PonyFans.com is proud to welcome back, for his third season as a columnist, Nate, who is 15 years old, in ninth 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. He 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! (He can be followed on Twitter at @Pony_NATE_tion.)

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Keyarris Garrett (photo by Tulsa athletics).

The Mustangs will head back to Gerald J. Ford Saturday now needing to win out to become bowl-eligible.

In Saturday’s game at USF, SMU fell to yet another team with a mobile quarterback, the exact type of quarterback that has torched the Mustangs every time they’ve played a dual-threat signal-caller. This week it was Quinton Flowers who finished with a stat line of 9-for-20 and 97 yards in the air, and 201 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

That has been the common theme this year for SMU defensive coordinator Van Malone and his defense: not being able to stop the read option, which is strange, bearing in mind they have two mobile quarterbacks in Matt Davis and Darrel Colbert Jr. to practice against. Also, Davis was running for his life, extending his FBS-leading sack total. Wide receiver Courtland Sutton didn’t really get involved until late in the game, and the running game was only OK.

SMU now has to turn around and get ready for what should be a drizzly, rainy Halloween matchup against Tulsa.

Tulsa comes into the game with a 3-4 record and really needing a win for its bowl hopes. That record is very deceiving with those four losses all coming against very good teams: Oklahoma, East Carolina, Memphis, and Houston (which have a combined record of 24-5).

Tulsa’s offense consists of a massive air raid, averaging 364 passing yards per game, the sixth-highest total in the nation. The Golden Hurricane also averages 34 points a game, which checks in at 36th in the country.

“They take shots down the field,” Malone said, “When you scout their last four games, they’ve taken 42 shots down the field, and 24 of those have been to the outside two receivers.”

It’s not just through the air though. Tulsa also runs the ball very well, averaging 184 yards per game on the ground, which ranks 47th in the country. Luckily for SMU, it isn’t quarterback Dane Evans who does the running for Tulsa, so the worry of a mobile quarterback is out the window. The rushing attack is very spread out, with Zack Langer and D’Angelo Brewer getting the bulk of the carries. Brewer is the more explosive back, averaging around 6 yards per carry, almost doubling Langer’s 3.9 yards per carry. It’s almost like Prescott Line-versus-Xavier Jones, with Line and Langer being the power backs, Jones and Brewer being the change-of-pace backs.

Evans has thrown for 2,548 yards and 15 touchdowns in the air. His favorite target is Keyarris Garrett. The 6-foot-4, 204-pound Garrett has almost 1,000 yards on 59 receptions in just seven games. “He continually stretches defenses,” Malone said, “so you have to find a way to be able to help your cornerbacks to be able to defend him.”

“We really don’t have receivers on our scout team as tall as he is, but what we have to do is we have to do a good job at eliminating him vertically as quickly as we can.”

This should be a very entertaining, scoring-filled game, as Tulsa’s defense also gets torched, week in and week out, giving up about 40 points per game, which should help Morris and his staff boost the confidence of the SMU offense.

The team that can get off the field on third down and get turnovers will win this game. This will be an all-out shootout, weather permitting. Hopefully the rain holds off, because this has a chance to be a very entertaining game.

Nate’s Take: Tulsa 48 SMU 38