Line opens -4 SMU
If I were a betting man, I’d jump all over that one. Way too low. Ponies are gonna win this and I don’t think it’ll be close.
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I sure hope the SMU Players are thinking like you. But with their head coach I think he will tamp that down with them.
Maybe, but I think you’re giving SMU too much credit. They lost at home to Cincinnati worse than we lost at Cincy. They’ve really only beaten poor teams–SFA, Texas State, UNT, Temple. They did beat Memphis, who isn’t that great either this season, by a field goal in Dallas. They barely squeaked by Tulane. Their top playmaker, their version of Stevenson, is out for the season. I think we can win if we avoid mental errors and play well. I think we will win if we get Stevenson, Turner, and Mutin back.
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That’s totally possible! I’d absolutely love to be wrong here, but at no point this season have we credibly defended the pass, and SMU’s an Air Raid team. Until we prove otherwise, I’m operating under the assumption that any team with a competent QB can just kind of roll the ball out there and throw all over us.
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Memphis beat USF by one point. One. I know transitive property, etc. but SMU is beatable.
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SMU is beatable but Coogs can sometimes be their own worst enemy.
A well coached Coog team can/should win, but that will require disciplined play, execution, limiting mistakes, and good play-calling. This will be a good litmus test to see how much this team has improved through the year.
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We will win. The USF game came at the perfect time and will inspire the players who can clearly see that we are in a second place tie with a lot of teams. We beat SMU, we will still be in a second place tie, but with fewer teams. Plus we played with out a bunch of guys that will be back.
SMU QB was not very good on the run vs Tulsa so if we can get consistent pressure on him, that will help our secondary, I think. Offensively, we should be able to score. I see a close game, within 7 either way.
We are going to beat both SMU and Tulsa.
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I’ll feel a lot better if we have Turner and Mutin back. Stevenson would be a bonus, but I don’t think we’ll have a problem moving the ball and scoring on the Ponies. What I worry is our defense against their offense. If we have Turner, that puts more pressure on Buchele. If we have Mutin, that helps us defend against their running back, who leads our league in yards. I expect a high-scoring, close game. A win here would really redefine our season.
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I sure hope that no one is still thinking that it’d be good for us to lose to SMU under the theory that it would somehow “elevate” the conference and “help” us/“help”our recruiting.
You all know how we’ve heard that bogus theory on this board before.
Hopefully that theory is now dead.
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I disagree, I think the two teams are fairly evenly matched. if we have Mutin and Turner back on the defense it will be hard on smu, they rely on buchele to scramble away too much. If stevenson is back that would really open up the game for us. we improved defensively this week…true usf is bottom of the aac but they have thrown for a ton of yards vs our conference brethren in thier losses, something UH prevented last week…a positive sign. I think coogs win this by 2 touchdowns
Even with nobody back, we beat them by 10. Book it. I think the players have heard quite enough about the ponies…
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Win or lose, I don’t get all the love for smu. Are they catching a contact hype off ut for grabbing a 2nd hand qb at the thrift shop?
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Yeah, that’s what the game hinges on, IMO, whether we get some of our absolutely most essential players back. If Stevenson, Turner, and Mutin were back 100% healthy, I think we win. If none are, I would probably predict a loss. One or two? Hard to say.
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SMU’s offense is based on executing big plays. You take that away and they are not capable of slugging their way down the field. Cinn and Tulsa kept receivers in front of them and took away the deep ball. Coogs need to control the ball with a solid ground attack and put pressure on QB. I saw more blitz packages against USF than any other teams we’ve played.
We have been BAD at giving up big plays. I might take that action.
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I so wanted SMU to beat Tulsa. Wanted them to keep climbing in the polls and make the conference look better.
Also wanted to be the one to beat them and crash their glass house and expose their offense for what it isn’t AND DO IT IN DALLAS.
Remember 2016 in Dallas - we got completely embarrassed by Hemroid’s taping SMU jerseys to our locker room floor.
Then 2018 in Dallas - hard headed Kendall Briles would not make a single adjustment on offense and we had about 40 yard total offense for the game in a miserable cold hail storm.
Both times I left those games and said “if I never go back to Dallas, it will be too soon.”
We owe SMU some whup-axx in Dallas payback this year!
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Good memories of Carrier in the back of the EZ to beat them one season in Dallas
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