Mustangs Look For First Win Of Season Against UNT

Can the Mustangs get their first win of the season against UNT?

The SMU Mustangs are a team clearly looking to reestablish their football program following a 2014 season where they finished an embarrassing 1-11 record. There is a reason for optimism this season. During week one of this season, the Mustangs seemingly made huge strides in their 56-21 loss to the highly ranked Baylor Bears.

The best thing the Mustangs could have hoped for last week was to just keep the game close. That is exactly what the Mustangs offense did for the first half of the game, trading touchdowns with the powerhouse of the Big 12 Conference. It was the second half when the Mustangs offense slowed to a halt and couldn’t seem to find the end zone again. Meanwhile, the Baylor offense hit its stride, and proceeded to run up the score.

Looking back a bit, the biggest question the Mustangs had entering this season was who would be their starting quarterback.

Matt Davis proved that he was more than capable of running the SMU offense, and maybe even being one of the top quarterbacks in the nation if he can ever get his mistakes under control. Davis completed 69.6 percent of his passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately he also had two interceptions and was sacked three times. Davis managed to finish the night as the Mustangs leading rusher with 24 carries for 115 yards.

Wide receiver, Courtland Sutton, proved to be the go-to guy for Davis when the pressure was on. Sutton finished the game with three receptions for 82 yards and two touchdowns. Xavier Jones also led the team in receptions but only managed to collect 38 yards.

The Mustangs saw some sparks in the running game, besides the previously mentioned yards Davis churned out. Prescott Line proved to be a true bruiser, busting through contested holes with moderate success. In the end, Line only managed to finish the game with nine carries for 24 yards.

The one problem with the Mustangs offense is their failure to make adjustments against the Bears in the second half. When the Bears defense made their adjustments, they shutout the Mustangs for the remainder of the game. The Mustangs will have to correct that problem if they expect to pull off a win against anyone, including North Texas.

Even though the offense sputtered after a strong start, that is far from the biggest problem with the team. The biggest problem the Mustangs had against the Bears was with their defense.

Heading into the game against Baylor, the Mustang defense actually seemed to be the strong part of their team. Boy were we all wrong. The Mustang defense proved to be the polar opposite, allowing 723 yards and eight touchdowns on the day.

Obviously, much of the defensive problems the Mustangs faced against Baylor was just being out-manned by a bigger and deeper team. Facing the Mean Green, the Mustangs should be more equally matched, and then we can see what kind of defense the Mustangs are really working with.

The Mustangs managed to hold the Bears defense scoreless for the entire second quarter. Coaches everywhere now have film to study regarding what went right for SMU that one quarter. They can compare that quarter with what went wrong the other three quarters.

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