KELVIN BEACHUM, JR.: Planning to play

[PonyPride]

SMU left tackle Kelvin Beachum, Jr., has a long list of responsibilities, many of which can be boiled down to either keeping defensive players away from the quarterback and opening up lanes for the running game. Sometimes, he'll flatten a defender with a "pancake" block.

Given those parameters of his job description, Beachum spent more time on the ground in Saturday's 42-0 rout of Memphis than normal. Yes, offensive linemen end up on the ground in pileups all the time, but Beachum's extra time on the turf was caused by a pair of injuries.

The first was only a brief interruption. After one of Beachum's aforementioned pancake blocks, a frustrated Memphis defender threw a punch at Beachum's groin. The punch missed its intended target, and Beachum quickly shook it off and returned to the lineup (the Memphis player was ejected from the game).

The second injury came in the second half when Beachum sprained an ankle.

"I just planted on it wrong, when I was going back to finish off a block," Beachum said. "There was some swelling — quite a bit — but it has mostly (gone) down already."

SMU head coach June Jones said that Beachum could have returned to the game if the Mustangs needed him to. With the outcome of the game already far out of reach, Beachum was replaced in the lineup by sophomore Ben Gottschalk.

Beachum sat out Tuesday's practice, wearing a protective boot on his foot and ankle, watching his teammates go through drills and getting in light work on the stationary bike on the side of the field.

Beachum has started in all 43 games since the beginning of his freshman year, and said in no uncertain terms that he has no desire to see that streak end when the Mustangs travel to Fort Worth to face cross-town rival TCU.

"I want to start — I'm going to start," he said. "I had high ankle sprains — both ankles — during the last two years, but (SMU trainers) Mike (Morton) and Josh (Stevens) ... the do a wonderful job keeping me healthy."

Beachum denied that any extra intensity of a rivalry game has added to his desire to suit up Saturday against the Horned Frogs.

"It's the next team on our schedule," he said of TCU. "That's it. We want to beat them, of course, but they're the next team on our schedule.

"It's all about our goals for the season: winning the conference championship, going to a bowl game and winning that bowl game."

In recent years, the Horned Frogs have had strong defenses that included marquee defensive ends who were in the conversations of the top players in the nation at their position. Two years ago, it was Jerry Hughes; in 2010, it was Wayne Daniels. This year, Jones said, sophomore defensive end Stansly Maponga is following in his predecessors' footsteps. Beachum sounds equally impressed.

"He has the speed to get around the corner, and has the power to get up into you so he can get you off balance," Beachum said of Maponga, who spends more time at left defensive end — where he will face J.T. Brooks, although he will flip over on occasion to Beachum's side of the field. "He's got a pretty good combination of both (speed and power), and he has good hands."

Much has been made of the fact that TCU lost about two dozen seniors from last year's team, but Beachum said that any thought that the Frogs are somehow a lesser opponent than in years past is simply inaccurate.

"They're a good team, just like they always are," Beachum said. "Coach (Gary) Patterson does a good job over there — they're a well-coached team. Some of the 'name' players from last year might be gone, but they still have good players. They're going to be a tough challenge Saturday."

[Hoss]

Gottschalk is going to be pretty damn good. But for TCU, we definitely need Beach.

[ponyscott]

I know Beach will play, but hope he can still be effective.

[BleedingRed+Blue]

Beach is ALWAYS effective.

Go Mustangs!

[smupony94]

Good news