I don’t expect us to catch the Mustangs coming out of the tunnel, jack a leg up, lay them down and go to thumping on them with a bois d’arc post to the tune of 52-10.  This isn’t your familiar post-death penalty, amateur SMU football team.  June Jones is in town and he’s getting things turned around.

Easy, June….

When Tech Has the Ball:

SMU DL

I won’t act like I know much about the Mustangs, but I have done a little homework.  The most surprising nugget I’ve uncovered on the Ponies is the DL.  They’ve been mentioned in a few articles throughout the week.  Size is a strength.  DE Taylor Thompson is 6’6″, 280 lbs.   He showed up on campus as a 245-lb TE with 3 stars under his name and a nice offer list.  DE Margus Hunt is somewhat of a mystery on how June Jones snuck him into the states, but I read somewhere that he was world class at throwing some field event object.  Doesn’t sound terribly intimidating until you figure in that he’s 6’8″, 275 lbs.  That could amount to a lot of explosion.  NG Marquis Frazier is 6’3″, 300 lbs and hails from a good Garland program.  I don’t remember him in high school, particularly.  I’ll be curious about how good the two tall guys are in run defense.  That’s pretty high pad level they’re sporting, but regardless, this is the best defensive front SMU has fielded since Jerry Ball was on the payroll.

A theme you will find repetitive this season will be my insistence that our gameplan be centered around our most talented players.  That’s how successful offensive football is achieved.  We need to find out early and often, if these guys up front for SMU are Big 12 quality.  Baron Batch, Eric Stephens, Lonnie Edwards, Deveric Gallington and Justin Keown might be our 5 most important offensive players.  Torres and Lewis are solid receiving threats, but they require assistance from the guys I just mentioned to be truly effective.  LaAdrian Waddle is a talent and Hunt will be a tremendous litmus test for how well he’ll fare in a couple of weeks.  The talent gap in this respect was huge in 2008 and Jones has done a nice job finding guys to close it.

Player to Watch:  #73 C Justin Keown.  One of the secrets to our success in the run game last year was the ability of Shawn Byrnes to single block a NG.  If Keown is getting Frazier turned without help from Edwards or Gallington, then cross your fingers we run split backs and get to some LBs, where the talent differential starts to substantially swing in Tech’s favor.  This is where 300 yards on the ground and an easy 30-point victory will materialize, if it is to be.

SMU LBs

I’m vaguely familiar with Buck LB Pete Fleps (6’2″, 230 lbs) and Sam LB Youri Yenga (6’1″, 230 lbs) from their high school days.  While there is something to appreciate about both players, you also completely understand why Kansas and Iowa State passed on them.  They’ll be a little easier to block than Keenan Robinson and Travis Lewis.   They are also exactly the type of guys you hope get caught covering Eric Stephens out of the backfield.

MLB Taylor Reed (5’11″, 215 lbs)  was a pleasant surprise for SMU as a freshman.  He’ll get passed through Edwards’ stool, if Frazier isn’t holding up.  I expect this guy can run at his stature, so he could be considered a strength in coverage.  Your guess is as good as mine.  WLB Ja’Gared Davis (6’1″, 215) will be in his first year as a ja’starter.  I like where we sit once it gets past those first 3 guys.

SMU Secondary

SMU starts Kansas State’s cornerbacks, which bodes well for our experienced receivers.  Especially, if we’ve managed to keep safeties Chris Banjo and Ryan Smith occupied with our run game.  I can really see some matchup problems starting to develop with guys like Swindall and Lewis facing nickel personnel for SMU.  We’ll be fine here, so long as we’re keeping Potts clean.

When SMU Has the Ball:

SMU Backfield

If I’m remembering my Southlake QBs correctly, I can only describe Kyle Padron (6’4″, 210 lbs) as somewhere in arm strength and mobility between Graham Harrell and Cody Hodges.  Perhaps, Sonny Cumbie.  Ironic.  He only needs to be accurate within the 15-20 yard range of the line of scrimmage to be dangerous with Jones calling the plays and I can personally attest he’s capable of that role.   At a minimum, he’s a Big 12 caliber player that would be in the running for All-Conference honors with Blaine Gabbert and Daniel Thomas if he got to face North defenses all year.  All QBs suck when you get pressure on them, so just keep that in mind when you’re guessing what I’m going to write each week in this feature for defending solid QBs.

The fact that Jones is starting a 6’1″, 235-lb Teamster at RB should give you a good indication of the intended balance in his playcalling.  I’ll assume this is a pregame concession to the Whitlock contingency plan.

SMU OL

The Ponies start a Fiji from Plano Senior High at center named Blake McJunkin (6’2, 280 lbs).  I’m guessing this is the first time he’ll have ever been hit in the head with a pipe wrench by a roughneck from Oklahoma.   Go ahead and feel confident about what’s going to happen here on Sunday.  This should set the tone for nice debuts by Scott Smith and Donald Langley as role players, but don’t mistake who is anchoring this ship in 2010 even though individual stats could be sacrificed.  I’ve never seen Brian Duncan play with his hand on the ground and I am anxiously looking forward to it.  I’ve seen this guy play enough snaps to know quickly whether we’re getting benefit by removing him from the middle of the field.

SMU WRs

I find it amusing each year how June Jones’ receivers are valued as system products until they throw down an electronic 4.37 at the Combine.  Aldrick Robinson (5’10″, 178 lbs) will see more balls this fall than Clay Aiken and be good for a 4.4 next spring.  We can’t let him get behind us and his 17 yards a catch should provide fair warning.  We’ll be aware of Robinson, but Darius Johnson (5’10″, 178 lbs) is another burner and high school star that shouldn’t be ignored.  There is a chance he might have burned one of our current secondary starters in high school.  We won’t be the favorite in a foot race with these guys, so I would suggest we rip out a larynx at the line, if we’re going to play man.   I can’t say much about Cole Beasley (5’9″, 180 lbs) other than my intuition tells me he’s going to trick a freshman on some deep slants.

I’m expecting us to give up some big plays in the secondary as a result of blown coverages and bad technique mostly attributable to youth.  However, I feel confident the Tech trench units could win an aggregate 6-2 quarter count, which by my tally method is a 4-TD win. I’ll handicap us another quarter for blown coverages and call it 5-3.

Tech 41

SMU 28

Not as close as the score indicates and 65% of SMU’s total yards are produced on its scoring plays.