Gerry Fraley Column in DMN

[Peruna_Ate_My_Rolex]

UNIVERSITY PARK – SMU's regrouping football program took a significant step forward Saturday night.

The Mustangs played well enough in defeat to force Texas Tech coach Mike Leach to try a classless move, even by his standards.

With Tech leading, 27-13, and less than 30 seconds remaining, the self-centered Leach tried to salvage his wounded pride. He had the first-team offense throw three more passes in an attempt to get a needless touchdown.

Keeping with the game's tone, SMU stopped all three throws. Mustangs coach Phil Bennett angrily tossed aside his headset and confronted Leach at the end. That brought both teams to a scuffle in the middle of the Ford Stadium field.

"I didn't want my kids leaving that field with that feeling," Bennett said of his response to Leach's play-calling.

That Leach felt the need to run up the score on a team that went winless last season says something about him and SMU.

This probably was Tech's only chance to insult an opponent this season.

SMU is making progress.

Leach made another telling statement two minutes into the third quarter. He took a timeout with Tech's defense on the field.

No team felt the need to take a timeout to solve SMU's offense last season.

Few teams felt threatened by the Mustangs at any point of the second half.

On this night, Tech did. SMU pushed the Red Raiders.

Halfway through the third quarter, the score was tied at 6. Tech was not safe until it scored with 7:25 remaining.

The cold reality is SMU has a 13-game skid and two more difficult nonconference games ahead: at TCU next Saturday and at Oklahoma State the following week. The Mustangs need more than a moral victory.

That said, this game offered the first significant public sign of progress during the Bennett era.

"You can't see it, but I know we're on a path to get to where we need to be," Bennett said. "We might have taken some steps, but I'm not willing to get on a table and say it. ... I do like the chemistry of this team."

SMU had lost the first two openers under Bennett by a total of 79 points. Tech buried SMU, 58-10, in last season's opener.

Bennett has quietly said better days were coming. He is starting to climb out of the deep hole dug by predecessor Mike Cavan, who left behind minimal talent.

The players are younger – 60 scholarship freshmen and sophomores – and better. How many wins that will translate into this season is uncertain.

The key for SMU's hierarchy is to remain patient and pay attention to the progress.

"I told our president last year that we were predominantly freshmen," Bennett said beforehand. "I guess we're a JV team now. The biggest thing is the people here understand we didn't get to where we are overnight. It's going to take some time to get back."

The offense, brought in by new coordinator Rusty Burns, has more bells and whistles, but that cannot obscure a shortcoming at quarterback.

Sophomore Chris Phillips, making his sixth start, is better suited for the single wing than the three- and four-wide receiver sets Burns used.

Phillips completed four of his first five passes and stopped, going 8-for-23 for the duration. SMU needed more against what was a bad defense last season and may not be much better this year.

The Mustangs would be better served by switching at quarterback to one of the two junior college transfers in house and letting Phillips step back to watch and learn. Tony Eckert strengthened that argument by completing 6-of-9 throws on a fourth-quarter touchdown drive.

The improvement was more dramatic on defense.

Better personnel allowed coordinator Jim Gush to make changes. The new look kept SMU in the game. SMU used five and six defensive backs most of the game. Gush was able to use the blitz with efficiency.

Leach, a self-professed offensive genius, was often checkmated.

No wonder Leach kept throwing into the end zone until the end. His offense was not good at that all game.

That is a tribute to SMU. It was a loss but a sign of progress.

[DFW Raider]

His take is quite different from the AP's story, but that's to be expected from the hometown newspaper.

The sad thing is that both articles make it look like SMU is so feeble that other programs should pity them, and that's terrible for the SMU players.

[PerunaPunch]

Actually, Fraley isn't even the SMU beat writer. And I don't know what paper you think you're reading, but there's nothing "hometown" about The Dallas Morning News. Being DFW Raider, you of all people should know that the paper should be called the Austin Morning News. Hell, TDMN gives a ton more ink to the Sand Aggies that they do to Dallas' college team.

[PerunaPunch]

And we don't want your pity or anyone else's. Hell, your seniors barely squeaked a W out over our team comprised largely of freshmen and sophomores.

The only losers last night were the D/FW SMU fans who didn't come out in masse to support their team. Of the crowd, I believe the official count was 41% SMU to 59% visitors. I hope that in the future there are never enough visitor tickets available that the ticket office will allot the seats around the tunnel to visitors.