Denton disaster (Football photos by Nick McCarthy, The Daily Campus)
Embarrassed, shocked, disappointed, stunned and disgusted is how Mustang fans left Denton on Saturday. The 24-6 loss ranks as one of the worst displays of Mustang football; joining the 1986 application of the death penalty, losing to a 0-10 TCU in 1997, losing a chance at a possible bowl bid, losing to Houston 95-21 in 1989 and going 0-12 in 2003.
A season that began with hope and talks of a bowl game has been reduced to guessing the job security of Head Coach Phil Bennett. Bennett shows no concern about his job stating that “[he’s] got this team.” It will be up to the next ten games to determine if he is right.
The game had an ominous beginning when the Mustangs ran into similar problems they faced against Texas Tech. A big completion was called back due to a penalty. The Mustangs couldn’t convert on a third down. And if punting on the first drive after gaining little yardage wasn’t bad enough, the punt was blocked in the end zone resulting in a Mean Green touchdown. And just one minute and thirty seconds into the game the Mustangs were down 7-0 and they failed to recover.
Once again the Mustangs were unable to convert on third downs, and had way too many of them. SMU was 6 of 16 for the game on third down conversions. And were 0-1 on fourth down conversions. The Mustangs were either trapped in third and long situations, or unable to create room for a short run.
But the real Achilles Heel for the Mustang offense has been penalties. In the first week it was repetitive illegal procedure calls and holding, this past Saturday it was on a whole new level.
The Mustangs were hit with eight penalties for 77 yards. And they came at crucial points in the game. The most notable being a15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against junior Cedric Dorsey after a 63-yard kickoff return by sophomore Jessie Henderson. The penalty moved the Mustangs from the North Texas 27 to the North Texas 42 and SMU was unable to get any points out of the return. At that point the Mustangs were only down 14-6 and could have changed the course of the rest of the game. The Mustangs were also hit with three penalties for 36-yards in the fourth quarter, and according to Bennett there were, “way too many penalties, senseless penalties, and that’s a reflection on all of us. We’ve got to do a better job of that.” Penalties will be crucial on Saturday against Sam Houston State.
Justin Willis looked more comfortable leading the offense Saturday than the previous weekend. Against Tech it appeared that Willis’ first instinct, when under pressure, was to scramble, but against North Texas he stayed in the pocket and looked to his receivers. Willis completed 15 of his 19 pass attempts including his first collegiate touchdown pass. On the receiving end of that pass was sophomore wide receiver Columbus Givens, who caught it for his first collegiate touchdown reception. But Willis still isn’t satisfied, “we’re better than that, we have to step up,” said Willis, “We had our chances and didn’t convert.” Willis also noted issues with the play calling during the game, “we had shots we should have taken, but we didn’t.”
Once again the Mustang defense looked strong, but gave up the big play at the worst time. After holding the Mean Green to only 101 total offense yards in the first half, and not giving up any points, the defense collapsed on a crucial play. On a first down play, Mean Green quarterback Woody Wilson scrambled on a 33-yard scamper into the end zone giving UNT a 14-6 lead. The other North Texas touchdown occurred after a fumble by Bobby Chase.
The Mustangs are making mistakes they can’t afford to make. Changes have to be made before this weekends’ game against Sam Houston State.
