SMU Demise, Greatly Exaggerated

[PhirePhilBennett]

Shocking win brings SMU to life

Reports of demise of SMU football greatly exaggerated

The Cowboys upsetting the Eagles in dominant fashion Sunday? Big.

The Longhorns beating the Sooners on Saturday afternoon for the first time in six years? Bigger.

The SMU Mustangs on Saturday night winning a game on the road for the first time in three years, and as 20-point underdogs? Could that be the biggest victory earned by a team from this region in last week's football contests?

There is nothing on the line for SMU football this season like what the Cowboys and Longhorns are chasing. The Mustangs didn't kick off this season with visions of postseason play or championship berths under their helmets.

Their goals, instead, were much more modest and far more meaningful. Credibility. Standing. And quite possibly someone's livelihood.

So what they pulled off under the lights in Birmingham, Ala., just before the final gun sounded Saturday could be more than a miracle. The prayer that Mustangs quarterback Jerad Romo flung into the end zone, and his receiver, Bobby Chase, snatched out of the night sky to beat Alabama-Birmingham, 28-27, could be a sign that one of the most moribund college football programs over the last 20 years can at least see the corner it so desperately needs to turn.

You've heard that before, of course, including just a few weeks ago after the Mustangs handed TCU its only loss thus far this season. The Horned Frogs, who were ranked 22nd then, just returned to the Top 25 on Monday in the 25th spot.

But the Mustangs fell flat on their faces in their ensuing two games, at Texas A&M and against homeless Tulane.

And back in 1997, the Mustangs actually put together a winning campaign, finishing 6-5. But their seniors graduated and the next season was undone by scandal.

So what could make last Saturday any different, especially given it merely raised the Mustangs' record this season to 2-4 with five games to go?

"It kind of makes us feel like we've finally got something on our side," Romo said Monday.

That something would be a little good fortune. Luck, if you prefer.

The football gods have been particularly stingy at doling out much of that to SMU football since the dreaded death penalty was dropped upon the Mustangs. Bad luck seems to have been part of their punishment, too, and maybe rightfully so. Romo, for example, is fourth-year SMU coach Phil Bennett's fifth starting quarterback.

Part of that was just dumb luck. One quarterback left to take a nice job at a big-time accounting firm. Another left to devote time to his rock band. And on and on.

Part of that, however, is the coach's fault. He's struggled at making up his mind. You've heard the adage: If you have two quarterbacks, you don't have one.

Even this year, Bennett wasn't sure if he liked Romo, more of a running quarterback, or Tony Eckert, more of a classic passer, better.

He has little choice now. Eckert suffered a broken collarbone.

"It's definitely a big thing to know that your coaches believe in you, that they're going to keep you in," Romo said. "It gives us a little more sense of style. But I feel for Tony because I had a broken collarbone in junior college and missed a season."

Romo completed 30 of 43 pass attempts in Birmingham for 333 yards and two scores, the 31-yard game-winner being his longest completion.

But luck is supposed to be the residue of design, some sage once said. If true, that's what SMU can hang its hat on coming out of Alabama. The Mustangs are starting to do things right, and on consecutive weekends now.

"They [the coaches] can't make plays for us," Romo said. "They make the calls. It's up to the players to execute. You can't point fingers at the coaches. You've got to be responsible for yourself."

The Mustangs should've beaten Alabama-Birmingham because they played better. The generated more first downs, turned the ball over just once and dominated in time of possession.

And that followed an outing to Marshall in West Virginia that the Mustangs lost in overtime, 16-13. The Mustangs, who led for a spell by 10, didn't necessarily outplay Marshall in every aspect that day, but they very well may have won that game had it not been for a couple of calls by officials, one on a possession question, which were so horrific that the Conference USA office admitted as much the following week in an apology to SMU.

"This season we've always felt we could compete against anyone," said Romo, clearly the leader of his team. "We kind of all talked about the Tulane game and said that [a 31-10 lackluster loss] was unacceptable."

But a win like last Saturday's can bring the team together in a different manner, Romo said. They tasted what was possible.

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