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[SMU89]

LUBBOCK — It was a game of almosts and what-ifs for Southern Methodist University Sunday.

A day of frustration, chock-full of mistakes and missed opportunities.

With three interceptions, a fumble and just four third-down conversions in 13 tries, there were so many plays that the Mustangs would have liked back. And that they finished just a handful of plays away from spoiling Tommy Tuberville’s Texas Tech debut made the Mustangs’ 35-27 loss all the more agonizing for the team’s players and coaches.

“It’s frustrating because I was disappointed how we played offensively,” third-year SMU coach June Jones said. “We didn’t play very well on offense, and that’s frustrating because I kind of thought that we would pick right up where we left off.”

SMU never led. And the Mustangs trailed by as many 21 points in the third quarter.

But Jones’ team made enough plays on both sides of the ball to be in positions it wanted to be. They just didn’t convert enough of those opportunities to win in a hostile environment.

Despite gaining just 140 first-half yards, the Mustangs trailed just 14-7 with two minutes left in the first half. And despite falling behind 28-7 and 35-14 in the third quarter, SMU found itself driving in the final minutes with a chance to tie the game.

But in the end, the Mustangs didn’t quite have what it took to pull out a big road win, and they had their own miscues to blame.

“You can’t win when you do that,” SMU quarterback Kyle Padron said of his three interceptions. “It sucks, but you can’t do that. I put my team in bad situations, and I feel bad for it, but I’m going to learn from it.”

Padron, who threw just four interceptions all year in 2009, finished the game completing 21 of 38 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns. But his three interceptions led to 21 Texas Tech points on drives of 18, 51 and 40 yards.

And though the SMU defense limited Tech’s spread offense to 431 yards and just two second half scores, many of the Mustangs’ biggest plays were quickly offset with miscues, shifting momentum back in Tech’s favor.

Tech scored its first touchdown off a fumble on a punt return, scored its second off Padron’s first interception, and drove 80 yards in 1:23 to take a 21-7 lead with just six seconds left in the third quarter.

And in the second half, SMU saw a pair of promising drives end with field goals instead of touchdowns and its final drive end at midfield on a fourth-down sack.

But despite a disappointing outcome, there were enough promising moments Sunday to keep Jones and his players excited about the team’s future.

And that started with a defense that gave its offense every opportunity to pull off an upset in Lubbock.

“No one’s happy with the final score, but I really do think that our defense did some good things,” said former Wylie standout Cameron Rogers, who had two tackles from his reserve linebacker position. “With this being Tuberville’s first year as the head coach, we really didn’t know what to expect, but I think our defense did a great job of adjusting to what they did and then playing it out and getting some good stops.”

Padron just wished he could have done more with the chances his defense gave him.

“Texas Tech really only scored 14 points,” Padron said “Those three interceptions really put our defense in a bad spot.

“But our defense played lights out. You couldn’t ask for anything better.”

© 2010 Abilene Reporter-News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Charleston Pony]

and that about sums it up; offense (Padron in particular) played poorly...especially in the 1st half, but the D was pretty stout until they got gassed and our lack of depth started to show.

This offense requires the QB to hit guys in stride and that happened far too infrequently yesterday.

Better days are ahead