Mustangs end losing streak, beat SJSU 36-13

Post-game activities on Saturday night proved to be just asexciting as the university’s first football game victory tomany fans.

John Mowad, a second-year pre-med and political science major,celebrated the win with many other excited Mustangs as they stormedthe field of Ford Stadium. “When you haven’t won a gamein such a long time, people are going to rush the field,” hesaid.

Students tore down the goal post at the south end of the fieldand carried the pieces away. Some ran across the field, hoistingthe post up in a victory lap while others handed another piece intothe stands to allow more students to celebrate.

SMU Police Chief Michael Snellgrove said university officialsare currently reviewing all security video from after the game tosee who was involved in taking down the post.

The students’ excitement was curtailed by the presence ofseveral Dallas-area police departments. The SMU Police Department,Highland Park Police Department, University Park Police Department,Dallas-Area Rapid Transit authority and Dallas County Sheriffstried to restrain students as they ran onto the field.

The police officers were prepared for the onslaught of excitedfans, if not so many.

Snellgrove said a decision was made not to allow students totake down the goal posts for safety reasons after the officersheard students chanting “Goal post, GoalPost.” 

Mowad said one Dallas County sheriff tossed him to the groundand “clothes-lined me.”

Other students, who wished not to be identified, said they weresurprised by the number of official event staff and police officerson the field at the end of the game.

Snellgrove said, “We had the same number of officers as wealways have for any game.  The reason it appeared like therewere more is that the officers who work the concourses and evenoutside stadium areas were brought down to the field level at thethree minute point to help deter students from rushing thefield.”

Mowad, a transfer student from Baylor University, said hethought the police officers should have helped the students on thefield.

“At Baylor [the police] are a lot more organized. They letstudents on the field… Whenever we did win a game, they knewwe were gonna rush the field. That’s school spirit,” hesaid.

Garrett Haake was struck in the head with a portion of the goalpost as other students tore it down. Haake received a fracturedskull, and according to a release from the office of publicaffairs, he is in “guarded condition” at a local areahospital.

David Haake, Garrett’s father, said his son is still inintensive care. “He’s improving, and he’s lookingforward to coming back to school. He will be fine in time,”he said.

Jim Caswell, the vice president of student affairs, said he andthe rest of the university continue to be concerned aboutHaake’s health and well-being.

According to the public affairs office and Caswell, universityofficials have learned that incidents such as this are occurringfrequently nationwide. SMU is currently reviewing its post-gamesecurity procedures, and the athletic department is consideringvarious goal post designs, such as hydraulic goal posts, as areplacement for the south goal post.

Snellgrove said the police officers on the field wereoverwhelmed by the number of students, and said the students shouldhave listened to the officers’ instructions to stay off thefield.  “We know everyone was excited aboutwinning.  So was I.  But the decision to keep studentsoff the field was purely a safety precaution,” he said.

Mustangs end losing streak, beat SJSU 36-13

Mustangs end losing streak, beat SJSU 36-13