SMU won for the same reason we should have more wins lately

[JesseMartin]

Until SMU came alive in the fourth quarter, that was the most ridiculous game I think I'd ever seen.  Both teams looked terrible on both sides of the ball, with all of the constant drops, miscues, and insane trading turnover series.  So what happened?  Well, it wouldn't have worked against tougher competition, but their QB started improvising when everything else didn't work and made plays out of nothing.  This can help you squeeze in a couple of wins against the lowlier teams on your schedule while the rest of the team has a chance to work out the bugs and get up to speed.  Does this sound familiar?  We found ourselves in this situation over the last couple of years, and are there again.

I like McNulty, I really do.  If you remember, I'm the one that pointed out some of the really solid series he's had.  He had that great one last night that was, ironically, ended by a Tucker fumble.  But sadly, those amazing series of his, where he has one completion after another and starts to look like a stud QB, aren't anywhere near a regular part of his agenda.  If they were, there would have been no question in the battle of the 7 QBs that we STILL have, let alone last year's debacle.  He's shown that he has the capacity to be awesome, but that for whatever reason, he can't do it all of the time.

SMU looked just as bad, if not worse, than UNT last night, though at least they didn't have players literally running into each other and knocking their heads together on special teams like they're trying out for a bad football movie.  The thing that saved them was having a playmaker at QB who could B.S. his way out of a bad situation.  We've had these guys on the roster, but because it doesn't always work well, we'll stick with someone who can't pull out a win that hasn't already been created by the rest of the team.  Having to rely on athleticism and improvisation isn't a place where we want to be, and will bite us in some games though it will work in others, but it's a damn sight better than relying on knowing the playbook that can't be executed.

We have another one of these playmakers available now, by all accounts, yes?  Brock Berglund and Dajon Williams are gone.  DaMarcus Smith is here.  If he is as advertised, then we need him to beat the lesser teams on our schedule.  It should have been us last night, looking terrible but having one of the many talented-but-not-playbook-savvy QBs that have been at our disposal save us against terrible competition.  It would have been ugly, but I'd have taken it, just like I'm sure most of the SMU fans feel after what actually did happen.  And that's how I'll be for any other bad games against bad teams this season: happy to take the ugly wins over ugly losses.

Portland State upset a PAC-12 team.  If Mac can't squeeze out a few extra wins by utilizing the tools at his disposal, then we might go 0-12 this season.  Getting some really awesome recruits and having a fairly experienced few senior leaders should have given us a leg up over last season's performance.  If it doesn't, then I have to go back to the question: WHY DO WE HAVE SEVEN QUARTERBACKS?!  Even when we see something awesome from one of them, if they have a bad game or two, instead of chalking it up to inexperience, they get benched.  But Andy gets a pass for multiple bad SEASONS, and it's because he knows the playbook better?

I wanted to see Andy put it together and have a killer senior year.  He's a hard worker and is totally dedicated to the team.  He's everything you want in a player, a leader, a student, whatever...but one solid series against terrible competition isn't solid enough performance to justify continuing to put him in against tougher competition.  Many of the last night's mistakes were on other members of the team, but as a team captain, a leader, and THE lynchpin of the team, we need a QB who can win a few NOW while learning along the way.  Expecting someone as experienced as Andy to "need to continue to learn a little more" in his senior season, so much so that he can't beat one of the 2 or 3 worst teams on our schedule, is unreasonable.

With Iowa's poor performance in their first couple of games, I was hoping we could take them down this season.  If last night is any indication of what to expect from us this year, then I'm going to be just hoping we at least pull out a win in our Homecoming game against our FCS pay-to-play.

[GreenTexan13]

He was a third string QB on our team last year... Just take a second to think about that. Guess who is second string? Happy Feet Greer!

I'll be surprised if we beat any teams this year with our offensive performance. Smith needs to get his shot, and I don't care about, "well McNulty knows the plays ". It's BS and a lot of us are fed up with not only out coach's excuses.... But our AD's.

[madmaxx7]

I am reminded of some obscure quote, by someone who attended a game like we did yesterday. The day after, I reflect and understand the quote.

 

"We can't run and we can't pass.  We can't stop the run and we can't stop the pass. Other than that, we are just not a very good football team right now"

 

 

 

[JesseMartin]

I am reminded of some obscure quote, by someone who attended a game like we did yesterday. The day after, I reflect and understand the quote.

 

"We can't run and we can't pass.  We can't stop the run and we can't stop the pass. Other than that, we are just not a very good football team right now"

 

 

 

I wouldn't say this applies to us...because other than all of that, we still have a solid kicking game, as usual.  Coverage, on the other hand, including running headfirst into one another....

[Green Mean]

You can't just admit SMU played better when they held north texas to 240 yards and 13 points? And scored 31 when they could have scored around 45 pts? Give credit where credit is due...SMU earned that W and north texas had some fight until it got out of hand.

I think it was evident that both teams are awful and NT stinks even more due to the HC.  If NT has a competent QB then the game could have been way in their favor earlier in the game.

 

[Ben Gooding]

Both teams were horrible. I was dumbfounded how bad both teams actually were. SMU has a one trick pony at QB. We got beat like a bad high school team gets beat by a one-player-team who puts their best player at QB and hopes for the best. SMU will win a couple more because of Davis, but if last night is any indication I don't expect to see either team in a bowl game. 

[JesseMartin]

You can't just admit SMU played better when they held north texas to 240 yards and 13 points? And scored 31 when they could have scored around 45 pts? Give credit where credit is due...SMU earned that W and north texas had some fight until it got out of hand.

Look at all the mistakes through the whole game...if either team had been capable of capitalizing on the other's mistakes throughout, it could have been a 50-10 game either way.  I can see that there may have been one more score when SMU ran the clock down instead, if they'd rushed to try to do so, but with so many awful turnovers it was smart to just avoid the possibility of more mistakes.  If Davis hadn't had the opportunity to do his thing, it would have stayed a back-and-forth 3-to-7-point game of idiocy.  And if you knew our QB situation, you'd see that what makes Morris capable of swinging a couple of wins like this one is that he rolls with what he's got, whereas every time we have had the chance to do exactly what SMU did last night, instead our coach doesn't want to make the risky move of letting someone improvise like that and would rather stick with tried-and-true, even if it isn't working.  So you're right, SMU played better...because of Davis, and he's the reason that it got out of hand.  So really, we're both right.  And as long as your coach is willing to go with players that will be able to make the plays, and ours is only willing to go with the ones who practice the best and study the hardest (which I appreciate to some degree, but we don't score points from playbook tests), then SMU can expect to keep winning these games.