Game write-up on SMUMustangs.com

[PonySnob]

Game summary for the Texas State Game;
Sept. 6, 2008




DALLAS, Texas (AP) - Bo Levi Mitchell threw five touchdown passes and SMU beat Texas State 47-36 on Saturday night, ending an 11-game losing streak and making coach June Jones a winner in his first home game.
Jones is the first SMU coach to win a home opener since Bobby Collins in 1982, before the death penalty shut things down for two years, sending the once-proud program of Doak Walker, Don Meredith and Eric Dickerson into a permanent tailspin. After going 1-11 last season, Mustangs backers ponied up about $10 million to lure Jones from Hawaii, where he'd righted a similarly lost program.

Offense is Jones' specialty, and his touch was evident from the start, with Mitchell and Emmanuel Sanders hooking up for touchdown passes of 21, 8 and 35 yards in the first half alone. Aldrick Robinson also had a 32-yarder mixed in as SMU went up 30-6 in the second quarter.

But Texas State, of the Championship Subdivision, scored with 2 seconds left in the half and kept inching closer. The Bobcats (1-1) cut it to 40-29 in the fourth quarter on Cameron Luke's third touchdown catch.

Then it was Mitchell's turn again. Facing third-and-9 from his 29, the true freshman hit Sanders for 24 yards, then hit Robinson in the end zone from the 34.

Texas State scored again with 2:41 left, but Sanders snagged an onside kick attempt. The Mustangs drove just shy of the goal line but opted to take a knee rather than trying to crack 50 points. It was SMU's first win since Sept. 8, 2007, against NORTH Texas.

Mitchell was 24-of-37 for 370 yards. Robinson had 172 yards receiving and Sanders had 138, each with eight receptions.

Texas State's Clint Toon was 19-of-27 for 225 yards and four touchdowns. Luke caught six passes for 121 yards.

The Jones era - hyped locally as "June Cometh" - opened with a 29-point loss at Rice. That downer, plus the unimpressive foe, drew a paltry crowd, many of them arriving late and many others leaving early.

Those who stuck around saw a team that at times looked a lot like the same old, same old - wasting turnovers (Texas State had five on its first seven drives; SMU scored off only two); the touchdown allowed just before halftime and a shaky third quarter that gave the inferior foe hope for a winning rally.

Next up is a big test: on the road against Texas Tech and that prolific offense.

[ponyboy]

I wouldn't have used the term "permanent tailspin." But that's just me. And what's up with the last two or three paragraphs? Talk about switching voice.

[Come and Take It]

...before the death penalty shut things down for two years, sending the once-proud program of ... Eric Dickerson into a permanent tailspin.

Oxymoron?