AP article on Mustangs and Phil

[Water Pony]

SMU optimistic after breaking record losing-streak

KRISTIE RIEKEN, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, September 29, 2004

(09-29) 15:27 PDT DALLAS (AP) --

Southern Methodist is feeling confident after breaking a 15-game losing streak, but it may be a little early to say the Mustangs have turned things around.

Sure, they looked impressive in a 36-13 victory over San Jose State on Saturday that snapped the nation's second-longest losing streak.

But San Jose State was the one team SMU was expected to beat. The Spartans were picked to finish last in the Western Athletic Conference and the team's only win this season came against I-AA Morgan State.

This week SMU (1-3, 1-0) will get a much bigger test at No. 23 Boise State. The Broncos (4-0, 1-0) have the nation's longest winning streak at 15 in a row and their 21 consecutive wins at home is also tops in the country.

"We are still not where we want to be," SMU athletic director Jim Copeland said. "The next step is to win a game we are not supposed to or to win a close game."

While coach Phil Bennett knows beating San Jose State doesn't mean his team is ready to compete against a WAC power like Boise State, he is encouraged.

"There are a lot of things that we need to improve on," said Bennett, who is 4-24 with the Mustangs. "But I saw some things (against San Jose State) that give me a lot of hope. I've told the players that we are just looking for improvement from week to week."

It's been a while since there's been hope at SMU, a one-time powerhouse that went 11-0-1 in 1982 and won 10 games three times in early 1980s.

But then the NCAA shut down the program for a year for rampant violations and the school voluntarily made it two to clean up the program. Since coming back in 1989, SMU has had just one winning season, going 6-5 in 1997.

Last year the Mustangs were 0-12, and this year hasn't started much better. SMU lost its first three games by a combined score of 130-20.

There are some bright spots.

The Mustangs have three capable quarterbacks. The position has been a revolving door in recent years, after the team lost one quarterback to a rock band, another to an accounting job and a third who quit last year after being benched.

Junior college transfer Tony Eckert got his first start against San Jose State in place of injured starter Chris Phillips. He was 8-of-15 for 91 yards and led the team to touchdowns on its first two possessions.

And even though the team has struggled on offense, averaging 14 points and 298 yards, that's actually an improvement. Last year the Mustangs were ranked last in Division I total offense, with just 260 yards and 11 points a game.

The 36 points in last week's win was the most by an SMU team since a 42-35 win over UTEP in November 2002.

A lot of credit goes to new offensive coordinator Rusty Burns, who helped Cincinnati to a Conference USA championship in 2002 as well as school records for passing yards, total offense and points.

He implemented a spread offense, but was disappointed that no SMU quarterback had thrown a touchdown pass in the first three games.

That changed against San Jose State as Eckert and backup Jerad Romo threw one each.

Foy Munlin, a transfer from Texas Tech, finally got a running game going for SMU. His 116 yards against San Jose State were more than he managed in SMU's other three games combined.

Bennett credits his players' youth as a factor in their ability to bounce back from 22 months without a win.

"Our guys are so young that they always feel like they have a chance," he said. "This has been some tough times, but we've got some eager guys that believe in what we are doing."

Throughout the losing streak, SMU officials stood behind Bennett and they are still convinced he is the man to lead the Mustangs back.

"Our goal is not to win one game," Copeland said. "Our goal is to win a championship. We're still a work in progress, but I know that Coach Bennett is the key to us turning things around."

[Horseshoe]

I assume there's more to the story?

Got a link?

[Water Pony]

"Our goal is not to win one game," Copeland said. "Our goal is to win a championship. We're still a work in progress, but I know that Coach Bennett is the key to us turning things around."

end

[huntnfish]

yeah, and Copeland getting out of town would help as well.