SMU struggles
Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 6:48 pm
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20 ... 097/SPORTS
"It has been a tough season for SMU coach June Jones in his first year of directing the Mustangs, but Saturday's 34-27 loss to Tulsa has the former Hawaii coach upbeat.
"We finally played, I think, the most physical we've played, and we played for 60 minutes, which I think is really the first time we've done that," Jones said.
"We gave ourselves a chance to win at the end, and we came up short. I'm disappointed for the players, more than anything else. They're trying their hardest, and that's what we ask them to do, so we've just got to go back to the drawing board and do it one more time."
The Mustangs are 1-6, with the lone victory coming over Division I-AA Texas State on Sept. 6. Jones is hoping his young players come out battle-tested for the future.
"You don't ever become a great player until you go through adversity like that," Jones said of the bad start. "A lot of times, 18-year-old true freshmen don't have to have things happen to them, because they're not playing when they're 18-year-old true freshmen. But those kids will play better."