SMU Mustangs Quarterback Richard Bartel.

When a team encounters adversity, as the SMU Mustangs did in Saturday's season-opening loss to Texas Tech, one of the people who often is asked to help turn around the team's fortunes is the quarterback. In sophomore Richard Bartel, the Ponies have an extremely talented signal caller with the talent to lead SMU to numerous victories.

But Bartel is just a sophomore. A team laden with young players is commanded on the field by a quarterback who now has just six career starts in his college career.

This is not the first time Bartel and the Ponies have started the year with a lopsided loss; SMU began the 2002 campaign with a 38-7 loss to Navy.

"This one was a whole lot different," Bennett said, "because Texas Tech is a much better team. But it's still disappointing. Any time you invest as much as we have and then things turn out the way they did, it's disappointing.

"But this is not going to be our signature game for this year. Texas Tech is a real good team, and we're not as bad as things might have seemed Saturday. I told the guys I have a friend (Rocky Long) who coaches out at New Mexico, and they got beat, 49-0, last year by Texas Tech .... and ended up going to a bowl game. This was a game we can learn from, and we will."

For Bartel, the game was an indication of just how much goes in to the development of a winning team.

"It's not like we slacked in two-a-days," Bartel said. "In the week before the game, we thought we were prepared, we thought we were ready.

"But this is a good, humbling experience, and one that we have to take in stride. It's like Coach (Bennett) said when we were running (after Tuesday's practice): 'The harder we work in practice, the more it's going to pay off' in games."

The game actually started fairly well for the SMU offense, as Bartel steered the offense on the game's first scoring drive, which ended with sophomore kicker Chris McMurtray drilling a 42-yard field goal to give the Ponies an early 3-0 lead.

"Richard was hurt (by Saturday's result), but I told him he's just one cog in the offense who didn't play as well as he wanted, and as well as we know he can," Bennett said. "But he's going to get better - a lot better. That first drive he ran was absolutely gorgeous. He needs to get better managing the 25-second clock - things like that - but he's a competitor and will learn from every game he plays."

Bartel said that competitive streak is something from which he and his teammates can benefit.

"Anyone who's a competitor had to be disappointed with the way the game turned out Saturday," Bartel said. "For someone who's as competitive as myself - and there are a lot of guys on this team who are - you want to get right back out there and play another game to prove that you're better than what we showed Saturday. But to be honest, having a week off (before the Ponies play Sept. 13 at Baylor) is probably the best thing for this team. The Texas Tech game showed us a lot of areas where we need to improve. So yeah, we'd like to be getting out there Saturday and play another game, but really the week off couldn't come at a better time. Having this Saturday off is really what's best for the team."

Further complicating things for Bartel and the SMU offense Saturday was the fact that he was playing behind an offensive line that hadn't developed the cohesiveness that is desired for a team's blockers. Seniors Sterling Harris and Steve Reindl resumed their normal positions as the team's right tackle and center, respectively. Sophomore Brad Kieschnick remained at left guard. But Townsend Hargis, who had suffered a sprained knee during two-a-days, split time at right guard with Grant Eidson, and when Eric Neal got injured, Darrin Johnson - who was moved from defensive tackle during two-a-days - stepped in at left tackle.

"Yeah, that affected Richard's performance," Bennett said of the juggling on the offensive line. "There were a few times when he was running for his life. You have a certain amount of time it takes for guys to run their routes, and Richard didn't always have the time to allow the receivers to run those routes. Darrin has been playing tackle for all of two weeks. He's going to be a good one - a real good one - but he's not there yet. He's raw, but the ability is there. If he keeps working, he's a kid who could be playing on Sundays."

It could be argued that the score against Texas Tech was more lopsided than the difference in talent between the Mustangs and the Red Raiders, thanks to late turnovers. But that does little to disguise the fact that the Mustangs have a lot of work left to do.

"It's a game we've got to grow from," Bennett said, "and we will. It was a little like playing golf - on a good day, you hit everything nice and straight; on a bad day, you get the shanks. We had the shanks Saturday."

Bartel echoed his coach's sentiment that the season opener was a game in which things that could go wrong usually did. But he also plans to be part of the reason the Ponies rebound from the disappointment.

"I hope the guys look at me as one of the team leaders," Bartel said. " I have the ball in my hands on every play, and I have to play better. I made some dumb mistakes Saturday, and I can't make them again. But I also can't look back - we've got Baylor to get ready for."