PonyFans.com is proud to welcome back, for his second season as a columnist, Nate, who is 14 years old, in eighth grade, might want to be a sports writer and knows more about football than a lot of people who already make their living covering sports. Nate will offer his thoughts and will preview each game throughout the season, looking at a key player, matchup or statistic that could prove relevant in each upcoming game … and explain why it will impact the outcome. Feel free to post comments and constructive criticism, ask him questions, and/or give suggestions for upcoming columns!

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Nate says the Mustangs are improving, thanks to the "fantastic" game quarterback Garrett Krstich had at East Carolina (photo by PonyFans.com).

Well folks, SMU has a pulse! They didn’t get blown out two weeks ago at East Carolina in a game in which many (including me) thought ECU would have the blowout of the year. But going into the fourth quarter, SMU had a realistic shot to shock the whole world. I couldn’t believe it as I sat in Auburn, Ala., in the back yard of my sister’s duplex, watching the game on an iPad with my dad’s college buddy! The small group of SMU faithful in Auburn was especially shocked when SMU took the ball with a shot to cut the margin to four, down 35-24, with the ball deep into ECU territory after a fumble until the Mustangs ran out of gas as the Pirates got their feet back under them and went on to a 45-24 win.

With that behind us, coming off of a bye this week, SMU takes on the Bearcats of Cincinnati at home in “the Ford.” Quarterback Gunner Kiel was been lights out after he transferred from Notre Dame. Finally getting to play, Kiel is flourishing, with 18 touchdowns and a little more than 1,300 passing yards. The Cincinnati team as a whole, though, is not backing up its budding quarterback. A lot of Kiel’s stats are probably junk yards in the Bearcats’ victories over Toledo and Miami of Ohio, but since kicking off the season with those wins, Cincinnati has lost three straight by an average of 22.6 points per game at Ohio State, at Miami (Fla.) and at home against Memphis.

What was supposed to be a really sturdy Cincinnati defense with returners everywhere, from a defense that was fantastic last year, surprisingly has been one of the worst units in the nation. The Bearcats are 124th in the country in scoring defense, giving up 40.8 points per game. Even in their games against Toledo and Miami Ohio, the Bearcats gave up a big chunk of points (an average of 29 per game in the victories).

The most pleasant surprise of the East Carolina game was SMU quarterback Garrett Krstich having a fantastic game, throwing his first touchdowns, and throwing for more than 300 yards while completing 42-of-67 with another touchdown as well. His interception intended for Der’rikk Thompson was way over his head and was an easy INT for the safety over the top. I had been talking about how much Coach Tom Mason was running the ball with Jones’ philosophy gone. Well, it seemed it had come back (and it actually put a spark in the offense) as SMU threw the ball 67 times while running it just 18 times. Going against all old-school football philosophies, slinging the ball around worked, as the Ponies doubled their season total for points in one game going from their season total of 12 to 24 in one game.

Other notes: Former standout linebacker Kevin Pope, who spent the end of last season and the beginning of 2014 at running back, is now in his prime spot again at linebacker. In the ECU game, Darius Joseph had a career-high 13 snags for exactly 100 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions. This is not a bad Cincinnati team at all — better than its record, and probably has enough to beat the Mustangs.

Nate’s Take: Cincinnati 45, SMU 20