The 93rd battle for the Iron Skillet kicks off Saturday at 11 am in Fort Worth between two 1-2 teams looking to find their way. After a tough Frog loss to the Red Raiders in Lubbock 20-10 on Sept 12 in front of a national TV audience, in which there were more than a few dubious calls made by the officials, Coach Patterson said he thought his players were “Feeling sorry for themselves,” after last Wednesday’s practice. “If we don’t grow up, we’re not going to win any more ball games.” Not exactly what the purple nation wants to hear about their team.
But while the Frogs have had a nice long break to prepare for the Mustangs, SMU is coming off a hard fought game Saturday night in College Station. The Mustangs hung with the Aggies early, but like almost everyone else that plays A&M these days eventually just ran into too much Johnny Football. Falling to the Aggies by a score of 42-13, the statistical numbers were however surprisingly closer than the score would indicate. Time of possession – Mustangs 29:04, Aggies 30:46. First downs – Mustangs 25, Aggies 27. Passing yards – Mustangs 341, Aggies 316. The key stat was rushing yards where SMU managed only 93 yards on 17 carries, while A&M rolled up 265 on 48 carries. Look for the Frogs to try and duplicate those numbers on the ground, led by converted running back-turned- QB Trevone Boykin who rushed for 102 yards against the Raiders, and the two-headed running back attack of B.J. Catalon and Waymon James.
Mustang QB Garrett Gilbert has shown the strong arm this season that had him ranked as a five star recruit coming out of high school, but he’ll need his receivers to step up and make some plays Saturday, something that didn’t happen enough against the Aggies, with way too many drops occurring. The UT transfer still managed 310 yards passing against the Aggies (although only 5 yards per attempt), and you can expect the Ponies to try and ride his arm again against the Frogs.
Patterson wasn’t thrilled with the play calling against the Raiders, and wants to see the offense run the ball more, a good idea against a Mustangs defense that played a solid game against the Aggies air attack.
ScoreBoard pick – Frogs: 31 Mustangs: 23
