2010 Texas Tech Opponent Prospectus :: SMU Mustangs

2010 Texas Tech Opponent Prospectus

Game 1: SMU Mustangs (9.5.10) :: Game 2: @ New Mexico Lobos (9.11.10) :: Game 3: Texas Longhorns (9.18.10) :: Game 4: @ Iowa St. Cyclones (10.2.10) :: Game 5: Baylor Bears (10.09.10) :: Game 6: Oklahoma St. Cowboys :: Game 7: @ Colorado Buffaloes (10.23.10) :: Game 8: @ Texas A&M Aggies (10.30.10) :: Game 9: Missouri Tigers (11.06.10) :: Game 10: @ Oklahoma Sooners (11.13.10) :: Game 11: Weber St. Wildcats (11.20.10) :: Game 12: Houston Cougars (11.27.10)

General Information

Join me after the jump for a closer look at the Mustangs.

Statistics

Statistic	SMU	Texas Tech
Pass Offense	282.00 (15)	386.77 (2)
Rush Offense	109.77 (103)	84.00 (115)
Total Offense	391.77 (51)	470.77 (4)
Scoring Offense	29.23 (45)	37.00 (7)
Pass Efficiency	135.29 (41)	143.79 (19)
Sacks Allowed	2.77 (102)	2.38 (87)
Pass Defense	230.38 (79)	225.62 (73)
Rush Defense	166.69 (88)	126.77 (38)
Total Defense	397.08 (84)	352.38 (49)
Scoring Defense	27.62 (80)	22.46 (41)
Pass Efficiency Defense	121.09 (44)	117.38 (35)
Sacks	1.77 (74)	3.09 (4)
Tackles For Loss	5.08 (89)	6.46 (34)
Turnover Margin	0.15	-0.46 (94)

Top Returners

Spring Discussion

Disclaimer: I'm not an expert on the opponent, but I try my best. If I have something wrong, please let me know and I'll correct or revise as necessary.

Key Losses: WR Emmanuel Sanders, RB Shawnbrey McNeal, LB Chase Kennemer, DB Rock Dennis and DB Bryan McCann.

Impact Offensive Player:: QB Kyle Padron: Last year, true freshman Kyle Padron was given the chance to start after not even playing a snap the first six games of the year. Once Padron got his shot, he didn't let go of the starting role which then forced Bo Levi Mitchell to transfer. By the end of the year, Padron completed 67.2% of his passes, averaged 9.6 yards per attempt and 159.92 yards per game. What gives Mustang fans hope is the fact that Padron finished his freshman year by whipping Nevada 45-10, throwing for 460 yards, completing 78% of his passes and throwing 2 touchdowns and no interceptions.

Impact Defensive Player:: FS Chris Banjo: Banjo is your leading returning tackler and will be a junior after a fairly successful sophomore season in 2009. Banjo will be expected help out a secondary that lost two starters (Dennis and McCann) and although Banjo hasn't shown the ability to intercept a lot of passes Banjo will be counted on to lead the defense.

Coach Speak: SMU head coach June Jones on not having a spring game:

So, here’s the funny thing. In a city obsessed with football, SMU coach June Jones got away with not even having an actual spring game.

"I think it’s overrated," the mad passer told the Dallas Morning News.

Instead, Jones had something akin to a practice in front of a modest crowd that witnesses say was in the hundreds.

Doesn’t bother Jones.

Nobody expects spring game shows from Jones’ teams and, by all accounts, most knew better than to show up. His biggest goal was to not get proven players hurt — he likes to talk about a spring injury that opened the door for Colt Brennan to become a star for him at Hawaii — and to get in work, sans contact.

Spring Chatter:

• DMN's Kevin Sherrington talked with head coach June Jones and Jones thinks that spring football is overrated. I suppose that Jones theory that spring practice is an opportunity for players to get injured (and no one knows that better than Red Raiders), but then wouldn't the theory then be, why practice at all because there's always a potential for injury.
• Sophomore linebacker Taylor Reed is being asked to take on a bigger leadership role as he replaces Chase Kennemer:

  "He's in a position where he's got to think, but he's also in the position where he'll be the glory player in our defense, just like Kennemer was," Mason said. "I'm really impressed with him right now. He's farther ahead than I ever thought he'd get at this point. ... He's the whole package."

• Sophomore DE Margus Hunt is a discus throwing son of a gun, but in addition to playing defensive end last year, he also blocked 7, that's right, 7 kicks last year. And to top it off, last year was Hunt's first year of playing footbal.
• DMN's Kate Hairopoulos wrote after spring practices that the running back position is still a question and you may see a true freshman when the Mustangs travel to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech:

  SMU will probably turn to incoming recruits Darryl Fields and Kevin Pope to take over for Shawnbrey McNeal, who left early to pursue a pro football career after becoming Jones' first collegiate 1,000-yard rusher. Questions remain at strong safety and cornerback. Depth, particularly on the lines, is a major concern. The Mustangs will have to remain healthy there. Only a handful of the incoming freshman class will redshirt.

vs. Texas Tech: This is the first game of the year for both teams and there's obviously quite a bit of optimism around the Hilltop. Jones has done a tremendous job of finally finding a quarterback that gets it in Padron. The Mustangs have more than a handful of players returning, but they must replace all-world receiver Emanuel Sanders and last year's leading rusher in Shawnbry McNeal. As stated above, it appears that the running back job may go to a true freshman, which is always a bit scary and Sanders' 98 catches for 1,339 yards and 7 touchdowns by far led the team. Those are some fairly big shoes to fill.

Defensively, I think the Mustangs are in a bit better shape, but this is still a bad defensive team. Not a lot of pressure on the quarterback or tackles for a loss, but did have 17 interceptions last year, which is very opportunistic for a defense that struggles in just about every other category. Turnovers is a tremendous equalizer, however, the Mustangs lose eight of those interceptions last year to graduation.

The Mustangs didn't have a very tough schedule last year, their best opponents being TCU and Houston, and their five losses were to @ Washgton St. (27-30); @ TCU (14-39); Navy (35-38); @ Houston (15-38); and @ Marshall (31-34). The key here is that of their five losses, four of them were on the road. That's the tough thing about building up a program is getting over that hump where a team can win games on the road. That's not always easy.