7 Signs That SMU Will Have a Winning Record in 2015

SMU will have a winning record this season. I learned this last night. Before bed, I put on my magical Zubaz New York Jets prediction hat. By the time my alarm went off at 3 a.m. to get up for The Munsters, my hat had ESPed me the knowledge that the Mustangs will win eight games this autumn.

More specifically, the Mustangs will earn a bid to the Birmingham Bowl, where they will lose in overtime to Tennessee, 29-28. Volunteers coach Butch Jones will show his intestinal fortitude by pulling a Tom Osborne and going for two with no time left on the clock. Tennessee will make it, but the Mustangs will learn from the defeat and be ready for a run at the AAC title in 2016.

Besides the excellent track record my Jets hat has at predicting the future, I have seven reasons for thinking that SMU will post its first winning record since 2012 this fall.

1. Matt Davis is primed to become one of the nation’s premier dual-threat quarterbacks. He demonstrated his prowess on the ground last fall, rushing for 613 yards in five starts. At the Spring Game, he showed definite improvement throwing the football. By the time the Baylor game rolls around, the boys from Waco will think they’ve stumbled upon one of their own. Another RG3 or Bryce Petty, but clad in red, white, and blue.
2. Davis has a variety of new receiving targets. Courtland Sutton looked like Cliff Branch in the Spring Game. The Mustangs’ incoming class of recruits includes Rockwall High’s Xavier Castille, who makes Darrius Heyward-Bey looks like Terrence Cody. From the film I’ve seen, SMU recruit Alex Honey, the 6’3 pride of Guyer High School in Denton, looks like a Herman Moore in the making. 6’7 Tight End Hunter Thetford from Comanche, Texas is a living, breathing mismatch for all but the largest safeties and fastest linebackers.  On top of that, his hands look jelly-donut sticky.
3. As reported here last week, SMU has the second handsomest coach in the AAC. And our Daniel Craigesque coach sure is a lot more handsome than Art Briles or Gary Patterson. They wouldn’t even get invited to the All-Handsome awards dinner in our conference.
4. I’m not the only one who sees good things coming for the Mustangs. My colleague Jacob Thigpen is almost as enthusiastic about this bunch.
5. Judging from the Spring Game, the Mustangs’ defense is ready to get after AAC quarterbacks this fall. Watch out for Kyran Mitchell, Justin Lawler, and Zach Wood on SMU’s front seven. Big things are coming from all of them.
6. 2015 is the 100^th anniversary of the Iron Skillet Battle with TCU. SMU’s last win in the series was in 2011 at TCU’s Amon G. Carter Stadium. I say the Mustangs are going to shock them again in Fort Worth.
7. SMU won a surprise commitment in April from the heavily recruited Alpharetta (Georgia) quarterback David Moore. Momentum is building for the Mustangs program around the country. It will continue into the fall as SMU continues to stockpile young talent.

The SMU program is clearly on the way back up.  Seven signs and a Zubaz hat indicate that their road back to bowl eligibility might be shorter than anticipated.