.

However, being able to play nickel and dime coverages against tech most certainly will be able to help. And our offense will be better, so we will keep the score closer. But the only way we stay close and make a game out of it in either game will be 0 turnovers and a strong running game.

[The PonyGrad]

jtstang - two or three games were bobbled away. Yes our record was 0-12 but I am not sure that makes us "every bit of 0-12", whatever that means.

The O coordinater seems to expect to be running a lot more pass plays. It seems to mean that the key to our success will be completion percentage and not so much on establishing a running game. That was last seasons only card to play. Start thinking differently. Running will be a matter of opportunity.

[BRStang]

There's no good way to look at 0-12. Coulda, shoulda, woulda has been worn out beyond any other cliche with regard to SMU athletics. We were "every bit of 0-12" last year...

The good news is that this is a new season, and there's still hope of an upset in the making that may give us 15 seconds on ESPN one Saturday evening this year. I won't hold my breath, but we have nothing to lose at this point...(except, of course, our coach, our Division I status, and possibly our football program.)

[KnuckleStang]

I still think the key to our offensive success this year will be the o-line, specifically pass protection. Our quarterbacks were often unfairly criticized last year. They were basically running for their lives 2 seconds after the snap. Bennett/Edmondson were often unfairly criticized for not calling pass plays downfield, when the reason they weren't calling those plays was because they knew there was about a 30% chance the QB would be sacked or throw an interception, so why call it.

This new "wide open" offense won't mean diddly if our quarterback doesn't have time to throw. Last year, he almost never had any. I sincerely hope Vinklarek is helping these boys grow up fast, because if not, we're looking at more of the same.