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Home Cookin’
SMU Looks To Rebound At Home After Second Straight Loss
By Rick Atkinson for cusa-fans.com
http://www.cusa-fans.com/articles/cusa- ... 00609.html

DALLAS – Saturday’s game with East Carolina at Gerald J. Ford Stadium will be the Mustangs’ first in friendly surroundings in over a month. Early Monday morning, work crews were busy sprucing up the joint, checking each seat back for security and scrubbing everything down.

As the makeover outside progressed, coach June Jones and his staff huddled inside with the players, attempting to spruce up the Mustangs after Saturday’s soggy, rain-soaked 39-14 loss at TCU.

Though the Horned Frogs dominated late in Fort Worth, SMU had its chances. The play of the game for Jones was an apparent fumble returned by SMU cornerback Sterling Moore to TCU’s 2-yard line in the third quarter with the Mustangs trailing, 18-7.

After the grass at Amon Carter Stadium grew a full half-inch, the play was reversed.

“All I can say is, how can it be conclusive if it took ten minutes [to reverse]?” Jones asked immediately after the game. “That’s what I want to know. … To have it taken away really was kind of unreal. But that’s life.”

On Monday he spoke more of the play. “Here were are thinking we’re getting our rear ends kicked and the defense picks one up and puts it on the 2-yard-line. To be quite honest, looking at the film, I don’t know how it is reversed.”

“We didn’t play very well in two phases of the game [offense and special teams] … but you’ve got to believe you can still win, and that would have happened had that not been reversed.”

“I was proud of the defense,” Jones said. “They made some plays.” SMU collected three first-half turnovers - two fumbles and an interception.

Another killer for the Mustangs occurred later in the third quarter after Marquis Frazier’s huge sack forced the Frogs to punt from midfield. SMU’s defense had not yet finished receiving congratulations on the bench as TCU’s punt sailed down through the rain toward Emmanuel Sanders standing near his own 20.

With TCU players surrounding him, Sanders called for the fair catch but the ball slipped through his hands. The Frogs recovered and four plays later led, 25-7.

An angry Sanders caught three passes on SMU’s ensuing 62-yard drive, including the four-yard touchdown that drew the Mustangs back to within eleven points.

“After that [punt] it was like I was blacked-out mad,” Sanders said. “I wish I could play like that all the time. That’s how mad I was. I’m going to try to bring that intensity to all the games.”

“That punt hurt me real bad,” he said. “I felt like that was a game-changer. I feel like I lost this game.”

“As the days go by, I can’t let that affect me. I’ve just get back out here. At practice I’ve got to focus more on punts, do a better job with distractions. When I’m at practice, the punts are easy. But I’m not used to bodies around me, having to dodge people to get to the punts.”

“I was thinking about letting it go,” Sanders said of his fair catch decision. “But then I’m thinking field position versus their defense. … The rain was coming down and I didn’t have on my [eye] shield, and so the rain was kind of hitting me in the eyes. It was a whole bunch of things that caused it, but at the end of the day I’ve got to catch the ball.”

Sanders had eight catches for 74 yards, extending his SMU record for career receiving yards to 2,918.


Shawnbrey McNeal scores in the second quarter at TCU

Special Teams ‘Disparity’

TCU ran wild on punt and kickoff returns all night. Jeremy Kerley’s 71-yard punt return in the second quarter gave the Frogs the lead for good, 12-7.

“They have great athletes, that’s the biggest deal,” Jones said. “A big disparity. They have a great 85 guys that can run, guys that they’ve designed to play. And they play a lot of their starters on special teams too, which we’re going to have to look at doing.”

As he did at Washington State two weeks ago, SMU quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell tossed interceptions in the game’s later stages.

Mitchell’s first pick, with SMU trailing, 18-7, was perfectly thrown to a TCU defender.

Said Jones, “I asked him and he said he was trying to throw it over [the defender’s] head. He was wearing a glove and he said it slipped out of his hand. I don’t know. We probably need to look at that. I’m sure that happened because it was obviously not a throw that he wanted to make.”

Mitchell finished 17-38 for 240 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Jones doesn’t think fatigue is causing Mitchell to fade. “I’ve never heard of a quarterback getting fatigued,” Jones said. “We didn’t help him very much. The first ten plays, we didn’t block anybody. We needed to play a good game and we needed to know where their pass rusher was and we didn’t do those things. We didn’t do what we said we were going to do before the game.”
“Because of the energy of the game - it was a big game, an exciting game - everybody forgot what they were doing. … There’ll be another game like that here and if you want to win you can’t do that.”


June Jones and Bo Levi Mitchell at TCU

Bell Done

Derrius Bell, SMU’s hard-hitting safety, was knocked out Saturday for the second time this season and is likely done for the year. “I’m afraid that’s the best thing for him,” Jones said. “Probably not the best for us, but in his best interest.”

A disappointed Bell said he still has headaches and is dizzy. He’s also been told he’s probably got some swelling around the brain.

“That’s a scary deal,” Jones said. “Especially with all the knowledge that’s been coming in the last five to ten years on concussions. He’s had two serious concussions and that’s not a very exciting thing to have happen to you.”

Jones said treatment of head injuries has changed dramatically for the better in recent years. “Thirty years ago,” he said, “when I was playing, you just went back in the game right after it happened, as soon as you knew what down it was.”

“Those days were different. That’s probably why I’m screwed up,” Jones said.

SMU linebacker Chase Kennemer continued his stellar year with 18 tackles at TCU, including several stone-cold hits. Kennemer is the third leading tackler in C-USA with 41 stops, 25 solo. He’s averaging 10.2 tackles per game.

“Chase Kennemer is a football player,” Jones said. “He was everywhere. He just gets it. … He studies the game. He’s in there like a coach in the office every day, on his own time, studying what the opponent is doing.”

“I made a couple of hits,” Kennemer said, “but [linebacker] Ja’Gared Davis, at the very end there, I think he made one of the biggest hits. And then Derrius, obviously, when he got knocked out.”

“That gets everyone fired up and that’s what we try and do. You’ve got to get the energy on the sideline to get everyone involved in the game.”


Chase Kennemer, second from left, is C-USA's third leading tackler.

Pirates Up Next

ECU (2-0 C-USA, 3-2) pulled out a 21-17 win at Marshall last week on the strength of senior quarterback Patrick Pinkney’s 30-yard game-winning touchdown run with under four minutes left. It was his only rushing attempt on the day.

Pinkney (6-0, 205) led the Pirates to the C-USA title last year.

“We’re going to have to play like we’ve been playing,” Jones said. “Take the ball away, knock the ball out, create some things. They’re going to make some plays. They’ve got some talented players. Offensively, we have to get on track and be productive.”

At Marshall, ECU was led by Dwayne Harris (6-0, 205) with 6 catches for 57 yards and Dominique Lindsay (5-10, 202) with 76 yards rushing on 18 carries.

The Pirates’ other league win came at home, a 19-14 decision over Central Florida.

ECU ranks fourth in C-USA in total defense (366 ypg) and last in total offense (298.6 ypg).

Jones said SMU’s goal of winning six games is still well on track. Can too much emphasis on needing four wins over the last eight weeks hurt the team’s sense of urgency? “I don’t think so,” Jones said. “We need to win our home games now. We’ve got two in a row and we can win those two. And those two wins, if you get them, will lead to stealing one or two on the road, hopefully.”

“We’re disappointed we’re not 3-1, certainly, and even right up until the play was reversed [at TCU,] you’ve got a chance to even win the fourth game, as crazy as that sounds.”

“We’re 1-0 in conference, believe it or not,” Jones said. “You don’t feel like that after playing a game like that [at TCU], but we are.”

The prediction: SMU 31 ECU 20 – It’s good to be home. And what a difference the letter “E” makes.

Notes:
*SMU leads C-USA in interceptions (12 in 4 games); ECU is second (8 in 5 games). The Mustangs also lead the conference in time of possession (32:37)
*SMU’s helmet reward stickers this year feature the Hawaiian warrior helmet and crossed spears. “That logo epitomizes that we come together as one,” Jones said. “And we do battle together.”
*Redshirt freshman Robert Mohica had his second career interception at TCU.
*Safety Chris Banjo, kicked in calf at TCU, should play Saturday, Jones said. Banjo had his first career fumble recovery this week.

[mr. pony]

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[ALEX LIFESON]

Great shots mr pony, that is a terrific looking uniform! In the crowd shot, I spotted BIGHORSE waving pom poms, I mean his flag.