SMU’s Aldrick Robinson can’t come up with Bo Levi Mitchell’s pass last Friday against Rice. (Stuart Palley)

The June Jones and Bo Levi Mitchell era did not live up to the hype in the season opener.

Now the Mustangs will get their first shot to play in front of a home crowd on Saturday night against the Texas State Bobcats.

The Bobcats come from the Southland Conference, the same conference as Sam Houston State who the Mustangs defeated 45-14 in 2006. That was the SMU team who lost to Rice by just four points, not 29. Texas State is coming of a 21-14 win over Angelo State.

Mitchell got off to a strong start against the Owls, but couldn’t continue past the first quarter. Three interceptions and a fumble took Mitchell out of his rhythm.

Even though he struggled at times Mitchell threw for 244 yards and three touchdowns and completed over 50 percent of his passes.

The key for the Mustangs against Texas State will be keeping ythier momentum for more than one quarter.

The other thing will be defense.

The Owls were able to exploit the SMU defense for 56 points and 466 total offense yards. Even if SMU’s offense can put up points, the defense will have to be able to stop the opponent in order to win.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Ford Stadium.