SMU Mustangs College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
SMU has been right on the verge of being really, really good.
The offense has been fun, the numbers have been there, and the program has become stable with 17 wins over the last two seasons.
However, there’s been a whole lot of winning over a whole lot of mediocre teams.
Beating Memphis last season was great, and taking out TCU in 2019 was fun – even if the Horned Frogs were lousy two years ago – but the team hasn’t been able to come up with that one giant win at the right time to be in the mix with UCF, Cincinnati, and Memphis as a true contender for the American Athletic Conference title.
It’s the fourth year under Sonny Dykes, and he might just have the puzzle put together to do something special.
He’s got the experience returning with 17 starters back, and even the big holes that need to be filled – quarterback, kicker, tight end – were taken care of in the transfer portal.
Set The SMU Mustangs Regular Season Win Total At … 8
The addition of Jim Leavitt as defensive coordinator was huge, the return of the top receivers, offensive linemen, and defensive front four was big, and the talent level has been upped in a big way to make SMU a true player.
There’s still going to be offensive pizzazz, and now there’s going to be a defense to go along with it.
However …
Abilene Christian, North Texas, USF, Tulane and Tulsa are all must-win home games for a team this good. The Mustangs need to take down Louisiana Tech on the road and can’t slip against Navy because …
The other road games – TCU, Houston, Memphis, Cincinnati, and a home date with UCF.
This year’s team should be strong enough to take down one of those games, and maybe two. But this year – even more than the last two – SMU is a team that has to be feared by the other big boys.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– SMU Schedule Analysis
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