Game Report: SMU 40, UTEP 14

[PonyPride]

Freshman RB races into record book in SMU rout
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ShanDerrick Charles is not Doak Walker. ShanDerrick Charles is not Eric Dickerson. But in Saturday's 40-14 pounding of Texas-El Paso Saturday before a Homecoming crowd at Gerald J. Ford Stadium, the Ponies' freshman running back put himself on the list of star running backs at SMU.

A week after setting an SMU freshman record last week with 243 yards in a win over San Jose State, Charles became the first running back in school history to eclipse the 200-yard plateau in consecutive games when he ran for four touchdowns and 212 yards on 27 carries, and joined Dickerson as the only ball-carriers in SMU history to reach the 200-yard mark twice in their careers. His 455 yards are the total for back-to-back games by any SMU runner ever, and are just 77 yards fewer than the 532 Doak Walker put up in 1948 when he won the Heisman Trophy.

"Hey, I'm just a freshman starting out," Charles said with a smile when asked about being grouped in with the two most famous running backs in SMU history. "I don't want to get all big-headed."

Against UTEP, SMU fell behind early, spotting the Miners 14 first-quarter points on a 1-yard run by tailback Sherman Austin and a 4-yard run by quarterback Wes Phillips.

SMU's offense was stagnant at first, sputtering in the first quarter and mustering six points in the second on a pair of Jacob Crowley field goals, from 27 and 43 yards. With 30 seconds left before halftime, SMU pulled to within two points when quarterback David Page hit wide receiver Cody Cardwell with a 2-yard touchdown pass; the failed two-point conversion made the halftime score 14-12 UTEP.

The second half, however, belonged to the Ponies. The SMU defense held the Miners to three-and-out on four straight possessions after the intermission. And in the meantime, Charles was running wild. With 7:43 left in the third quarter, Charles plowed into the pile of blockers and drove the pile into the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown, putting the Mustangs in the lead, 19-14. Three minutes later, he scored again on a 22-yard run up the middle and the rout was on. Before the game was over, he'd tack on touchdown runs of 15 and 25 yards; a fifth apparent touchdown (his four tied the school record) in the first half was called back by a penalty.

Head coach Mike Cavan said Charles' success was a result of obvious natural ability and hard work.

"People have been asking me where he's been all year," Cavan said. "He's been here and he's been working hard. The thing that's surprised me has been his strength for a player of his size (Charles is 5-foot9, 180 pounds). That touchdown he scored from four or five yards yard out -- I thought that was just a 1-yard gain, but he kept pushing his way in."

Overshadowed by Charles' emergence was the performance of the SMU defense, which turned in its finest effort of the year with seven quarterback sacks -- including defensive end Kevin Aldridge's first three of the year -- and an interception by cornerback Jonas Rutledge.

"It's been a little frustrating, getting close to the quarterback all year and not getting there," Aldridge said. "(Defensive line) Coach (Oscar) Giles said you rush the quarterback 30 or 40 times a game, and you only might get to him two or three times. But the tackles flushed a couple of sacks out to me today, so I've got to thank them for that."

Cornerback Kevin Garrett also had a strong game against UTEP wide receiver Lee Mays, arguably the best wideout in the Western Athletic Conference. Mays had five catches for 82 yards, but had just one after the first quarter.

"He did get away with a push-off on that long one," Garrett said of Mays' 40-yard reception in the first quarter. "But the line got good pressure on the quarterbacks and we did a good job on him the rest of the way."

Page finished the game with a quietly efficient 165 yards on 13-of-18 passing with the one touchdown pass to Cardwell.

SMU travels to Reno next week to face Nevada.

[PonyGirl]

Two in a row! Make it three!!!