Do me a favor. Do not take ECU lightly. They have a quarterback that destroyed SMU last year. They have lost to good teams; with the exception of UAB, a team SMU hasn’t played yet, their losses don’t say much about them. They beat Virginia at home; Virginia demolished North Carolina last night (yes, I realize that UNC is awful). They have had and still have injuries, but they are healthier than they have been in weeks. The get their deep threat receiver back. Their starting running back is allegedly healthy.
ECU’s gameday crowds are consistently larger than Ford Stadium’s capacity. It is not an easy place to play.
In my season prediction, I put this game down as a loss. This is what I wrote in August:
I count the game against ECU as a loss, but I could go either way. It really comes down to the fact that ECU is playing at home. Though, it is the fifth straight home game in a weird stretch for ECU. I expect SMU to lose this game. 5-3.
Now, did I offer any real incite? No. But that "silly" (someone called it that)season prediction has been right in all but one game (damn NTSU). I'd love to change my mind and predict SMU is going to win, but I have stuck by the season prediction so far, so I might as well keep it. I will say that this is a good opportunity to make up for the NTSU loss and put SMU exactly where it wants and needs to be.
I don’t trust the SMU defense. OK. I admit it. I am sweating any 4th quarter lead of less than two scores. In order for SMU to win, SMU absolutely needs to get an early lead in this game. Take the crowd out of the game. Never let up. Don't get conservative.
Collegefootballnews.com's fearless predictions pick the ponies. However, in their staff picks, all but one picks ECU, including the guy that wrote the aforementioned fearless prediction. Also, remember that the spread is still SMU +6.
In other SMU news, read the Doherty article today. Has Doherty ever said the wrong thing since coming to SMU? Seriously. The guy is a media machine. I can’t wait to watch him coach this basketball team-this likely very bad basketball team (this year).
2 comments:
Our new basketball coach is the hardest working coach SMU has had in 30 years. He is smoozing the alums with $$$ like no one in history. He is out there pumping up regular alumni - read as not large $ contributors - all over the state. The blog is a great idea, and extremely well written. Always available for a member of the media to talk to. (Poor guy must not get 5 hours of sleep a night.) I expect to see a turnaround in 3 years even greater than what has happened at Baylor and A$M.
You mention Baylor. I don't know how Drew does it in recruiting. The guy, in his history, has never had a .500 record in any season but everyone considers him a great coach. I don't think anybody (even at Baylor) realizes he was the HC at Valpo just one year and was sub .500 there.
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