Break out the clichés: “It all comes down to this.” “This is what you play for.” “We control our own destiny.”

Regardless of how it’s phrased, it boils down to this: win Saturday, and the SMU Mustangs are assured of a bowl game. Chances are the Ponies are headed to the postseason for the first time in 25 years anyway, but the Mustangs can erase even the slightest shred of doubt with a victory over the Tulane Green Wave at 2 p.m. Saturday at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in a game that can be seen in Dallas-Fort Worth on Time-Warner Cable’s MetroSports and can be heard on KTCK (1310 AM).

Tulane's best offensive player, WR Jeremy Williams, has 79 catches for 1,039 yards and five receiving touchdowns entering Saturday's game (photo by Tulane athletics).

Tulane comes to Dallas with a record of 3-8 overall, and 1-6 against Conference USA foes. The Green Wave has given up 30 or more points in nine of their 11 games this season. Seven of Tulane’s eight losses have been by at least 21 points.

Third-year head coach Bob Toledo’s team has been outscored by an average of 37.6-15.6. The argument could be made that Tulane has gotten off to slow starts this year — opponents have outscored the Green Wave, 176-78 in the first half — but that would suggest that things have been better after the intermission, which is untrue; Tulane has been outscored, 238-95 in the second half and overtime this season.

The has been out-rushed by more than a 2-1 margin (207.0-103.2 yards per game), but has been relatively close in passing yardage — opponents throw for 213.8 yards per game, compared to 206.4 yards per game this season, but those numbers are somewhat skewed by the fact that Tulane has been behind for at least part of every game this season, and therefore has had to throw the ball in an effort to catch up.

Tulane and SMU have met 17 times before, with Tulane winning 17 times, including victories in five of its seven games against the Ponies in Dallas.

OFFENSE

SMU's Taylor Thompson said Tulane QB Ryan Griffin runs pretty well, but prefers to stay in the pocket (photo by Tulane athletics).

The Tulane offense is directed by redshirt freshman quarterback Ryan Griffin (6-5, 215), who has completed 123-of-196 passes (62.8 percent) for 1,166 yards, seven touchdowns and six interceptions while starting the last five games for the Green Wave. Griffin, whose completions, passing yardage and touchdown pass totals are the most ever by a Tulane freshman, has thrown three touchdowns in two games this season: vs. UTEP and Rice.

“He’s got good size, and he looks like a pretty good athlete,” SMU defensive end Taylor Thompson said. “But he’s not a big scrambler — he definitely looks to pass first.”

SMU defensive coordinator Tom Mason echoed Thompson’s sentiment that Griffin prefers to stand in the pocket, but said it’s imperitive that the Ponies pressure Griffin into throwing quickly.

“If you give him time,” Mason said, “he can be really accurate with the ball.”

The Green Wave’s best offensive player is wide receiver Jeremy Williams, who has caught 79 passes for 1,039 yards and five touchdowns. In his career in New Orleans, Williams has 192 catches for 2,733 yards and 17 touchdowns. His receptions and receiving yards are the fourth-highest totals in Tulane history, while his touchdowns are the seventh-highest total in school history. His 94.5 receiving yards per game are the third-highest total among Conference USA players this season.

Williams and fellow wideout Casey Robottom (45 catches, 525 yards, two receiving touchdowns) team up to give Tulane what Mason said is one of the best — and easily the most underrated — pairs of receivers on any team SMU will face this season.

Tulane RB Andre Anderson is 89 rushing yards shy of 1,000 for the season (photo by Tulane athletics).

“They’re not huge (Williams is listed at 6-1, 205 and Robottom is listed at 5-11, 177), and they’re not the fastest guys out there, but they’re versatile — they can do a lot of things,” Mason said. “They run good routes, they have good speed, they have good hands … they’re a tough matchup.”

Joining Griffin behind an offensive line anchored by a pair of power forwards doubling as tackles (6-8, 306-pound left tackle Pete Hendrickson and 6-7, 295-pound right tackle Nick Landry) will be senior tailback Andre Anderson (6-0, 212), who has rushed 211 times for 911 yards and seven receiving touchdowns. If he runs for 89 yards Saturday, he and Williams will become the first tandem in Tulane history to rush and receive 1,000 yards in the same season.

Anderson ranks fourth in Tulane history with eight 100-yard rushing games, ninth in yards-per-carry average (4.73) and 11th in career rushing yards (1,904). His 211 carries this season are the fifth-highest single-season total in school history, while his 911 yards are the eighth-highest total ever by a Green Wave runner. Anderson ran for a season-best 199 yards and a career-best four touchdowns in his team’s 42-32 win over McNeese State Sept. 26.

DEFENSE

The Tulane defense operates out of a 4-3 base alignment. The Green Wave has surrendered an average of 37.6 points and 420.8 yards — yardage which is split almost evenly between the run (207.0) and pass (213.8). That balance, SMU running back Shawnbrey McNeal said, makes the Tulane defense harder to gameplan for than might be expected of a team that has been so generous on the scoreboard.

“You never really know what they’re going to bring,” McNeal said. “One week, they get after the passer more; the next week, they stack the box against the run.

“We really don’t know what we’ll see Saturday, so it’s up to us to just do our thing, and run our offense the way we know we can. If we do that, then it’s up to them to try to stop us.”

DE Logan Kelley leads the Tulane defense with three quarterback sacks this season (photo by Tulane athletics).

Right defensive end Adam Kwentua leads the Tulane defensive line in tackles with 40 (sixth on the team), but has no sacks this season, although he does have a fumble recovery and an interception. Left defensive end Logan Kelley leads the Green Wave with three sacks, and is tied for sixth in school history with 13 sacks in his career.

With team tackles leader Chinoso Echebelum (of Duncanville, Texas) out of the lineup, two of the top three tacklers heading to Ford Stadium Saturday are starting linebackers: weakside linebacker Travis Burks is second behind Echebelum with 82, while strongside linebacker Shakiel Smith is fourth with 61. Burks’ average of 7.5 tackles per game ranks 16th in Conference USA this season, while Smith has started 10 of the Green Wave’s 11 games this season after moving forward from his high school safety position.

Left cornerback Phillip Davis is fifth on the Tulane defense with 41 tackles, and has two interceptions; no other Green Wave defender has more than one.

Both starting safeties — strong safety Jordan Garrett and free safety Devon Walker — are true freshmen. Garrett has 27 tackles, including a career-high eight stops against LSU. Walker has eight tackles, six of which came last week against UCF.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Bob Toledo is in his third season as Tulane's head coach (photo by Tulane athletics).

Senior kicker Ross Thevenot is a three-year letterman who has hit 40-of-66 career field goals and 99-of-106 extra points in his career. His 99 extra points and 106 PAT attempts are the third-highest totals in Tulane history.

Thevenot also serves as the Green Wave’s punter, and boasts an average of 42.2 yards on 44 punts this season. His yardage is indicative of his career, during which he has averaged 42.28 yards on 24 punts. Thevenot had his best week as a punter last week against UCF, when he averaged 49.3 on seven punts. Three were downed inside the 20-yard line and two sailed more than 50 yards, including a career-best 77-yarder.

In addition to his duties as the Green Wave’s best receiver, Williams also is a capable kickoff return specialist, averaging 24.88 yards per return. He was named National Kick Returner of the Week by College Football Performance Awards after returning three kicks for 145 yards Nov. 7 against UTEP.