Mustangs lose lead late

The Mustangs took a 10-point lead into halftime after shutting out Houston’s offense in the second quarter. The Cougars quickly turned that around by shutting out the Mustangs in the third quarter and scoring 10 points of their own to tie the game, going into the fourth quarter.

In the second half the Cougars ran away with the game, literally. Two big runs, 77 and 61 yards respectively gave the game to Houston.

Houston racked up 504 yards on the Mustangs’ defense, 357 yards coming on the ground.

“The stats pretty much tell it all, we weren’t able to stop the big plays,” said head coach Phil Bennett, “the first play I could live with, then next two I couldn’t.”

For the first time this season the Mustangs allowed a 200-yard rusher and two players with over 100 yards rushing.

A game filled with bright spots, three sacks and a fumble recovery from Cory Muse, a punt blocked by Randall Goode, 299 passing yards by Justin Willis and recovering from a 14-0 deficit to take a 10-point halftime lead was turned into a game full of “should haves.”

The “should haves” were headlined by the loss of senior defensive tackles Brandon Bonds and Adrian Haywood. Haywood left the game with a shoulder injury, Bonds continued to play after dislocating his kneecap.

“Brandon [Bonds] is my roommate; Brandon bonds is a warrior. He just has a big heart, no one could keep him down,” said Cory Muse, who wasn’t surprised that Bonds played through the injury.

“We had some young guys, Chris Parham, Randy Denman and [Dominic] Pryor come in,” to replace Haywood and relieve Bonds, but “not having Adrian Haywood, our best defensive lineman, hurt,” said Bennett.

The Mustangs were also given a short field after the Muse blocked punt, but in three plays the Mustang offense went backwards and settled for a field goal.

Individual records are dropping weekly on the offensive side of the ball. Willis has now thrown for 23 touchdown passes this year, breaking the record of 21 that was set in 1968.

Emmanuel Sanders’ two touchdown receptions gave him nine on the year, and moves him past Jerry LeVias into second place.

This game placed a spot in the conference championship game out of reach for the Mustangs, and made a bowl appearance a much tougher task.

The Mustangs still feel they have a chance. “We’re still going to get to a bowl, I have no doubt about that,” said Willis, and Bennett said “there’s still a lot to play for.”

That must begin with a win against Tulsa this Saturday.

Mustangs lose lead late