Mustangs trampled
Saturday night in Lubbock didn’t go as planned for theMustangs.
SMU suffered a 58-10 loss in front of 44,364 during their seasonopener against Texas Tech.
“Tech is a good team, but we still didn’t play toour potential,” said junior defensive end DonIeremia-Stansbury. The Ponies looked to be competitive on theirfirst drive of the game, marching down the field and picking uppositive yardage on every play. With the help of a passinterference penalty, the Red Raider defense finally held theMustangs on third down from the 25-yard line. Kicker ChrisMcMurtray connected on a 42-yard field goal, putting the Ponies up3-0.
The Red Raiders responded quickly with a field goal of theirown. With 4:12 left on the clock in the first quarter, it would bethe last time the Mustangs would be in control.
The second quarter would not be as kind as the first to theMustangs. Tech running back Taurean Henderson scored threeunanswered touchdowns, putting the Red Raiders up 24-3 athalftime.
The offensive fire from Tech never lost its momentum in thesecond half. On their first drive, receiver Nehemiah Glover ranthrough the Mustang defense and caught a pass in the endzone overthe secondary’s outstretched arms for an 18 yard score.
The lone offensive strike for the Mustangs came at the open ofthe fourth quarter when receiver Matt Rushbrook caught a 9 yardfade pass thrown by quarterback Richard Bartel.
Tech responded with three consecutive touchdowns to finish thegame. Tech head coach Mike Leach seemingly wanting to show that hisoffense, defense, and special teams could score, didn’t letup in the fourth, either. Scoring came from all angles.Offensively, Symons would throw a 9-yard touchdown, trailed byspecial teams with Wes Welker’s 50-yard punt return andcapped off with an interception returned for a score by defensivelineman Adell Duckett.
SMU quarterback Richard Bartel finished the game 21 of 44 for atotal of 195 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.
Many Mustang faithful made the road trip to Lubbock, and, whiledisappointed by the game’s outcome, stood and cheered insupport of their team.
“We’re keeping our heads high though, and lookingforward to Baylor,” Ieremia-Stansbury said.
The Mustangs will attempt to win their first game of the seasonwhen they face Baylor in Waco, Texas on Sept. 13.
