Matt Davis became the clear front-runner to win the SMU Mustangs’ starting quarterback job at last Saturday’s spring game at Ford Stadium. SMU’s fleet-of-foot junior quarterback led the Blue team to a 28-0 victory over Red in the first simulated game of the Chad Morris era.
Davis took the majority of snaps last Saturday, completing 8-of-14 passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns. An enthusiastic crowd of 5,000 witnessed Davis, the Mustangs’ starter for the last five games of the 2014 season, display a set of passing skills to complement the skills he demonstrated in the running game last year.
In particular, Davis exhibited his prowess as a deep ball thrower, hooking up with lanky redshirt freshman receiver Courtland Sutton for two touchdowns, one of which came on a 45-yard bomb late in the first quarter. On the previous possession, Davis and Sutton connected for their first touchdown, a 13 yard score. Additionally, Davis hit Sutton for a 30-yard completion in the second quarter.
The 6-foot-4 Sutton finished the day with six catches for 124 yards and three touchdowns, accounting for more than two-thirds of the Mustangs’ receiving offense on Saturday. The game was quite the coming-out party for Sutton, who looks to be the Mustangs’ most explosive offensive weapon.
Davis’ passing performance on Saturday was quite impressive. His impact as a ball carrier, which has thus far been his signature at SMU, was decidedly underwhelming. On the ground, Davis had seven carries for a net of -2 yards.
These numbers are certainly concerning, but less so because of Davis’ performance than that of his offensive line. The Mustang defense posted six quarterback sacks during the spring game, including three against Davis. Sophomore defensive end Justin Lawler, redshirt freshman linebacker Kyran Mitchell, and senior defensive end Zach Wood harassed SMU quarterbacks all afternoon.
If SMU has any chance of improving on their dismal offensive performance from last season, they will have to play significantly better on the line of scrimmage than they did last weekend. Early season non-conference contests against TCU, Baylor, and North Texas will certainly put the Mustangs’ offensive line to the test.
Davis’ primary competition for the starting quarterback job looks to be early-enrollee freshman Ben Hicks, who took the lion’s share of the remaining snaps last Saturday. Hicks, who was Morris’ first signee back in December, started off the afternoon looking just like an early-enrollee. Hicks missed on his first five passing attempts and took two sacks in the first half. He improved considerably in the second half, finishing the afternoon 3-for-9 for 47 yards with a seven-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Sutton. Expect the Hicks-to-Sutton combination to hook up for many touchdowns in the coming years.
Coming out of the spring game, Chad Morris should feel optimistic about his ability to field an improved football team this fall. His team displayed a number of strengths they can build on before their season kicks off in September.
Morris has a highly-talented starting quarterback in Davis. Courtland Sutton looks like a star-in-the-making at wide receiver. SMU’s pass rush looked feisty all afternoon. Time will tell if SMU can build upon the success they enjoyed last Saturday afternoon.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
