Smu Not The Same As Last Year

emmitt01 · August 24, 2007

Lets look at the SMU team we faced last year

Offense:

QB- Justin Willis...year older and better

RB- Demyron Martin- ditto and we didnt really slow him down too well last year. Will the 4-3 help this?

WR(Z)- Vincent Chase...gone

WR(Y)- Blake Warren...gone

WR(X)- Reynaldo Pellerin...gone

WR(T)- Columbus Givens...returns this year

TE- Ryan Kennedy...gone

LT- Darrin Johson...gone

(With this said they should have a senior heavy line this season)

Emmitt's synopsis... First off, the loss of all of those seniors in the receiving corps won't hurt as much as one might at first think. Their two returning receivers are still there. That said, this is a very run heavy offense from what I saw last season and during their scrimmage Saturday. Justin Willis is a dynamic player if you let him move around and leave the pocket. If he has to beat us with his arm he will fail. Not that he won't get some yardage and maybe even throw a TD or two, but he won't BEAT us with his arm b/c of their defense. Bottom line: We stop or almost stop the run and we win. Their leading rusher from last season was Justin Willis with a whopping 591 yards (that's before you subtract losses and then it's a net of 354). Yes, he did throw for 26 TD's and only 6 INT's...total of 2047 yards.

Defense:

LDE- Cory Muse...he's likely out for the Tech game, will he be 100% five days later?

DT- Adrian Haywood...gone

NG- Brandon Bonds...gone

RDE- Justin Rogers...gone, and an NFL draft pick How quickly do you replace that?

SLB- Tony Hawkins...senior this season

MLB- Reggie Carrington...easily the best player left from last season's defense...gone

WLB- Wilton McCray...senior this season

LCB- David Haynes...junior this season

FS- Randall Goode...gone

SS- Joe Sturdivant...gone And his backup on the two-deep? Victor Makinde...also gone

RCB- Jonathan Lindley- senior this season

Emmitt's synopsis...Almost the entire front four will be brand new. They do have a transfer that weighs in at 300lbs from Minnesota but word is that he is not up to snuff just yet in the conditioning department. Could be a BEAST though when he finds his groove...will it be by week 2? The linebacking corps was nothing to write home about last season against a vanilla Dickey offense and they're without Reggie Carrington this season. That could be the reason that....from what I saw they play with quite a cushion in their secondary. When I attended their scrimmage I saw corners 10-12 yards off of their man. Against Tech and then against us will this be the best plan? As I see it, yes. Both starting safeties are gone so keeping everything "in front of them" might be the only way to keep a green secondary safe.

Bottom line...let's put those CUSA Title hopes on ice for at least the short term. Also, all of this talk about how great they were last season should be tempered with a dose of reality. I count 6 defensive starters gone from last season and a potential 4-5 on the offensive side of the ball. This is not a juggernaut.

Mean Green 93-98 · August 24, 2007

Yes, he did throw for 26 TD's and only 6 INT's...total of 2047 yards.

You say that like it's an afterthought. :lol: But you bring up some things worth noting--who knows? Maybe we can make it two in a row. Thanks for the synopsis.

Dodge2007 · August 24, 2007

Lets look at the SMU team we faced last year
Offense:
QB- Justin Willis...year older and better
RB- Demyron Martin- ditto and we didnt really slow him down too well last year. Will the 4-3 help this?
WR(Z)- Vincent Chase...gone
WR(Y)- Blake Warren...gone
WR(X)- Reynaldo Pellerin...gone
WR(T)- Columbus Givens...returns this year
TE- Ryan Kennedy...gone
LT- Darrin Johson...gone
(With this said they should have a senior heavy line this season)
Emmitt's synopsis... First off, the loss of all of those seniors in the receiving corps won't hurt as much as one might at first think. Their two returning receivers are still there. That said, this is a very run heavy offense from what I saw last season and during their scrimmage Saturday. Justin Willis is a dynamic player if you let him move around and leave the pocket. If he has to beat us with his arm he will fail. Not that he won't get some yardage and maybe even throw a TD or two, but he won't BEAT us with his arm b/c of their defense. Bottom line: We stop or almost stop the run and we win. Their leading rusher from last season was Justin Willis with a whopping 591 yards (that's before you subtract losses and then it's a net of 354). Yes, he did throw for 26 TD's and only 6 INT's...total of 2047 yards.
Defense:
LDE- Cory Muse...he's likely out for the Tech game, will he be 100% five days later?
DT- Adrian Haywood...gone
NG- Brandon Bonds...gone
RDE- Justin Rogers...gone, and an NFL draft pick How quickly do you replace that?
SLB- Tony Hawkins...senior this season
MLB- Reggie Carrington...easily the best player left from last season's defense...gone
WLB- Wilton McCray...senior this season
LCB- David Haynes...junior this season
FS- Randall Goode...gone
SS- Joe Sturdivant...gone And his backup on the two-deep? Victor Makinde...also gone
RCB- Jonathan Lindley- senior this season
Emmitt's synopsis...Almost the entire front four will be brand new. They do have a transfer that weighs in at 300lbs from Minnesota but word is that he is not up to snuff just yet in the conditioning department. Could be a BEAST though when he finds his groove...will it be by week 2? The linebacking corps was nothing to write home about last season against a vanilla Dickey offense and they're without Reggie Carrington this season. That could be the reason that....from what I saw they play with quite a cushion in their secondary. When I attended their scrimmage I saw corners 10-12 yards off of their man. Against Tech and then against us will this be the best plan? As I see it, yes. Both starting safeties are gone so keeping everything "in front of them" might be the only way to keep a green secondary safe.
Bottom line...let's put those CUSA Title hopes on ice for at least the short term. Also, all of this talk about how great they were last season should be tempered with a dose of reality. I count 6 defensive starters gone from last season and a potential 4-5 on the offensive side of the ball. This is not a juggernaut.

That scouting analysis is about as good as it gets.............signed Gil Brandt.

adman · August 24, 2007

Lets look at the SMU team we faced last year
Offense:
QB- Justin Willis...year older and better
RB- Demyron Martin- ditto and we didnt really slow him down too well last year. Will the 4-3 help this?
WR(Z)- Vincent Chase...gone
WR(Y)- Blake Warren...gone
WR(X)- Reynaldo Pellerin...gone
WR(T)- Columbus Givens...returns this year
TE- Ryan Kennedy...gone
LT- Darrin Johson...gone
(With this said they should have a senior heavy line this season)
Emmitt's synopsis... First off, the loss of all of those seniors in the receiving corps won't hurt as much as one might at first think. Their two returning receivers are still there. That said, this is a very run heavy offense from what I saw last season and during their scrimmage Saturday. Justin Willis is a dynamic player if you let him move around and leave the pocket. If he has to beat us with his arm he will fail. Not that he won't get some yardage and maybe even throw a TD or two, but he won't BEAT us with his arm b/c of their defense. Bottom line: We stop or almost stop the run and we win. Their leading rusher from last season was Justin Willis with a whopping 591 yards (that's before you subtract losses and then it's a net of 354). Yes, he did throw for 26 TD's and only 6 INT's...total of 2047 yards.
Defense:
LDE- Cory Muse...he's likely out for the Tech game, will he be 100% five days later?
DT- Adrian Haywood...gone
NG- Brandon Bonds...gone
RDE- Justin Rogers...gone, and an NFL draft pick How quickly do you replace that?
SLB- Tony Hawkins...senior this season
MLB- Reggie Carrington...easily the best player left from last season's defense...gone
WLB- Wilton McCray...senior this season
LCB- David Haynes...junior this season
FS- Randall Goode...gone
SS- Joe Sturdivant...gone And his backup on the two-deep? Victor Makinde...also gone
RCB- Jonathan Lindley- senior this season
Emmitt's synopsis...Almost the entire front four will be brand new. They do have a transfer that weighs in at 300lbs from Minnesota but word is that he is not up to snuff just yet in the conditioning department. Could be a BEAST though when he finds his groove...will it be by week 2? The linebacking corps was nothing to write home about last season against a vanilla Dickey offense and they're without Reggie Carrington this season. That could be the reason that....from what I saw they play with quite a cushion in their secondary. When I attended their scrimmage I saw corners 10-12 yards off of their man. Against Tech and then against us will this be the best plan? As I see it, yes. Both starting safeties are gone so keeping everything "in front of them" might be the only way to keep a green secondary safe.
Bottom line...let's put those CUSA Title hopes on ice for at least the short term. Also, all of this talk about how great they were last season should be tempered with a dose of reality. I count 6 defensive starters gone from last season and a potential 4-5 on the offensive side of the ball. This is not a juggernaut.

Thanks for the synopsis Emmitt. I'd like to add that one thing that really stood out to me the other night when Hanson was interviewing Bennet was how Willis doesn't really pass the ball as he does chunk it. Neither a pretty motion nor ball. (they showed clips of Willis throwing during the interview) Cut to the next night when Hanson interviewed Dodge and Meager's motion and ball were night and day to Willis. Willis's motion looks "angry" like he's mad at the ball and he's trying to hurt it. Meager looked almost zen like. Not sure if any of that matters come game time but if it we got points for pretty passes based on those two clips we'd skunk them.

greenminer · August 24, 2007

Thanks for the synopsis Emmitt. I'd like to add that one thing that really stood out to me the other night when Hanson was interviewing Bennet was how Willis doesn't really pass the ball as he does chunk it. Neither a pretty motion nor ball. (they showed clips of Willis throwing during the interview) Cut to the next night when Hanson interviewed Dodge and Meager's motion and ball were night and day to Willis. Willis's motion looks "angry" like he's mad at the ball and he's trying to hurt it. Meager looked almost zen like. Not sure if any of that matters come game time but if it we got points for pretty passes based on those two clips we'd skunk them.

Wait, sounds like we hired a QB coach? Did anyone else know this...THROW ME A FRICKIN BONE.

FirefightnRick · August 24, 2007

Good points E.

Willis doesn't really pass the ball as he does chunk it. Neither a pretty motion nor ball. (

Made me think of last years game and that overthrow to the WR that got really deep on the post, wide open, only the throw was about 3 yards over his head. Everyone in the stands let out a big sigh. From that game on though Willis somehow got on track with the TD's. Do we have the speed to keep Willis under control on the ground? We'll see.

Rick

meangreendork · August 24, 2007

I think this game will really rely more on the defense than anything, but I'm one of those people that doesn't think that you can outscore every team you play without the D showing up. I'm hoping Willis looks as sloppy as he did in the last SMU game, or even a similar performance; I got a feeling our secondary and LBs are better than they were last fall.

Dodge2007 · August 24, 2007

This will be the break out game for Meager or Vizza. Willis has not beaten a Dodge coached team and it doesn't start this season.

DL health is a concern coming out of the OU game, however.

perunapower · August 24, 2007

FYI - Vinny Chase (who is a TE) didn't graduate. Bobby Chase did (I assume that's who you meant emmitt).

Emmanuel Sanders (WR) is a stud and will continue to be a playmaker on the offense like last year.

Demyron Martin (hopefully he doesn't get injured again) has revamped his mindset to that of his freshman year where he led us to upset TCU. He also only played in the first quarter against UNT because he broke his foot.

Justin Willis is the watchlists for two national QB awards and rewrote many of the SMU QB records, surely you don't think he is overrated. Justin was nervous and hadn't adjusted to the pace of college ball by the time of the UNT game last year, plus PB hadn't opened the entire playbook up then. Also last year, we were rotating two QBs (both Willis and Slater) to find a starter and that will not be an issue this year.

The OL is much improved over last season which will give more time for plays to develop and for Justin to find an open receiver.

Justin was our leading receiver because we rotated a handful of RBs in the wake of Martin's string of injuries, so no RB got many attempts.

The defense is in question, especially with the potential loss of Muse in the opener. Elizee, the transfer from Minnesota, will be a major asset to the line. We have a lot of guys who will be rotating in and out to keep the line fresh (some of these guys got playing time when Muse and Haywood were injured at the end of the season last year).

The losses of Carrington and Dennis hurt, but I don't expect a huge drop from last season in terms of defensive ability. All remains to be seen until September 3rd though.

runt96 · August 24, 2007

Justin was nervous and hadn't adjusted to the pace...???

greenminer · August 25, 2007

Justin was our leading receiver because we rotated a handful of RBs in the wake of Martin's string of injuries, so no RB got many attempts.

I, for one, would love for Justin to be put in a position where he becomes your leading receiver. :whistling1:

TheTastyGreek · August 25, 2007

I, for one, would love for Justin to be put in a position where he becomes your leading receiver.

Careful... He'll kick your ass for even suggesting such a thing.

Rumors abound, though.

greenminer · August 25, 2007

Careful... He'll kick your ass for even suggesting such a thing.
Rumors abound, though.

Are you referring to anything in particular?

greenminer · August 25, 2007

THAT is soo metal. brutal.

MeanGreenBuzz · August 25, 2007

Emmitt is 100% right here. Until Martin got injured in last years game SMU was well on its way to running their way to a victory. It was a good thing their backups weren't worth much. If we can't stop Martin (or injure him again) then its going to be a very long day in Dallas.

MGW · August 25, 2007

Thanks for the informative post. Any prediction on the line? I guess that all depends on what SMU does v. Tech and our game v. the Sooners.

DallasGreen · August 25, 2007

Thanks for the informative post. Any prediction on the line? I guess that all depends on what SMU does v. Tech and our game v. the Sooners.

College football is an emotional game. SMU can talk all it wants about Martin, but I'll put a healthy Jamario up against him any day of the week. I was there at CU when Jamario made his debut and anything near that form as well as two QBs who can scramble in Meager and Vizza and with a DodgeBall offense that lights it up, bring those arrogant a--holes on!!! A first team D with Chapman and a bevy of DBs and LBs and I think Justin Willis gets plenty of pressure. After having faced OU, this will be a much easier match up. As fans we need to suck it up and support the Mean Green with the biggest, most vocal road crowd ever!! In Todd we trust. This is the game that will make us a force and the leading metroplex program after TCU is put in its rightful place by BU and UT!!!!

UNT 30 Southern Miserable University 10