Last Friday, hundreds of people either traveled to Houston or packed the quad in front of Dallas Hall to witness the birth of a new era for SMU football. The campus announced that the “Run and Shoot was Locked and Loaded,” and we all wanted to witness the beginning of the June Era.

With a new quarterback fresh out of high school, the hopes from the past two decades fell squarely upon the young shoulders of June’s gun slinging run ‘n shoot offense. Despite fielding one of the youngest team in the NCAA, SMU fans hoped that on the first day of the new season, the Mustangs could capture as many wins as last year’s full campaign.

Unfortunately, we all witnessed the inevitable growing pains that accompany every young team, and especially those that come with having a freshman quarterback. The team showed its youth, and the first win for the June era was postponed for at least another week.

However, despite all of the doom and gloom that the scoreboard and stat columns might suggest, the football team still showed signs of the progress that we all hoped would come.

The spread offense performed brilliantly for the first few drives by scoring easily and putting the Mustangs up 13-0. Although young, SMU posted over 300 yards of passing and scored four touchdowns during the game.

The defense showed that although there are still areas that need improvement, they could contain one of the most dynamic duos in the NCAA. The defense accomplished this by constantly pressuring quarterback Chase Clement and stopping numerous plays behind the line of scrimmage. The defense also forced two fumbles, and although they could not maintain possession, SMU defensive backs were in prime position to intercept Clement three times.

I know – you’re all thinking about the massive 56 on the scoreboard. But if you take out the interception returned for a touchdown, and the interception that was returned to about the half yard line, then the score becomes more respectable. If you take away the two SMU fumbles that resulted in short fields, then you get a defense that performed relatively decent for the amount of youth and inexperience that they have on the team.

I will be the first to admit that SMU did not perform up to the standards of past SMU’s greatness or those of June Jones. However, do not forget that June Jones has seen this all before.

For those of you who don’t know, in Jones’ first year at Hawaii, he was coaching a team that had lost its last 18 games in a row. In its first game, the USC Trojans dominated Hawaii. Instead of letting his team dwell on that devastating loss, Jones did something that nobody expected.

Jones led Hawaii to a win the very next week, and later captured an astounding ninth win over an Oregon State team that had just beat USC. With only one season, June Jones created what could be considered the most dramatic turnaround in the recent history of the NCAA.

Now I cannot predict that we are going to take C-USA by storm this year or that we will even make it to a bowl game. I can promise you that SMU will begin to win. The Mustang’s struggles are not new for June Jones, and you can start to see the foundation he is creating for his players. You can see it in the eyes of the players, and soon you will be able to see it on the field. June Jones is slowly making this team believe that it can win again.

This Saturday marks the first home game of the year, and the first time that Dallas will witness the new system. As we try to “white out” the Bobcats from Texas State, we will have the privilege to see what promises to be one of the more prolific offenses in the NCAA. Who knows, we may even be able to say that we saw the first win of a Mustang dynasty.

SMU fans have a unique opportunity this season. We can be the fans that packed the stadium for the first time in years. We can be the fans that showed Dallas how to believe in a college football team again. We can be the fans that were there when it all began. June has cometh, and it is now time for us to embrace the new era with our full support, even though it may take more patience than we first anticipated.