2014 AAC Preview: SMU

Dallas  is a beautiful city, but it was not a beautiful season for the Southern Methodist Mustangs.  Last season, the Mustangs had a dreadful season by going 5-7. It was only going to look worse this season if they had not picked up some key late signees to help their draft class. There could be  individual standouts for the Mustangs, but fans should not expect a +.500 season.

Incoming Freshman:

SMU was lucky to pick up great talents such as Daniel Gresham and Inoke Ngalo. Daniel Greshman was ranked the No. 1 fullback in the nation and committed to Texas before he ultimately went to SMU. Gresham is a fierce runner back at 5-foot-10, 236 pounds who runs over defensive players with ease.  He will most likely win the RB job and look to contribute immediately.

Inoke Ngalo is among another one of the late steals. SMU is extremely lucky to have this man. In his senior year, he was a tackling machine recording 102 tackles and was named District 6-5A MVP. With the losses on defense, Ngalo should be looking to start right away.

Who to look out for:

The offense for the Mustangs does not look good. They have a new starting quarterback, thin on offensive line, no proven runner back, and losses at the receiving core. The Mustangs will have to rely on Neal Burcham to lead the offense into something productive. However, he does not have the arm strength of the last quartberack Garret Gilbert so this season may be a struggle for him. The only factors that may save the SMU offense will be Daniel Greshman, offensive line man Sam Rice, and wide receiver Darius Joseph.

The defense does not look promising either for SMU. Last season, they gave up 412.6 ypg rushing and 271.8 ypg passing in which they were ranked 113th nationally. Obviosuly there is need room for improvement with the defense.  It will be up to youngsters, Ajee Montes, Darrion Richardson, Inoke Ngalo and A.J. Justice to have an impact on defense.

What to expect:

Dallas is a great place to visit, but honestly I would not get your hopes up about watching this SMU team. Mustang’s fans should not be looking for a breakout season. There are too many holes to fill on both sides of the ball. The death penalty is still taking its toll on the program till this day.

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