Corey Slater will start his second game of the season this Saturday. (Christina Parrish)

When the season started the game against Marshall looked to be a revenge game, now the Mustangs are just trying to keep their team together.

Last week the Mustangs played without starting quarterback Justin Willis due to suspension. But that wasn’t the only loss SMU suffered in El Paso. Defensive ends Justin Rogers and Cory Muse both left the game early due to injuries. But DeMyron Martin returned to a game for the first time since leaving during the first half of the North Texas game.

This week the Mustangs will have another changed lineup. Willis will be on the sidelines, but it will be sophomore, junior college transfer Corey Slater who will start his second game of the season. Muse suffered a bone bruise in his right knee and will not play against the Thundering Herd. Rogers received good news from his MRI on Wednesday, but is not expected to play on Saturday. Martin, who returned last week, might be out again with a sore hamstring.

Even with the changes the Mustangs must be focused against a Marshall team that has a bad record while playing a hard schedule. SMU can’t look at the record, but the team.

The Mustangs’ offense took a half to get going, and it was just too little too late. SMU only achieved one first half first down and entered the break down 17-0.

But in the second half things started to click for the Mustangs. On their second and third possessions of the second half the Mustangs found the end zone. SMU has to get things started earlier if they hope to have a chance against Marshall.

Slater finished the game completing half of his 20 attempts for two touchdowns, but Slater also threw three interceptions. With a weeks worth of practicing with the first team offense for the first time this season it should not take as long for Slater and the offense to click this Saturday.

The Mustangs’ defense that held UTEP to only seven second half points will have a different look without their two starting defensive ends. But this might not be as big of a problem as it sounds. The Mustang defense that held strong in the second half played without Rogers and Muse, but Adrian Haywood will need to have a strong game to cover for two strong points of SMU’s defense.

The Mustangs have played most of the season without DeMyron Martin, but this will be the first game without Willis and Martin not playing. It has been a different running back stepping up for the Mustangs in each game that Martin has missed. They will need to do it again to balance the running and the passing game to keep pressure off Slater.

Once again the Mustangs were unable to succeed on third downs, but last week was a new low. SMU went 0-11 against UTEP, bringing the Mustangs’ season percentage to 36 percent on the season.

Turnovers continue to work in the Mustangs’ favor, with the exception of the three interceptions last week SMU has been successful in holding onto the football.

But the real key for the Mustangs is to block out all of the distractions and focus on the game and Marshall.

Adrian Haywood will have to anchor the defensive line with the injuries to Cory Muse and Justin Rogers. (Christina Parrish)