Thoughts on the Game

[Pony_Law]

I'll be the first to admit I was shocked by the game last night. I never expected SMU to put sucha beat down on houston in really all phases of the game. Here are my thoughts on each area of the game.

WR: As a unit they have struggled this year but this was clearly their best game. Glad to see DJ playing like we all know he could. I was impressed with JJ as well, he finially decided to catch the ball. One play that stood out to me though was a WR screen early in the game, D thompson completely wiffed his block and we had a 1 yard loss on a play set up for a 5-8 yard game. It's a small thing but something I have noticed the whole season that needs improvement. There were still a couple of drops that need to be tighten up. We have also been questioning if the WR had the ability to seperate, and this game clearly shows us yes. We had a lot of wide open WR and GG did an above average job hitting them. Clearly they have the talent to be succesful so no excuses going forward.

RB: Zack line is an absolute beast. He still had to deal with small wholes up the middle and a good amount of run blitzes but he did a good job getting to the edge and using his power. I'm sure he will have a hard time getting a shot at the next level because Zack isn't a burner, but someone in the NFL is going to get a steal of a player who will play great on Special teams and be a good FB and 3rd RB.

O-Line: easily their best game. They gave GG a good pocket most of the night.. The times they gave up pressure only occured when houston overloaded one side which allowed GG to see it and side step it most of the night. They did much better in Run blocking as a whole as well. They are still struggling in the interior of the line but the left side looked dominant and opened huge holews for zack all night to the left. I think this unit will be one of the strenghts of the team next year.

QB: easily GG best game at SMU. He showed us that when he steps into his throw and practices good mechanics he is the player that was the number 1 QB coming out of Highschool. he made 2 3 bad decisions only one of which was Int. He also made 3-4 throws off his back foot in the second half which produced inaccurate throws. I hope this is a sign of him gettingt more comfortable with the offense so that during the games he can focus more on executing his mechanics than trying to figure out where everyone is. I think his job was on the line to night and he stepped up, that earns some respect from me and I hope he continues to mopve forwad for the rest of the year.

D-Lione: Margus was showing why some thought he was a 1st round pick prospect. Absolutely dominated. The line continued to do well after they went to a primarily 3 man rush. They also did well against the run which allowed the LB to be a bit deeper and sit on more routes. I was also impressed with that kid Barnes (another tall DE) Thought he played really well last night as well.

DBs: Had trouble with intermediate routs and left to big of holes in their zone at times. Really couldn't handle Houston when matched up in man but did well once we moved into a zone mix. Safteys did a decent job giving help but had some misses. Glad they were ball hawking as it won us the game.

LB: great game by this unit. They were flying to the ball. the were lighting people up. Held hoston's run game down for the most part and produced great plays. Taylor reed is really turned into a great player.

Special teams: our punter and kick off kicker did well most of the night. Still don't have a FG kicker at all. We had a nice return and were hawking the ball. Gave up one return but that kid from houston is pretty good. Overall a plus.

Coaching: better, more animimated which i appriciated (not much more because it is still June Jones) Made the right game decisions tonight like going for it on 4th and 1 instead of trying a field goal. Would have like to see more zack line earlier in the game but June did not get stubborn and had that 75 yard td drive in the 4th with 10 rushes by Zack. I think June knoew he was playing to save his job and he got the team to respond. I've been a big June critic this year and I believe it's time for new blood but he did a good job tonight.

Run and Shoot: This is a system that is good when your QB can complete 60% and downright nasty when he can complet 67%+. If GG can beome an accurate 665% passer I'd expect 40 points a game.