Fifth Straight Win, BCS Talk, Has SMU Rolling
By Rick Atkinson for cusa-fans.com
http://cusa-fans.com/
DALLAS – Dawn broke chilly on the red-hot SMU Mustangs on Tuesday. But 53 degrees won’t begin to cool off this outfit – not after Saturday’s 38-17 drubbing of defending C-USA champion Central Florida. Not after reaching a 5-1 mark for the first time since 1986. Not after a move to a BCS league seems likely.
The Mustangs, 3-0 in conference play, staggered UCF with big plays, a stingy defense and an ever-growing confidence.
“One thing we’re starting to gain is expectancy - expecting to win,” said all-conference offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum, Jr. “It’s more just, ‘How bad are we going to win?’ I think I told somebody before the [UCF] game, ‘Let’s not just win the game, let’s blow the team out.’”
Perhaps no play on Saturday was bigger than Richard Crawford’s 92-yard punt return for a touchdown that punched SMU’s lead to 17-0 in the second quarter.
Crawford fielded the ball on a high bounce near the 10 then spun back to his left for the sideline, where blocks were laid like paving bricks.
“[Leonard] Schick had a big-time block,” said SMU special teams coach Frank Gansz, Jr. “Aaron Davis had a big-time block. Then when [Crawford] was going into the end zone you saw four or five guys going in with him.”
Gansz added, the return was no “fluke.”
“I think some people think it was some kind of a fluke play, but if you look at the film, there were a lot of good things that were going on.”
Beachum certainly liked it. “I went over to [Head] Coach [June] Jones and said, ‘Nice play-call, Coach,’” he said. “’We like those kind of plays.’ We go out just for the [PAT], come back, sit on the sidelines and watch the game.”
Crawford returned three punts against the Knights for 141 yards, including a touchdown wiped out by penalty.
Another blow to UCF was J. J. McDermott’s 72-yard guided-missile TD pass to Der’rikk Thompson in the fourth quarter after the Knights had cut the lead to 14.
The ball hit Thompson in full stride after traveling most of the way before Thompson looked back for it.
McDermott torched the Knights for 358 yards and two touchdowns, earning C-USA Offensive Player of the Week honors. It was his third straight 300-yard performance and the three-game total - 1,064 yards - is a new school record.
Back from injury, SMU wideout Cole Beasley nabbed 10 passes for 134 yards.
Sack Time
Junior defensive tackle Davis, besides helping spring Crawford’s return, got his first sack of the season against the Knights, adding to SMU’s league-leading tally of 18.
“We dropped the ends, and they covered the screen, and I just rushed,” Davis said. “The quarterback had to hold the ball, because the screen was covered. … It was a good team play.”
Davis earned a Hammer Shirt, awarded each week, for the play.
“We have a fun defense,” he said. “We blitz a lot. It opens a lot of things for us on the D-line, with the linebackers.”
Playing behind senior starters Taylor Thompson, Marquis Frazier and others has been a plus, he said. “Those guys are monsters. They wear [opponents] down. When I get a chance to come in, I just give it my best effort to make something happen.”
Said SMU defensive coordinator Tom Mason of the sacks, “We’ve got to keep that going. I wish we had more turnovers, but, yeah, I’m excited where we’re at in rush defense and sacks.”
(SMU’s rush defense is second in C-USA, allowing 89.5 yards per game. The team is still saddled with a minus-9 turnover margin.)
Said Frazier, “Our coach just says, blitz with intensity and that’s what we try to do every play. … If you do that, the sacks are going to come.”
No Break
Things don’t let up for the Mustangs, who travel on Saturday to 5-1 Southern Miss. Near the league’s top in total offense and defense, USM will indeed test SMU.
The Golden Eagles are coming off a bye after having throttled Navy, 63-35, at Annapolis, and they’re 3-and-0 at home.
Coach Jones said on Tuesday that, except for Texas A&M, USM is probably the best team the Mustangs have faced so far.
The Golden Eagles boast the second-ranked offense in C-USA after Houston, averaging 475 yards per game. Senior quarterback Austin Davis has thrown for 1,500 yards already, joining Houston’s Case Keenum, Tulsa’s G.J. Kinne and McDermott as C-USA’s premier passers.
USM running backs Jeremy Hester and Tracy Lampley are small, but “lightning fast,” as Jones put it.
The Golden Eagles are the top rushing team in the conference, averaging 212 yards per game.
Said Frazier, “They’re definitely a good offense, a high-powered offense. Probably one of the best in Conference USA. We’re going to have to watch for the speed they’ve got. We’ll have to really pursue the ball, but stay gap-sound. We’ve got to play fast and play physical.”
Said Davis, “They run that ‘NASCAR,’ I think they call it, that fast-paced offense where they get on the ball quick and come at us fast.”
Beachum expects “a very hostile environment” in Hattiesburg. “They’re having a very good season,” he said, “[and are] pretty consistent as far as being a good team, every single year.”
Can the TCU road experience help SMU this week?
“Luckily, we got the win [at TCU],” Davis said, “but in the fourth quarter, we gave up a lot of points. We really need to learn from that. If we do that, we’ll be fine.”
Said Coach Mason, “I think it’s a confidence thing, more than anything. … The players think they can play with anybody right now. It’s got to be a real positive thing going into these road games.”
A Word From Henry
Henry Kapono, a close friend of June Jones from Honolulu and a professional singer/producer, sang the National Anthem before Saturday’s SMU-UCF game.
Both Jones and Kapono played football for Hawaii, though at different times.
“We became really close as he was coaching at Hawaii,” Kapono said from the sidelines before halftime. “We’ve just become more like soul brothers. There’s a lot of aloha that we share for each other and for the islands.”
“It’s good to be here joining him, and here in Dallas. I have great respect for June, and love. It’s good to see that the people here love him as well.”
SMU’s turnaround reminds Kapono of Jones’ Hawaii exploits, the ones that landed U of H in the 2008 Allstate Sugar Bowl.
“It definitely does,” Kapono said. “[Jones] has a way of putting things together and making it all work.”
If Jones puts it together in Hattiesburg on Saturday, make room for SMU in the Top 25. …… Aloha and out.
Prediction: SMU 24 USM 20 – The Mustangs survive a bruiser. McDermott stays hot and the D makes a late stop.
Notes
*Saturday’s SMU-USM game will be broadcast on CBS College Sports. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Central.
*Crawford’s 92-yard punt return tied the longest in SMU history. Val Joe Walker did the same versus Texas in 1951.
*SMU is 15-4 in its last 19 C-USA games.
*USM is 2-0 all-time vs. SMU, last topping the Mustangs, 28-12, three years ago in Dallas, June Jones’ first year on The Hilltop.
*Beasley found the end zone for the first time this year on Saturday. His 5-yard TD catch in the third quarter gave SMU a 24-3 lead. Beasley’s 8.2 receptions per game leads C-USA.
*SMU’s Zach Line leads the league in rushing and scoring. Crawford is C-USA’s top punt returner.
