I saw two very surprising developments at SMU’s victory over ECU Saturday night. Two things that turned me into a full believer, two things that should bring Mustang Nation to life.

From my view point in the band I have witnessed my fair share of misery and disappointment. I have seen narrow victories and blow outs. I thought I had seen it all, until Saturday night, I saw something I have not seen in Ford Stadium in my five years of attending SMU.

The first thing I saw was something magical, something I had only dreamed about, something that took the crowd by surprise. In all my time watching SMU football, the defense has always been able to buckle and crumble under pressure. When the heat was on and the other team was bearing down, the SMU defense practically cowered in fear.

Not Saturday night, Saturday night was different. In key moments in the game the defense stepped up in a big way and made plays. From the goal line stand that resulted in a blocked field goal in the fourth quarter, the interception return for a touch down by safety Rock Dennis ending a threatening drive, or the big turnover on downs after an SMU fumble late in the fourth. The defense stepped up.

Watching the game I replayed countless highlights of the defense handing the game over in past games and thought “I have seen this before.” But my past experience was proven wrong.

This is a sign. This was not merely a good turnout by the defense on a given night, far from actually as the defense actually gave up 357 yards of offense to the Pirates, a far from stellar night. But it was the key moments when winners step up and losers crumble, SMU came out a winner, and that is something to believe in.

The other thing I saw stemmed directly from the magic exuding from the defense. A meager fall break crowd of a little over 13,000 in attendance sounds about par for the course at an SMU game, but once again, things were different.

I saw the crowd thriving off the big plays made by the team on the field. People were standing, and not just to leave after half time. People were cheering, the rhythmic pulse of the ‘de-fense’ chant from the home side could be felt from the student section.

Those in attendance saw the magic and started to believe. Magic on the field and in the stands made Saturday night’s win over ECU that much sweeter. I know the slumbering Mustang Nation has been trying to awaken, well now there appear to be a few sparks that could eventually re-light that fire.