SMU/Star-Telegram

[50's PONY]

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Posted on Thu, Aug. 12, 2004



SMU FOOTBALL NOTES
Mustangs have number of reasons to look ahead
By Mercedes Mayer
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

DALLAS - By SMU football coach Phil Bennett's estimation, not five seconds goes by that he doesn't think about the numbers.

Numbers such as 0-12; and 11.2 points per game, worst of the 117 NCAA Division I teams; and 260.7 yards per game, also the lowest.

"Can I accept it? No, I can't, I'm too competitive," Bennett said Wednesday at the team's annual media day. "But it motivates the hell out of me to do better.

"I think there are different types of 0-12 teams," Bennett said. "There are teams that get drilled and can't compete. We weren't that team. I think these kids realize we're not that far away. The margin between victory and defeat is narrow."

That's what Bennett is preaching to his players, who face Texas Tech, TCU and Oklahoma State in the first three weeks of the season.

The players are responding. With eight returning starters on defense and former Cincinnati offensive coordinator Rusty Burns taking over the same position at SMU, the Mustangs are ready to move on.

"People always stress the bad so much," junior center Brad Kieschnick said. "But you've got to look forward. God put eyes in the front of your head, not the back, that's why we look forward, not backwards."

Quarterbacks rotation

The addition of junior-college transfers Tony Eckert and Jerad Romo to the roster has created a three-way competition with Chris Phillips for the starting quarterback job.

Phillips started SMU's last five games in 2003 as a true freshman, completing 35 of 65 passes for 389 yards with two TDs and two interceptions.

Phillips is a mobile left-handed quarterback, as is Romo, who transferred from Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, Calif. Eckert is a right-handed drop-back passer from Tyler Junior College.

Phil Bennett said no timetable has been set to name a starter.

Down and out

Both linebacker Reggie Carrington and right guard Townsend Hargis are out for the season. Carrington was slated as the starting middle linebacker, but he suffered a torn pectoral muscle while lifting weights. Hargis, who started four games last season, has a chronic knee injury, which Phil Bennett said is forcing him to quit football altogether.


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Mercedes Mayer, (817) 390-7760 [email protected]





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[WildHorse]

Why does the Star-Telegram cover SMU better than the Morning News does?