The big 2015 SMU football guide: Chad Morris and way more fun

The 128-team countdown enters the AAC and profiles a team that is almost guaranteed to improve.

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1. The end comes quickly

Last year's SMU preview centered around the line between consistency and stagnation. Under June Jones, the Mustangs had mastered the art of staying the same. In terms of F/+ ratings, there were some peaks (51st in 2011) and valleys (88th in 2013), but SMU had won either seven or eight games every year from 2009-12, and nearly did the same in 2013.

Jones has boosted SMU's profile. The Mustangs have a pretty, new stadium. They won three bowls between 1949 and 2008, and they've won three since 2009.

At the same time, this reeks of stagnation, and if you stay at the same level for long enough, you risk falling into Glen Mason Territory, in which you raise a fanbase's expectations, then fail to ever exceed them. Eventually fans get bored with seven wins, even if they didn't experience seven wins one time between 1985 and 2008.

TL;DR

Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports

2014 F/+ ranking and record: 127 (1-11)

5-year recruiting ranking: 73

Biggest strength: The offensive line could be legitimately strong

Biggest question mark: Everything else! This team was terrible for most of last season

Biggest 2015 game: Anything winnable, but we'll say Tulsa (Oct. 31).

In one sentence: Chad Morris and an energetic staff will try to turn around a program that stumbled, then completely flatlined; this will take time, but the Mustangs will at least be fun to watch.

It was taking a lot of energy to maintain SMU's 2009-12 pace, and I was looking at SMU's 2013 slippage in the wrong light. Instead of wondering about whether Jones would be able to engineer another breakthrough, we should have been wondering how long Jones was going to avoid collapse.

2013 was the harbinger. Yes, there were close losses, and yes, SMU nearly derailed UCF's AAC title run. But there was also a near-loss to Montana State and losses by a combined 94 points to Texas A&M, TCU, and Houston. The offense was given life by quarterback Garrett Gilbert and offensive coordinator Hal Mumme, but both left. Meanwhile, despite decent recruiting and a solid number of former three-star recruits, the defense had no ready-made playmakers.

When you run out of energy, your attention to detail slips first. Players stop developing, and you either don't notice deficiencies as quickly or can't do anything about them. And in a game with small margins for error, slippage turns into a freefall.

Jones seemed to realize it but couldn't do anything in time. After losing 45-0 to Baylor, then losing 43-6 to what turned out to be an awful North Texas, Jones resigned nine days into the 2014 season.

Tom Mason did what he could, but there was nothing Urban Meyer could have done to salvage the season. SMU rebounded from historically awful to simply bad, and the Mustangs avoided a winless campaign with a victory over UConn in the finale.

The final chapter of Jones' SMU tenure was unfortunate. He inherited a program that ranked in the 80s and 90s in F/+ and hadn't been to a bowl since 1984, and he dragged the Mustangs into the 50s and 60s and produced four consecutive bowl bids. But his final SMU team was far worse than what Phil Bennett had been producing, and while he didn't leave his successor a program worse off than the one he inherited, he didn't leave one that was much better.

2. #PonyUpTempo

When we talk about a program losing energy, we're not speaking about the style of play. We're usually talking about year-to-year momentum, recruiting, facilities upgrades, et cetera.

We don't know that new head coach Chad Morris will reestablish that. But while we wait, it doesn't hurt to play an on-field style that is as energetic as it can be.

We got to know Morris' offense well. A Texas high school head coach from 1994-2009, Morris showed up on Todd Graham's staff at Tulsa in 2010 and boosted the Golden Hurricane's offense from 71st in Off. S&P+ to 15th. He moved on to Clemson, inherited an offense that had ranked 79th, 41st, and 71st over the previous three years and jolted it to 25th, 14th, and 12th. Clemson went from averaging 7.3 wins per season from 2008-10 to 10.5 in Morris' four years.

Morris is committed to tempo über alles. He knows what to do with a mobile quarterback, and he knows the smashmouth spread.

The modern elements added by Morris include spread alignments, the forward pass, motion, and tempo. The brilliance of the triple option is that it's a self-contained concept with built-in answers for any potential problem. Morris doesn't have any single concepts quite that simple or elegant, but in general he emphasizes a similar level of soundness in his offense.

Morris could try to have a million concepts to answer a million problems. But he would rather contain multiple answers within the same concepts. He can still use diversity -- of formations, personnel groupings, or options within a play -- but focuses on fully mastering a few versatile plans of attack.

The description "basketball on grass" is apt, but in a literal sense. It captures how the offense becomes more about getting the ideal matchups and executing options, as in basketball, rather than out-guessing the opponent. The lightning tempo utilized by [Gus] Malzahn and Morris further allows for this simplicity.

Clemson's offense trailed off in 2014 thanks to severe turnover. Still, he proved all he could as a coordinator.

Now we find out if he's also a good head coach. He has said and done all the right things, and lord knows he should find more than enough pieces to complement his spread offense in the birthplace of the spread, but being a successful college head coach requires a specific set of skills, and we never know who doesn't possess those.

It should be fun finding out, though.

2014 Schedule & Results

Record: 1-11 | Adj. Record: 1-11 | Final F/+ Rk: 127
Date	Opponent	Opp. F/+ Rk	Score	W-L	Percentile Performance	Adj. Scoring Margin	Win Expectancy
31-Aug	at Baylor	10	0-45	L	4%	-42.0	0%
6-Sep	at North Texas	125	6-43	L	9%	-31.4	0%
20-Sep	Texas A&M	42	6-58	L	1%	-54.2	0%
27-Sep	TCU	6	0-56	L	9%	-31.4	0%
4-Oct	at East Carolina	61	24-45	L	32%	-10.9	1%
18-Oct	Cincinnati	47	3-41	L	10%	-30.4	0%
25-Oct	Memphis	41	10-48	L	16%	-23.7	0%
8-Nov	at Tulsa	117	28-38	L	21%	-18.9	17%
15-Nov	South Florida	123	13-14	L	35%	-8.7	28%
22-Nov	at Central Florida	60	7-53	L	5%	-39.2	0%
28-Nov	Houston	73	9-35	L	25%	-16.0	1%
6-Dec	at Connecticut	119	27-20	W	55%	3.1	73%

Category	Offense	Rk	Defense	Rk
S&P+	15.5	123	34.7	105
Points Per Game	11.1	128	41.3	127

3. Technically, it got better

The SMU of September was as bad as any college team has been in recent times. A brutal schedule didn't help -- the Mustangs faced Baylor, Texas A&M, and TCU before October 1 -- but only opponents' mercy kept them as close on the scoreboard as they were ... and they were not close on the scoreboard.

It got better, though!

• Average Percentile Performance (first 4 games): 6% (average score: Opp 51, SMU 3)
• Average Percentile Performance (next 4 games): 20% (average score: Opp 43, SMU 16)
• Average Percentile Performance (last 4 games): 30% (average score: Opp 31, SMU 14)

By November, SMU was playing at something approximating a top-90 or top-100 level. The Mustangs still lost to bad teams (Tulsa, USF) and got smoked by UCF, but a) improvement is improvement, whether you're good or not, and b) SMU played well in the finale. That's something, right?

Offense

FIVE FACTORS -- OFFENSE
	Raw Category		Rk	Opp. Adj. Category		Rk
EXPLOSIVENESS	IsoPPP	0.70	124	IsoPPP+	75.3	121
EFFICIENCY	Succ. Rt.	35.8%	118	Succ. Rt. +	86.3	117
FIELD POSITION	Def. Avg. FP	37.1	128	Def. FP+	92.9	127
FINISHING DRIVES	Pts. Per Trip in 40	2.9	127	Redzone S&P+	88.8	98
TURNOVERS	EXPECTED	26.6		ACTUAL	30	+3.4

Category	Yards/ Game Rk	S&P+ Rk	Success Rt. Rk	PPP+ Rk
OVERALL	127	119	115	121
RUSHING	121	78	77	74
PASSING	114	127	122	127
Standard Downs		111	104	115
Passing Downs		123	118	120

Q1 Rk	126	1st Down Rk	126
Q2 Rk	113	2nd Down Rk	128
Q3 Rk	126	3rd Down Rk	126
Q4 Rk	92

Quarterback

Note: players in bold below are 2015 returnees. Players in italics are questionable with injury/suspension.

Player	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT	Comp Rate	Sacks	Sack Rate	Yards/ Att.
Matt Davis	6'0, 209	Jr.	4 stars (5.8)	0.9452	89	164	855	3	5	54.3%	19	10.4%	4.1
Garrett Krstich	6'3, 215	Sr.	NR	NR	99	181	855	2	7	54.7%	15	7.7%	4.1
Neal Burcham	6'3, 213	Jr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8405	27	48	158	0	2	56.3%	6	11.1%	2.0
Kolney Cassel					15	37	156	1	0	40.5%	0	0.0%	4.2
Darrel Colbert, Jr.	5'11, 196	RSFr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8242
Ben Hicks	6'2, 200	Fr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8560

4. Who leads?

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How quickly can a new staff change the relationship between potential and production? Because while SMU's personnel seems to have the former (at least, if you think recruiting rankings hold merit, and they do), there's almost none of the latter.

Four SMU quarterbacks threw at least 37 passes. Three return, and two boasted strong recruiting rankings in high school. All of them stunk. Matt Davis, a former four-star Texas A&M signee, showed the most potential, rushing for 8.1 yards per (non-sack) carry and producing passing stats that were at least no worse than anybody else's. But of the four QBs, none averaged more than 4.2 yards per pass attempt. (Anything under about 6.0 is pretty bad; 4.2 is horrendous.)

Davis emerged from spring ball as the likely starter, fending off well-regarded freshman Ben Hicks. (Neal Burcham, another of last year's starters, missed most of 2014 with an elbow injury, then tore his ACL in February.) And in theory, Davis has tools Morris will know how to employ. His mobility is a strength, and Morris will likely give him a lot of easy pitches to the sidelines.

June Jones' passing game was never particularly efficient, and that should change under Morris. But Davis' talent is unclear, and while his receivers come in all shapes, sizes, and degrees of athleticism, SMU's success will be derived from whether they're actually any good.

Running Back

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	Rushes	Yards	TD	Yards/ Carry	Hlt Yds/ Opp.	Opp. Rate	Fumbles	Fum. Lost
Matt Davis	QB	6'0, 209	Jr.	4 stars (5.8)	0.9452	89	721	4	8.1	6.0	59.6%	8	5
Prescott Line	RB	6'0, 235	Jr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8245	78	256	4	3.3	2.5	23.1%	1	0
K.C. Nlemchi	RB	6'0, 214	Sr.	3 stars (5.7)	0.8200	47	149	1	3.2	4.4	23.4%	1	1
Kevin Pope	RB					34	105	0	3.1	2.5	23.5%	2	1
Garrett Krstich	QB	6'3, 215	Sr.	NR	NR	25	142	0	5.7	3.4	52.0%	3	2
Luke Seeker	RB	5'11, 200	Sr.	NR	NR	24	75	0	3.1	3.5	16.7%	0	0
Darius Durall	RB	5'9, 185	So.	2 stars (5.2)	0.7611	12	-2	0	-0.2	3.9	8.3%	1	1
Daniel Gresham	RB	5'10, 228	RSFr.	3 stars (5.7)	0.8662
Xavier Jones	RB	5'10, 180	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8026
Braeden West	RB	5'10, 170	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7793

Receiving Corps

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	Targets	Catches	Yards	Catch Rate	Target Rate	%SD	Yds/ Target	NEY	Real Yds/ Target	RYPR
Darius Joseph	WR-Y	5'11, 202	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.7891	86	54	379	62.8%	21.1%	52.3%	4.4	-277	4.4	39.9
Der'rikk Thompson	WR-X					71	31	512	43.7%	17.4%	54.9%	7.2	104	7.2	53.9
Stephen Nelson	WR-Z					41	28	200	68.3%	10.0%	53.7%	4.9	-135	4.9	21.1
Deion Sanders, Jr.	WR-H	5'7, 174	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7829	35	23	188	65.7%	8.6%	65.7%	5.4	-89	5.5	19.8
Nate Halverson	WR	5'10, 185	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7859	28	17	165	60.7%	6.9%	39.3%	5.9	-43	5.1	17.4
K.C. Nlemchi	RB	6'0, 214	Sr.	3 stars (5.7)	0.8200	20	16	131	80.0%	4.9%	65.0%	6.6	-55	6.4	13.8
Cedric Lancaster	WR-X	5'9, 169	So.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8094	20	12	93	60.0%	4.9%	60.0%	4.7	-54	4.6	9.8
Prescott Line	RB	6'0, 235	Jr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8245	17	10	41	58.8%	4.2%	41.2%	2.4	-82	2.7	4.3
Shelby Walker	WR-H	6'0, 165	So.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8277	16	7	68	43.8%	3.9%	43.8%	4.3	-24	4.2	7.2
Jeremiah Gaines	TE	6'2, 240	Jr.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8610	15	4	97	26.7%	3.7%	53.3%	6.5	36	6.2	10.2
Ryheem Malone	WR-Y	5'8, 172	So.	2 stars (5.2)	0.7611	14	5	37	35.7%	3.4%	64.3%	2.6	-33	2.7	3.9
Kevin Pope	RB				NR	13	8	26	61.5%	3.2%	69.2%	2.0	-72	2.2	2.7
Daijuan Stewart	WR-H				NR	10	5	32	50.0%	2.5%	40.0%	3.2	-32	3.1	3.4
Darius Durall	RB	5'9, 185	So.	2 stars (5.2)	0.7611	6	4	15	66.7%	1.5%	50.0%	2.5	-33	2.1	1.6
Luke Seeker	RB	5'11, 200	Sr.	NR	NR	5	3	6	60.0%	1.2%	20.0%	1.2	-31	1.1	0.6
Aaron Stafford	WR				NR	3	1	6	33.3%	0.7%	66.7%	2.0	-8	1.7	0.6
Courtland Sutton	WR	6'4, 215	RSFr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8326	2	2	27	100.0%	0.5%	100.0%	13.5	4	NR	2.8
Arrius Holleman	WR	6'3, 215	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.7000

5. Who catches?

We know Darius Joseph can be an efficient piece in the right system; he caught 103 balls with a 72 percent catch rate in 2013. We know Deion Sanders Jr. has a return man's skill set and could be a fun weapon out of the slot. We knowredshirt freshman Courtland Sutton had a nice spring and brings a solid recruiting pedigree.

We know there are four other receivers who were deemed three-star recruits by either Rivals or the 247Sports Composite.

And we know that Davis can make plays with his feet, and that running backs Prescott Line, K.C. Niemchi, and 2014 star recruit Daniel Gresham bring girth.

We also know that the potential is theoretical. In theory, it could be strong, and in theory, Morris and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock (Morris' graduate assistant at Clemson) should be able to figure out how to employ them. But it takes a leap of faith; these players were either on the sidelines in 2014 or doing no damage on the field.

Offensive Line

Category	Adj. Line Yds	Std. Downs LY/carry	Pass. Downs LY/carry	Opp. Rate	Power Success Rate	Stuff Rate	Adj. Sack Rate	Std. Downs Sack Rt.	Pass. Downs Sack Rt.
Team	109.8	3.14	3.11	35.4%	71.9%	18.8%	65.0	9.6%	6.9%
Rank	36	39	84	100	32	60	122	124	55

Player	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	Career Starts	Honors/Notes
Taylor Lasecki	C	6'2, 294	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8000	36
Kris Weeks	RT	6'5, 314	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8057	25
Chauncey Briggs	LT	6'6, 310	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7951	19
Evan Brown	RG	6'3, 300	So.	2 stars (5.3)	0.8111	10
Daniel McCarty	LG	6'3, 284	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8032	9
Seaver Myers	LT	6'5, 306	Jr.	3 stars (5.7)	0.8559	5
William Barns	C	6'1, 284	So.	2 stars (5.3)	0.7948	1
Christian Chamagua	RT	6'5, 290	Jr.	2 stars (5.3)	0.7908	1
Travis Fister	OL	6'2, 270	So.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8124	0
Braylon Hyder	OL	6'2, 335	RSFr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8191
Bryce Wilds	OL	6'7, 305	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8026
Marcus McNeil	OL	6'3, 300	Fr.	2 stars (5.3)	0.7995

6. You can build around this line

Relatively -- and we're speaking quite relatively here -- the offensive line was an SMU strength. It wasn't particularly good, but SMU did rank 36th in Adj. Line Yards, 32nd in Power Success Rate, 60th in Stuff Rate, and 55th in Passing Downs Sack Rate. When you compare these stats to those of the offense as a whole, they're magnificent.

Considering the line returns everybody from last year's two-deep, including three-year starting center Taylor Lasecki and eight players with starting experience (106 career starts), this could move from "relative strength" to "strength." And if Davis (or the quarterback of choice) has a clean pocket, Morris should figure out how to get the ball to playmakers.

This probably won't be a good offense, but the combination of Morris and competence at quarterback and offensive line should result in significant improvement.

Defense

FIVE FACTORS -- DEFENSE
	Raw Category		Rk	Opp. Adj. Category		Rk
EXPLOSIVENESS	IsoPPP	0.98	121	IsoPPP+	74.9	125
EFFICIENCY	Succ. Rt.	49.5%	124	Succ. Rt. +	82.0	124
FIELD POSITION	Off. Avg. FP	27.4	119	Off. FP+	100.0	65
FINISHING DRIVES	Pts. Per Trip in 40	4.6	92	Redzone S&P+	85.5	120
TURNOVERS	EXPECTED	15.9		ACTUAL	16.0	+0.1

Category	Yards/ Game Rk	S&P+ Rk	Success Rt. Rk	PPP+ Rk
OVERALL	122	125	124	125
RUSHING	117	120	120	122
PASSING	109	127	122	124
Standard Downs		124	123	124
Passing Downs		119	114	119

Q1 Rk	113	1st Down Rk	112
Q2 Rk	126	2nd Down Rk	104
Q3 Rk	72	3rd Down Rk	127
Q4 Rk	101

7. Insanely bad

Van Malone spent the last three seasons at the helm of a mean Oklahoma State secondary. He has been an FBS defensive backs coach since 2004 -- mostly with teams known for up-tempo spread offenses -- and he coached with Morris at Tulsa in 2010. He will likely bring the same type of mentality to this defense that Phil Bennett has at Baylor: be aggressive and efficient and try to force turnovers.

Greedy defenses are natural complements to up-tempo offenses; if you can break serve a few times, it doesn't matter if you are giving up big plays along the way.

We don't know how long it will take Malone to find weapons on this defense. Lord knows there weren't any impressive pieces on last year's D, a horrific unit that redefined the concept of "relative strengths."

SMU's defense ranked 35th in Def. S&P+ in 2012. It fell in 2013 following the loss of Margus Hunt and other difference-makers, then the bottom fell out. The pass rush was the closest thing to a strength, as it was only bad and not one of the nation's worst, but the secondary couldn't stop anybody, and the run defense was indeed one of the nation's worst.

Youth and injuries can explain part of this -- there were three freshmen and three sophomores among last year's top nine linemen, and quite a few linebackers and defensive backs missed time with injury -- but SMU had the fifth-worst Success Rate+ and fourth-worst IsoPPP+ ranking in the country. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.

Defensive Line

Category	Adj. Line Yds	Std. Downs LY/carry	Pass. Downs LY/carry	Opp. Rate	Power Success Rate	Stuff Rate	Adj. Sack Rate	Std. Downs Sack Rt.	Pass. Downs Sack Rt.
Team	72.2	3.66	4.15	44.4%	67.9%	12.6%	72	2.5%	6.0%
Rank	128	127	126	119	68	126	107	114	90

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Zach Wood	DE	6'3, 260	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8104	12	29.0	4.0%	6.0	4.0	0	0	0	1
Mason Gentry	DE	6'6, 292	So.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8256	12	28.5	3.9%	2.0	2.0	0	0	0	0
Darrian Wright	NT					12	19.5	2.7%	2.5	0.0	0	0	1	0
Justin Lawler	DE	6'3, 254	So.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7901	12	17.5	2.4%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Andrew McCleneghen	NT	6'5, 265	Sr.	NR	NR	12	17.0	2.3%	1.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Zelt Minor	DE	6'2, 282	Jr.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8387	8	9.0	1.2%	2.0	1.0	0	0	0	0
Jarvis Pruitt	DE	6'3, 254	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7959	10	7.5	1.0%	1.0	0.5	0	0	0	0
Spencer Hollie	DE	6'4, 340	So.	2 stars (5.3)	0.8052	7	6.0	0.8%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Elie Nabushosi	DE	6'3, 255	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8227	6	5.0	0.7%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Cameron Smith	DE	6'2, 249	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8057	11	5.0	0.7%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Michael Scott	DE	6'4, 220	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8381
Chris Biggurs	DT	6'3, 245	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8217
Hunter Thedford	DE	6'7, 225	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7979
Delontae Scott	DE	6'5, 200	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7893

Linebackers

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Stephon Sanders	SLB					12	56.5	7.8%	8.0	2.5	0	3	0	0
Jonathan Yenga	MLB	6'1, 220	Sr.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8457	12	49.0	6.8%	4.5	2.0	0	3	0	0
Kevin Pope	BUCK					11	38.0	5.2%	2.0	1.0	0	2	2	0
Robert Seals	WLB	6'3, 240	Sr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7819	12	34.5	4.8%	5.5	1.0	0	1	1	0
John Bordano	BUCK					11	33.5	4.6%	2.0	1.0	1	1	1	0
Cameron Nwosu	MLB					12	17.5	2.4%	1.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Derek Longoria	SLB	6'1, 232	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.7000	12	14.0	1.9%	1.0	0.0	0	1	2	0
Caleb Tuiasosopo	BUCK	6'2, 246	Sr.	NR	NR	11	13.0	1.8%	1.0	0.0	0	1	1	0
Beau Barnes	WLB					11	12.5	1.7%	0.5	0.0	0	0	0	0
Jackson Mitchell	LB	6'0, 215	Jr.	2 stars (5.3)	0.7644	12	11.5	1.6%	1.0	0.0	0	0	1	0
Jordan Miller	LB					11	10.5	1.5%	1.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Nick Horton	BUCK	6'2, 245	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	NR	6	8.0	1.1%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Anthony Rhone	LB	6'0, 225	So.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7859	12	7.5	1.0%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
RC Cox	LB	6'1, 215	So.	NR	NR	5	2.5	0.3%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Dylan Dickman	LB	6'0, 222	So.	NR	NR	1	2.0	0.3%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Carlos Carroll	LB	6'2, 230	So.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8219	3	2.0	0.3%	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Inoke Ngalo	LB	5'11, 225	RSFr.	2 stars (5.3)	0.8187
Jordon Williams	LB	6'1, 195	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7926
Mitchell Kaufman	LB	6'3, 217	Fr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.7826

8. Injuries + garbage time = everybody plays!

Seven linemen, 13 linebackers, and nine defensive backs made at least 7.5 tackles last year. And of those 29, 21 return, including all but one lineman and defensive back. There is turnover at linebacker, but that's where the most people got playing time.

This is a young coaching staff. Malone graduated from Houston in 2002, linebackers coach Archie McDaniel from Texas A&M in 2005, and secondary coach Jess Loepp from Central Oklahoma in 2000. Only defensive line coach Buddy Wyatt has major experience. Morris went for hungry over seasoned, and while that can work (the quintessential example: Jim Harbaugh's Stanford staff), there might be a bit of a learning curve.

But if Malone and company want to be aggressive, they might have a few pieces: end Zach Wood had four sacks, linebackers Jonathan Yenga and Robert Seals combined for 10 tackles for loss and four pass break-ups, and safety Darrion Richardson combined three tackles for loss with five passes defensed. Plus, youngsters and reserves like cornerback Jesse Montgomery and end Zelt Minor hinted at potential. And the incoming recruiting class might produce a couple of early contributors.

Still, almost none of these players was successful in an SMU uniform last year. This will take a while.

Secondary

Name	Pos	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Rivals	247 Comp.	GP	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	Int	PBU	FF	FR
Hayden Greenbauer	SS					12	63.5	8.8%	2	0	1	0	0	0
Darrion Richardson	FS	6'0, 203	Jr.	2 stars (5.4)	0.8079	12	56.5	7.8%	3	1	1	4	1	0
Horace Richardson	CB	6'0, 202	Jr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.7900	9	25.0	3.5%	1	0	2	3	0	0
Ajee Montes	CB	5'11, 205	Jr.	2 stars (5.2)	0.7968	6	22.5	3.1%	0.5	0	0	1	0	0
JR Richardson	CB	5'10, 186	Sr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.7844	9	16.5	2.3%	1	0	0	2	0	0
Jesse Montgomery	CB	6'0, 180	So.	2 stars (5.3)	0.7600	11	16.5	2.3%	0	0	0	3	0	0
Troy Castle	CB	5'11, 205	Sr.	NR	NR	12	14.5	2.0%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shakiel Randolph	CB	6'4, 216	Sr.	3 stars (5.6)	0.8453	9	14.0	1.9%	0	0	1	8	0	0
A.J. Justice	SS	6'1, 217	Jr.	3 stars (5.5)	0.8000	12	12.5	1.7%	0.5	0	0	0	0	0
Trey Washington	DB					3	3.5	0.5%	0	0	0	0	0	0
Adam Waheed	DB					6	2.0	0.3%	0	0	0	0	0	0

Special Teams

Punter	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Punts	Avg	TB	FC	I20	FC/I20 Ratio
Jackson Koonce	6'1, 170	So.	74	40.8	3	14	14	37.8%

Kicker	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Kickoffs	Avg	TB	OOB	TB%
Cody Rademacher			33	55.9	4	1	12.1%

Place-Kicker	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	PAT	FG (0-39)	Pct	FG (40+)	Pct
Cody Rademacher			12-12	6-9	66.7%	3-8	37.5%

Returner	Pos.	Ht, Wt	2015 Year	Returns	Avg.	TD
Deion Sanders, Jr.	KR	5'7, 174	Jr.	37	20.5	0
Aaron Stafford	KR			9	20.1	0
Daijuan Stewart	PR			9	8.3	0
Cedric Lancaster	PR	5'9, 169	So.	3	-4.3	0

Category	Rk
Special Teams F/+	102
Field Goal Efficiency	115
Punt Return Efficiency	127
Kick Return Efficiency	42
Punt Efficiency	90
Kickoff Efficiency	4
Opponents' Field Goal Efficiency	92

9. Building around Deion Jr.

Deion Sanders Jr. wasn't incredibly explosive as a kick returner, but he was able to break past the 25-yard line on kickoffs. That's the only known positive for this special teams unit other than what appears to be a pretty good kick coverage unit.

Jackson Koonce should probably improve at punter, but we don't know much about punt returns or place-kicking. The best Morris can hope for is a unit that treads water and doesn't make things worse. And maybe a huge Sanders return or two.

2015 Schedule & Projection Factors

2015 Schedule
Date	Opponent	2014 F/+ Rk
4-Sep	Baylor	10
12-Sep	North Texas	125
19-Sep	at TCU	6
26-Sep	James Madison	NR
3-Oct	East Carolina	61
8-Oct	at Houston	73
24-Oct	at South Florida	123
31-Oct	Tulsa	117
6-Nov	Temple	67
14-Nov	at Navy	44
21-Nov	Tulane	93
28-Nov	at Memphis	41

Five-Year F/+ Rk	-12.8% (82)
2- and 5-Year Recruiting Rk	86 / 73
2014 TO Margin/Adj. TO Margin*	-14 / -10.7
2014 TO Luck/Game	-1.4
Approx. Ret. Starters (Off. / Def.)	15 (8, 7)
2014 Second-order wins (difference)	1.2 (-0.2)

10. Better? Maybe. More fun? Yes.

The offense will be better and infinitely more fun. The defense won't be worse. That means SMU will be ahead of where it was for most of last year.

Even if Morris doesn't turn out to be as good a head coach as he is a coordinator, he has an energetic staff that should recruit well by AAC standards, and his own prowess should ensure some ticket sales and shootout wins here and there.

But "ahead of where it was last year" might mean an F/+ ranking in the 100s or 110s. Energy can make a difference, but I struggle to see a major turnaround.

Luckily for SMU, there are still opportunities. North Texas won't be much better, and two 2014 opponents, Tulsa and USF, have pulled off similar nosedives. When you only won one game, two wins represents improvement, and I think SMU will reach or eclipse that. Just don't set the bar higher than four.

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The rumored new Clippers' logo REALLY looks like Clippy from MS Word

LPGA golfer holes out TWICE for walk-off win from the fairway

Sei Young Kim compiled a highlight reel on Saturday in Hawaii, after chipping in to force a playoff with Inbee Park and then holing out from the fairway to beat the world’s No. 2 golfer in the first frame of overtime.

Sei Young Kim’s hole out for eagle to beat Inbee Park on the first playoff hole on Saturday in Hawaii did not elicit quite the emotional response from the Lotte Championship winner as her first save from off the green in regulation. But it was a tad more difficult and, in the end, more meaningful for the 22-year-old South Korean.

''This is probably the second most memorable shot for me,'' Kim said through a translator about her 154-yard swing with an 8-iron. ''In 2013, I won a tournament, which had the biggest prize money on [the Korea LPGA]. I won that tournament by making a hole-in-one on 17, so that was probably my most memorable shot. Sorry.’'

That must mean Kim’s chip-in from the fringe on the 72nd hole of the tournament to force overtime ranks third on her highlight reel of all-time incredible shots. After rinsing her ball in a hazard off the tee on the par-4 18th at Ko Olina, Kim hit her approach to the edge of the green, watched Park leave a tap-in for par, and then knocked her shot in from 18 feet.

Kim’s reaction was one of pure joy. She dropped her club, thrust her arms into the air, gazed upward with a huge smile, and high-fived her caddie. "I saw the ball go into the hazard and I thought, `What have I done to deserve this fate?’ Then the gift came right back after that. I still can't believe what just happened," Kim said. "It was a straight line, and just try to focus on the hole to get it in there."

As for the hole-out for eagle, Kim did not immediately acknowledge the result because she could not see the ball disappear into the cup. Park was unable to duplicate the feat and a long, grueling day on which the two leaders finished at 11-under for the week was over.

"I just got to say luck was on her side," said Park.

For Kim, the early leader in the clubhouse for Rookie of the Year honors, it was her second tour win after a victory in the Bahamas. The $270,000 winner’s paycheck should take some of the sting out of her loss at the ANA Inspiration two weeks ago when she tied for fourth after entering the final round with a three-shot lead.

Though she "had a tough time sleeping" after her collapse at Mission Hills, Kim said the experience ended up being a positive one.

"That was my first major opportunity to win a major tournament on the LPGA Tour. I almost felt a little bit of guilt that I let that slip away," she said. "At the same time, I saw the possibility and the potential that I thought that I belonged there and that I can win a major championship in the future.

"So a lot of those lessons that I learned the last day at ANA Inspiration I was able to take in into application this week in the tournament," Kim said, "and I think this helped me tremendously."

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Ducks vs. Jets, NHL playoffs 2015: Time, TV schedule and how to watch online

Winnipeg still searches for its first playoff win since 1996.

Winnipeg has waited a long time for a playoff game, and the Jets must take advantage of that anticipation in order to avoid a 3-0 series hole to the Anaheim Ducks.

The Jets will host the Ducks in Game 3 of their Stanley Cup playoffs first round matchup on Sunday. It's the first playoff game in Winnipeg since 1996, so to say the home crowd will be buzzing is an understatement.

Aside from their fans, the Jets real weapon at home this season is their ability to score early and often. The only problem is the Ducks have rallied from late-game deficits to win in each of the first two games. Comebacks are sort of their thing.

With that in mind, Winnipeg must rely on a continued strong performance by goalie Ondrej Pavelec. Despite taking a loss in Game 2, Pavelec played fairly well with 37 saves on 39 shots. The key for the Jets, then, is to find some offensive support for him. Winnipeg only has three goals in the previous two games of the series. One of them was from Adam Pardy, who hadn't scored in four years until Friday night.

Meanwhile, Anaheim will look to keep throwing bodies around until Winnipeg wears down to the point of allowing a goal. The Ducks are averaging nearly 50 hits a night, making this one of the hardest-hitting series in the playoffs so far.

Game 3 coverage

9 p.m. ET | Game 3, Western Conference Round 1
MTS Centre | Winnipeg, Manitoba
Local: PRIME | Nat'l: NHL Network, NBCSN, SN
Live stream at NBC Live Extra
More coverage: Ducks Blog | Jets Blog

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Blues vs. Wild 2015: Time, TV schedule and how to watch NHL playoffs online

Have the Blues solved their Wild problem?

The St. Louis Blues will look to duplicate their Game 2 successes when they take on the Minnesota Wild in Game 3 of their first-round series on Monday.

Minnesota's speed and skill made the Blues look wholly lackluster in Game 1, but in Game 2 it appeared St. Louis had found a solution. The Blues used hard, relentless forechecking to slow down the Wild while their offense began cooking.

Both methods will need to work as the series shifts back to Minnesota on Monday. The good news for St. Louis is that Vladimir Tarasenko is already looking like an elite playoff goal scorer. His hat trick on Friday in St. Louis gave him seven goals in eight career playoff games. Tarasenko is the Blues' best offensive threat, capable of matching the Wild in both speed and skill. St. Louis will rely heavily on him again in Game 3.

The Wild, for their part, must hope that goalie Devan Dubnyk can figure out how to stop the Blues offense. Despite a magnificent second half run since joining the Wild, the Blues are the one team that have given Dubnyk trouble this year. After stopping just 23-of-26 shots in Game 2, Dubnyk's save percentage fell to .909 in five starts against St. Louis this year.

The series is currently tied at 1-1.

Game 3 coverage

8 p.m. ET | Game 3, Western Conference Round 1
Xcel Energy Center | St. Paul, MN
Local: FS-MW, FS-N | Nat'l: CNBC, SN
Live stream at NBC Live Extra
More coverage: Blues Blog | Wild Blog

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Duke is putting an all-out recruiting blitz on 5-star wing Brandon Ingram

Duke is after its third McDonald's All-American for next season.

Brandon Ingram is one of the most highly coveted players left in the class of 2015, and the 6'8 wing out of North Carolina is ready to make his decision. Ingram is choosing between North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, N.C. State, Kentucky and UCLA and will announce his choice on April 27.

Ingram is hosting coaches on in-home visits over the week before making his choice. Duke got the first meeting on April 17, followed by Kentucky. Ingram hosted Kansas on Saturday and is set to welcome N.C. State on Monday. Duke will visit again on Tuesday and North Carolina gets the final meeting on Wednesday.

With the first and second-to-last visit, it sure seems like Duke is doing everything it can to get Ingram. Point guard might be a bigger position of need right now for the Blue Devils with Quinn Cook graduating and Tyus Jones off to the NBA, but there's a spot available on the wing too after Justise Winslow left after his freshman year.

Ingram's recruitment has been considered a two-horse race between North Carolina and Duke for some time. Ingram has strong UNC connections. He played for Jerry Stackhouse's Stackhouse Elite grassroots team on the summer circuit and went to the same high school (Kingston) Stackhouse attended.

Ingram had previously said he may have committed to UNC already if not for the academic scandal hanging over the school.

Duke is at the other end of the spectrum by making a strong late push. The Blue Devils will be without four starters from the team that won the national title, but do have some solid pieces returning in sophomore guard Grayson Allen, senior big man Amile Jefferson and junior wing Matt Jones. Duke already has two McDonald's All-Americans coming in for next year in shooting guard Luke Kennard and center Chase Jeter.

Duke is also making a push for transfer point guard Dylan Ennis from Villanova and is reportedly trying to convince two highly-touted point guards in the class of 2016 to reclassify for next season in Jamal Murray and Derryck Thornton.

247 Sports currently projects Duke with a 70 percent chance to land Ingram.

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Tony Romo made 'balls' jokes about the Patriots at the CMAs

Tony Romo was at the Country Music Awards on Sunday night, because it's probably a thing that's written into the contract of every Dallas Cowboys quarterback. He wasted NO time taking a shot at the New England Patriots over "DeflateGate."

Tony Romo makes quite a statement at ACM awards #ACMCBS11 @cbsdfw http://ift.tt/1bkYhjd

— Dandy Killeen (@TheDandyMan13) April 20, 2015

Tony, we know they probably just put this script on a teleprompter, but there HAS to be a better joke at this point, right? We're not saying you need something Louis C.K. caliber, just not this.

h/t Dallas Morning News

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Blazers players worried LaMarcus Aldridge might leave Portland

The team's star player will be a free agent this offseason. Could he be on his way out? Aldridge's teammates are concerned.

LaMarcus Aldridge will be a free agent this offseason, and will no doubt be one of the more coveted ones. The belief, though, has always been that he'd be re-signing with Portland. Not only can the team, via the league's Bird Rights rules, pay the most the money and give him an additional year, but Aldridge has always seemed happy in Portland. He's the star player on a perennial playoff team in a great basketball city.

But now, according to Jason Quick of the Oregonian, some of Aldridge's teammates are beginning to worry that this season will be his last in Portland.

"Some Blazers players have already said they are worried free agency will take Aldridge away from Portland this summer," writes Quick. "Earlier this month, before a home game, a Blazers player estimated the chances of him returning to Portland at 50-50."

The report comes on the heals of the Blazers' embarrassing 100-86 Game 1 loss Sunday against the Grizzlies, a game in which Portland trailed by 29 points at one point. The Blazers shot just 34 percent from the field. Aldridge, who had 32 points and 14 rebounds but shot just 13-34 from the field, was the only player on the team who appeared ready for the game.

"We got our (behinds) kicked," he said afterwards, later adding" "I think it's a good wakeup call for us."

The fear in Portland now is that Aldridge will no longer feel like he has enough support in Portland. Aldridge did say last July that he was "looking forward to signing the five-year deal (with Portland) when the chance comes.'' But some of his teammates are still concerned.

"One Blazers player cautioned that Aldridge already has enough money," writes Quick." Happiness is what he is truly seeking, and that could be found in being closer to family in Texas."

Why Aldridge would leave Portland

It's really hard to say. Of course, there's the "going home" angle, which we've seen before and which you can never underestimate. Aldridge grew up in Dallas and played college basketball in Austin.

There would have to be some maneuvering for Texas' teams (the Mavericks, Rockets and even the Spurs) to have enough cap space so sign the All Star forward, but it is possible that it could all be figured out. Dallas and Houston are two of the most active teams when it comes to pursuing stars, and both are also very good at creating room under the salary cap. In San Antonio, there's always the chance that Tim Duncan retires and the team decides to go after another star to fill his shoes. All these team would offer Aldridge the chance to play closer to home and do so on a team that can compete. All that could be hard to pass up.

Aldridge may also be looking around at his team and wondering what the roster's ceiling is. Damian Lillard is fantastic, but you can also find holes in his game. He's a shoot-first point guard who hit just 34 percent of his three-pointers this year. Wesley Matthews is excellent when healthy, but who knows how he'll look when he returns to the court next year, if he's even back with Portland. Robin Lopez, Aldridge's interior mate, is a free agent this offseason.

It's also easy to focus on the most recent ugly result. If it holds, it looks like Portland could end up being a hapless first round loser. Perhaps Aldridge already thinks this team's window has closed. If that's the case, you can understand why he'd want to bail.

Why Aldridge wouldn't leave Portland

Aside from the opportunity to play for one of the Texas teams, it's hard to find a reason why Aldridge would leave a strong club like Portland. Teams like the Knicks and Lakers will likely come after him, but they can't offer him the roster that the Blazers can.

Aldridge would also be wise to not make any rash decision based on how Portland does this postseason. The team is depleted right now. The Matthews injury was a major blow, and an injury to replacement Arron Afflalo only made the situation worse. The team that Aldridge is playing with now is not the one he'll be going to battle with next season. We saw at the beginning of the year how good the Blazers can be when fully healthy. If Aldridge takes a step back and looks at the entire picture, chances are he'll realize that staying in Portland provides him the best chance to win.

Also, remember that he can get an extra year and about 20 million if he were to re-sign with Portland. You never want to ignore that.

There's always something special about playing out one's prime years for one team. Not only is Aldridge already familiar with the team's coaching staff and franchise, but he'll become a god in Portland if he sticks around. That's the kind of thing that's hard to turn down.

Likelihood (4/10)

This is the first we're hearing about Aldridge possibly wanting to leave Portland, so it could just be a reaction to a tough Game 1 loss. That being said, as we learned last summer with LeBron, never underestimate the pull of going home. Aldridge will probably still be a Blazer next season, but it wouldn't come as a shock if he ended up being a Maverick or Spur either.

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NASCAR Bristol recap: Matt Kenseth dismisses retirement talk, returns to winner’s circle

Not resembling a driver who should retire anytime soon, Matt Kenseth returned to victory lane Sunday after a 51-race drought.

Since Jeff Gordon announced in January the 2015 season would be his last full campaign, the question of which star driver would retire next has been a popular one. And often Matt Kenseth has been on the receiving end of that question.

Yet each time he's been asked about potentially retiring Kenseth dismissed the idea, saying while he and Gordon may be the same age, 43, they are not equal in terms of wear-and-tear on their bodies. Gordon begin racing in NASCAR's top division in 1993, Kenseth's rookie season was 2000. While Gordon has dealt with a bad back for years, Kenseth has enjoyed almost near-perfect health.

And just as Gordon has remained competitive, Kenseth has done so as well. Though he didn't win his second Sprint Cup championship, two years ago the Joe Gibbs Racing driver enjoyed a brilliant season setting personal highs for wins and laps led.

However, since that seven-win 2013 season, Kenseth hadn't been back to Victory Lane. Although he came close several times, a 33rd-career win proved elusive with his drought extending to 51 races.

That winless streak came to an end Sunday, as Kenseth emerged victorious at wild and wet Bristol Motor Speedway. And just like that, any misgivings he may have had about himself were washed away in a race punctuated by four rain delays.

"Honestly, it wears on you a little bit," Kenseth said of not winning. "We had such a good 2013, we came a little short of the ultimate prize there, but we had such a great season, and last year there were some races we had some chances to win and just things wouldn't line up for us. We just couldn't get it to happen. Tonight was kind of the opposite. Everything worked out."

On a night when so many things went wrong for so many, Kenseth drove a near-perfect race.

For much of the Food City 500, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch had the best cars, combining to lead 368 of a possible 511 laps. None of them, however, pushed Kenseth across the finish line as each of their bids for victory came undone by slip-ups.

Harvick, who led a race-high 184 and had finished second or better in nine of 10 races dating to last season, didn't see an immobilized David Ragan and crashed. Edwards was challenging Gordon for second with eight laps to go when he overdrove Turn 1 and smacked the wall, creating a multi-car incident that also involved Busch, who was mired in traffic due to an ill-advised decision to pit out of the lead a few laps before.

"I was racing really aggressively there at the end and the car was sticking and everything was going great and then I drove into Turn 1 and that was the first time I lifted off throttle and I just pitched sideways. It's 100 percent my fault.

"The outcome was not what we wanted and I made a big mistake."

Even after Harvick, Edwards and Busch eliminated themselves from contention, Kenseth still had to withstand Mother Nature's fury. As track workers cleaned up the carnage from the accident Edwards initiated, rain began falling again. Hoping to see the race reach its conclusion, officials kept drivers circling the track for several laps before issuing the second red flag of the night.

Shortly thereafter the rain stopped and the race resumed under NASCAR's overtime rules. Because he was the leader Kenseth had the preferred outside lane; nonetheless on a still wet track it would be easy for him to make a mistake. But Kenseth got a flawless restart and quickly created some distance between himself and the field.

All around it was a performance befitting his experience. Kenseth's No. 20 car was one of the few without any significant damage and when he needed to be on his game, the veteran executed. Not a bad night for someone who was asked about retirement just two days before.

"Matt might have 10 more years left in him or so," Gordon said. "I don 't think he's ready for that yet."

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2015 NFL Mock Draft: Averaging all of the Internet's mocks

Let's review the consensus picks for the 2015 NFL Draft that the Internet has chosen and figure out who fits in best with their predicted new teams.

Watch on YouTube | Subscribe to SB Nation on YouTube

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BCS. Playoff. Doesn't matter. Boise State's too busy winning

Aron Baynes let Blake Griffin dunk on him again and again and again

It didn't have to end this way for the San Antonio Spurs' young big man.

Aron Baynes didn't play two years with Lietuvos Rytas of the Lithuanian Basketball League for this to happen to him:

Didn't he learn anything from Tim Duncan? Don't try to be the hero. It's not worth it. When you see Blake Griffin activate his Kia-sponsored thrusters, you leave the premises faster than when your mother asks why the plates are still in the sink. When you don't, you end up on a nightly SportsCenter reel with the hosts doing the sign of the cross in memory of your existence. Ask Pau Gasol. Ask Timofey Mozgov. There's a support group for people like this.

Baynes didn't share closet-sized rooms with teammates while on the road with the Austin Toros for this to happen to him. All he wanted was to show Gregg Popovich effort, repay the faith shown in him and maybe block a dunk. Now look at him.

Griffin turned him into the conversation topic of balding, divorced men in the barbershop. This Vine is going to be replayed endlessly by guys whose hairlines can only be seen through microscopes. And they're going to ooh and ahh before doing the laugh where you don't even make a sound. Then, they're going to slap their knees. Aron Baynes is a knee-slapper joke now.

Look at how excited the Clippers bench gets. I can't believe it's normal for human beings to celebrate public sacrifices like this in 2015. We should be better than this. This is the same joy taken from Mortal Kombat fatalities. Someone please leave a loving voicemail on Baynes' phone, because he needs it more than anyone else at this time.

At least it's a one-time thing and Baynes can learn his lesson. Trials and tribulations are important in a young man's life. The lesson is to never try to block Blake Griffin when he's trying to win the dunk contest in-game.

Oh, what's that? Baynes tried it again?

You just can't save some people. Look at how lifeless his body is in this one. That's a man who just got the "we need to talk" text from his significant other and he already knows why. Why not just take out the trash like she asked, Aron? Why does she have to tell you this over and over again?

He even does a sad bounce like Tigger telling his children that he lost his job.

Did he think that he was going to avenge his own demise from earlier? Baynes really thought he was Maximus Decimus Meridius. He saw Blake spin off the defender, and in his mind the crowd has already started the "Spaniard! Spaniard!" chants. He knew this was his chance. He was going to stop Blake Griffin in this life or the next.

Then Blake spit on the script, kicked it around, balled it up and dunked it over Baynes as he stood there with the saddest Eeyore eyes.

This isn't a movie, Aron. The good guy doesn't win here. Blake Griffin jumps over cars and does commercials where he drives motor vehicles off naval ships. This man stopped caring a long time ago. Don't give him a reason to hurt you. You may have thought the part of him that delights in tearing the joy out of the spirit of grown men was gone, but it was just biding its time.

Griffin shot jumpers, made some layups and even passed the ball. He did that thing where he complains about fouls. But that was all an act for his true motive. He's been eying Baynes the entire time. This is what he does. It's like how Arya Stark lists the names of people that she wants to kill every night. Blake dunks on cardboard cutouts of his future victims before bedtime.

The astounding thing in all of this is that Baynes didn't seem to pay attention to the scouting report. Gregg Popovich is a super-intelligent human being. There's almost no doubt that he wrote "Blake Griffin likes to put defenders on posters. Also, hates puppies" in big, bold, red letters. Everyone else heeded the warning. Yet here we are, mentioning Aron Baynes in past tense because pride and folly made him think that he was an exception.

Look at what this whole event did to poor super rich Steve Ballmer:

He's lost control of every bodily function. He's now one of the monsters from the upcoming Ghostbusters movie. His body looks like it's about to explode like a desperate Electrode that uses self-destruction as a last resort when you're about to win the Pokemon battle.

All because Aron Baynes didn't listen to his brain and tried to be a hero.

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