Next Stop: Cowtown - cusa-fans.com

[mr. pony]

Next Stop: Cowtown
SMU Prepares For Iron Skillet Battle With No. 11 TCU
By Rick Atkinson for cusa-fans.com

DALLAS – With Clint Black, Alan Jackson and David Allan Coe tunes blasting from the north end zone Monday morning the Mustangs strode onto the field at Ford Stadium to begin preparation for Saturday’s grudge-match with TCU in Fort Worth.

But before practice began in earnest, George Clinton’s Atomic Dog was rocking the house, prompting defensive lineman Chris Parham to “git jiggy wid it” near midfield as teammates gathered around, hooting and hollering.

“I just did a little kick and a little spin,” Parham grinned after practice. “And then I just threw up the hook. I was just having fun out there with my teammates.”

What about the country tunes? “We just change it up a little bit, you know?” Parham laughed.

(hear Atomic Dog, long version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5DrKBNS8so



As for the serious business of facing TCU’s Atomic Frog defense as four-touchdown underdogs, SMU coach June Jones knows what waits out west is a big challenge.

“They’re one of the best [defenses] in the country, if not the best,” he said. “They do a great job with their scheme. They’ve been at it for ten years and they don’t change much. They just get better at what they do.”

How will SMU’s offense prepare? “Well, you hope you throw it to the right color jersey,” Jones said. “That’s what you try to do.”

Dalton Leads

Running the show offensively for the Frogs is junior quarterback Andy Dalton who just led TCU to a 14-10 win at Clemson. Dalton was named Mountain West Conference co-Offensive Player of the Week for his play: 312 yards of offense in the pouring rain, including 86 yards rushing.

Dalton owns a 73-percent completion rate.

“He’s a solid, what-they’re-looking-for kind of guy,” Jones said. “He hasn’t made many mistakes. They’d like to get the ball down field vertically, I know that. They’ll take their shots and, hopefully, we’ll make more plays than they will.”

Said SMU defensive coordinator Tom Mason, “[Dalton’s] a real efficient quarterback and he can beat you both with his arm and with his legs. … He makes things go and he does what he needs to do to win the game for them.”

“In the critical moments of the game [at Clemson,] he catches them in press coverage and throws that touchdown over the top of that [defensive back] down there. He knows where to go with the football and he doesn’t take a lot of chances.”



Though the TCU rivalry isn’t yet in Jones’ bones, that may change soon. “I’ve heard about it,” he said, “but I don’t really feel it like I think some of the kids that have been here feel it. But going over there, you will feel it.”

TCU’s Amon Carter Stadium (capacity 44,000) will be a rocking sea of purple on Saturday as Frog fans celebrate their No. 11 AP ranking, the team’s highest since 1959 when they reached No. 9.

Jones said SMU will not attempt to replicate the noise in practice this week. “We’ll simulate it with our snap counts varying,” he said, “but we’re not going to do anything like that.”

Jones’ favorite rivalry legend? “I kind of liked the story of the band with the grass seed,” he said, alluding to The Mustang Band’s rye-grass sowing of Amon Carter’s field several years back.

Heads Up

Offensive lineman Bryce Tennison said the SMU-TCU game can bring out the best in players. “The fact that it’s a rival pushes everyone to a different level sometimes,” he said.

Tennison made two heads-up plays at Washington State: recovering a fumble and keeping Aldrick Robinson from going to the ground after a catch.

“I think it just shows the passion with which I play the game,” Tennison said. “That’s why in practice I’m always running down the field after the catch.”

What about the Robinson “assist?” “He almost got tackled and he was about to hit the ground, so I picked him up and carried him a couple of yards and threw him up-field. I think he got ten or twelve yards extra out of it.”

“It’s just a little extra stuff,” he said.



Jones said the week off helped some Mustangs get healthy. “Youri [Yenga] is running for the first time and we’ve got some other guys [back.] [Aldrick Robinson] is still limping a little bit, but he feels better,” he said.

Cornerback Derrius Bell, who suffered a concussion at UAB, will play Saturday, Jones said.

Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell has been able to keep food down since Thursday - the first time that’s had happened in two weeks, Jones said. Mitchell has lost 21 pounds.

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Mitchell, not only due to illness but for the severe criticism he’s endured for four late interceptions at Washington State.

“That’s playing the position of quarterback,” Jones said. “You’ve got to deal with all that. I doesn’t matter if it’s mental or physical or both. That’s part of the job. … Everybody’s got to do it if you want to play quarterback in D-I or if you want to play quarterback in the NFL.”

The Pick:
Of course, throw out the stats, the team records and the line for this one.

But I’m guessing TCU coach Gary Patterson still has a fist-sized hole in a wall of his home and it’s about four years old. Just a little reminder of what was lost in 2005 when the Frogs came to Dallas to play lowly SMU after stunning Oklahoma in Norman.

TCU left with a 21-10 black-eye, the Frogs’ only loss that year, and it cost them a BCS berth.

The Frogs don’t look past SMU - ever again – at least not while Patterson wears purple and breathes. Call it “The Hole In The Wall Game”: TCU 34 SMU 21

(Hope I’m wrong – again.)



Notes:
*This the 89th meeting between TCU and SMU, dating back to 1915. The Frogs hold a 42-39-7 series advantage.
*TCU is 3-0 for the third time in seven years.
*Andy Dalton and Bo Levi Mitchell both quarterbacked Katy (Tex.) High. Dalton is two years senior to Mitchell.
*TCU ranks first in the MWC in total defense (245 ypg), rushing defense (68 ypg) and sacks (11); second in scoring defense (15 ppg); and fourth in passing defense (177 ypg).


Liz Chun, sports director for Honolulu CBS affliliate KGMB, interviews June Jones on Monday

[SMU 86]

Thanks Mr. Pony.

[Stallion]

smupony94

Scroll down to Hawaiian reporter's pic-perhaps you ought to take her out while she's in town and throw your Polynesian baby in Kate's face to make her jealous.

[PK]

smupony94

Scroll down to Hawaiian reporter's pic-perhaps you ought to take her out while she's in town and throw your Polynesian baby in Kate's face to make her jealous.

Judging from all the purple she is wearing, she was probably really a TCU under cover spy.

[Deep Purple]

Next Stop: Cowtown
SMU Prepares For Iron Skillet Battle With No. 11 TCU
By Rick Atkinson for cusa-fans.com

Jones’ favorite rivalry legend? “I kind of liked the story of the band with the grass seed,” he said, alluding to The Mustang Band’s rye-grass sewing of Amon Carter’s field several years back.

That was a classic, and TCU fans still applaud it to this day.

The 2007 prank with the herbicide draws no laughs. Destructive is not funny.