Friday, July 28, 2006

Collegefootballnews.com's C-USA Preview

Collegefootballnews.com has posted its Conference USA Preview.

Nothing surprising or remarkable in it. However, like enarly everything I have read on this site lately, it is remarkeably inconsistent (read: contradictory}.

Relevant SMU breakdown:

4. SMU
Predicted record: 5-7 Conf. record: 2-6
Best Player: RB DeMyron Martin, Soph.
Offense - The offense started to come on by the end of last year and has the potential to finally start scoring on a regular basis if new QB Justin Willis plays up to the prep hype. There will be a variety of formations with the ability to go to four and five wide sets to run the spread and then quickly adjust to a regular pro-set using a "U End" as a fullback/tight end. Bobby Chase leads a good-looking receiving corps, but the strength is in the backfield where DeMyron Martin leads a deep, speedy group of runners. The line will be fine by the middle of the year once some depth starts to develop.
Defense - Head coach Phil Bennett is all about the defense, and his turned into a solid one as last year went on. The speed and athleticism is finally there to run things the way Bennett would like with more aggressiveness and more forced turnovers, but it might take a little while to fully jell with little experience in the back seven. Safety Joe Sturdivant and linebacker Wilton McCray are nice pieces to build around. The line should be dominant with tackle Adrian Haywood and end Justin Rogers among the best in the league.
This season will be a success if … SMU has a winning season. There are way too many holes to win the West, but the schedule is nice enough to expect seven wins and a possible bowl bid. At the very least, it would be a disaster if this is another losing season.


I can't gripe that they picked SMU 4th in the West, everybody has. But I think anybody predicting SMU to go 2-6 in conference is high.

1 comment:

Frank said...

they got games with Rice and Tulane- teams they are better than on paper- and not by a litle either.

it sounds weird- but those games are keys for SMU. get them, and there is a tangible argument for .500 in the League. to wit, beat, say Tulane on the road suggests/implies that they can beat bad C-USA teams away and decent C-USA at home.

i have a good feeling about the Mustangs- 4-4 is there for them- which means they're a decent miracle away from a real good season.

The wave went 5-3 in the Leauge a few years ago- and they weren't that good. It is do-able with a few things working right