The Mustangs are coming off their first win of the season and if they hope to keep the interest of the fans, they need to have another impressive showing, and that all starts with Justin Willis.

Willis went an impressive 18 of 19 passing for 248 yards and five touchdowns. Willis also accounted for the sixth Mustang touchdown on a two-yard run. Willis was able to complete passes against North Texas, going 15-19, but wasn’t able to accumulate the yards he did against Sam Houston State, only throwing for 112-yards.

SMU has spread the ball out completing passes to 10 different receivers, and five different receivers have caught at least one touchdown pass. The Mustangs utilized their tight ends last week against the Bearkats, something they hadn’t done in the first two games.

Coming into the match against SHSU tight end Ryan Kennedy had only caught one pass for two yards. Kennedy caught three passes against SHSU for 26 yards and a touchdown, and sophomore Vincent Chase caught one pass for nine yards in the North Texas game.

The receiving stand-out for the year so far has to be sophomore Columbus Givens.

Givens has caught five passes for 114 yards and is the only receiver on the team with two touchdown receptions, including the first touchdown of the season for SMU. Senior Bobby Chase has also accumulated over 100 yards receiving with 109, but has yet to reach the end zone.

And the position that was supposed to be a strength for the Mustangs has turned into one big question mark, running back. With an impressive freshman year, SMU was expecting great things from DeMyron Martin in his sophomore year. But Martin left the North Texas game in the first quarter with a dislocated bone in his foot. Martin could be back as soon as Oct. 7 when the Mustangs take on UTEP in El Paso. As for now Martin’s replacement in the Sam Houston game, senior Johnnie Fitzgerald, left that game in the first quarter also. It was a high ankle sprain that took Fitzgerald out. Fitzgerald is questionable for Saturday’s match-up with Arkansas State.

Red-shirt freshman James Mapps has the most carries at the running back position next to Martin, but it is junior Fred Turner who has the yardage. With the help of a 72-yard break away run Turner now leads the team with 104 yards on only nine carries. Senior Cedrick Dorsey is also an option for the Mustangs, but he has only six yards on two attempts.

The Mustangs’ defense held up to its billing last week dominating the Bearkats early. Sam Houston couldn’t do anything right on offense in the first half, turning the ball over, failing on fourth down conversions, and missing long field goals.

Junior Reggie Carrington spent a lot of time in the backfield for the Mustangs against SHSU picking up the first two sacks of his career, Brandon Bonds and Patrick Handy also recorded sacks against the Bearkats. In order to have a successful defense the Mustangs must keep the pressure on the quarterback. The Mustangs were not able to rattle the North Texas quarterbacks and their play showed it. If the Mustangs can confuse and pressure either of Arkansas State’s quarterbacks it will be hard for the Indians to put points on the board.

The Mustangs were also able to force the ball out of SHSU’s hands. Creating a fumble and intercepting two passes. The SMU offense only turned the ball over once giving the Mustangs a 3-1 turnover advantage. The Mustangs were only able to force two turnovers in their two losses while giving the ball away four times.

Third down conversions have also improved for the Mustangs. After a pitiful 3-13 against Texas Tech and 6-16 against North Texas, SMU was able to improve that number to 4-9 against Sam Houston. The Mustangs are still below 50 percent on the season. If SMU can control the ball by both converting on third downs and not turning the ball over, the Mustangs increase their chances of separating themselves from their opponents.

SMU has to be able to stick to fundamentals. If the Mustangs can hold on to the football, convert on third downs, and have another solid performance from Justin Willis, SMU could leave Ford Stadium Saturday night 2-2.

Mustangs must dominate again (Christina Parrish)

Mustangs must dominate again (Christina Parrish)