SMU Preview Part II Defense

Harry · September 4, 2015

SMU's offense has run the Run & Shoot under former coach June Jones ever since 2008. It wasn't always consistent, but at times it worked as a great equalizer and allowed them to pull some outstanding upsets like their victory over TCU in 2011.

The Mustangs had never been the elite offense that fans had hoped for when Jones was hired, but they had not been outright bad except for the last part of 2013 when Garrett Gilbert was out with an injury. The Mustangs had not had a long run of failure by any stretch under Jones, but you can easily see a plateau and steady decline as the talent coming in didn't match the talent leaving.

So how did they end up ranked 127th in Total Offense last year?

In 2014, SMU's recruiting laziness finally struck the team hard. The passing game could no longer mask their issues along the offensive line when SMU was faced with losing Garrett Gilbert, who had developed into a good QB by the end of 2012, and three of their top five deep threats at wideout. Their replacements were significant a drop off in production from Jeremy Johnson (112 catches, 1,112 yards) Keenan Holman (67 catches, 1,037 Yards) and Gilbert who, in only 10 games, completed 66.5 percent of his passes for 3,528 yards while adding 267 on the ground. The replacement quarterbacks were not able to consistently display accuracy and the replacements at wide receiver were decent players but really only one, Der'rik Thompson, scared people on vertical routes consistently.

The Run & Shoot is an offense that can cover up some talent issues, but it can't mask the combination of an inconsistent QB and a limited offensive line. The entire offense isn't trying to confuse anyone, it's basically claiming that "no matter what you call we can find one of our receivers against any coverage". This relies on precise execution & sturdy pass protection. SMU had neither in 2014 leading to a sputtering shell of what SMU had been offensively the previous 5-6 years.

Read more: http://baylor.247sports.com/Article/Baylor-Bears-S11-Game-Preview-SMU-Sept-4--39040801