In a horrific display of bravado that would parallel the game to follow, fireworks during Saturday’s pre-game festivities set the south end of Gerald J. Ford Stadium on fire.
Small fires smoldered beneath the scoreboard, and while the grounds crew wasted little time in stamping out the flames, the charred grass seemed the worst of omens to the 25,000 in attendance.
SMU received the opening kickoff, but three downs netted zero yards and resulted in a 28-yard punt. The Mustangs held defensively and were the first to get on the board when sophomore quarterback Tate Wallis, making his first start, found senior tight end John Hampton open in the end zone.
“I thought it was pretty fitting that [Hampton] got that first catch,” Wallis said. “But it was only one touchdown catch and we needed about six more.”
The next series would prove more difficult for the Mustangs. After three plays, Navy’s offense stalled and was forced to punt. Senior cornerback Jonas Rutledge attempted to pick up the ball but failed. Officials ruled the play a fumble and Navy recovered.
“I was trying to make something happen,” Rutledge said. “That was a mistake on my part. Personally, I thought I didn’t touch it, but that was a mistake.”
Navy’s Eric Roberts converted the turnover into points, punching the ball nine yards into the end zone.
Rutledge, replacing injured senior Chris Cunningham, fumbled the next kickoff. Navy quarterback Craig Candeto capitalized, running for a touchdown and giving Navy a 14-7 edge with 4:18 left in the first quarter.
The Mustangs’ bad luck would only snowball from there.
Navy, under the direction of new head coach Paul Johnson, boasted a new offense that featured an option SMU was not prepared for. Candeto, Navy’s quarterback, ran 15 times for 153 yards and 3 touchdowns, a yard total that surpassed his passing total by 47 yards.
“They’re a very flexible option team and we didn’t line up to that,” SMU coach Phil Bennett said. “That’s my fault. We didn’t give our kids a chance for success and that’s directly my fault.”
SMU turned the ball over five times – 3 fumbles and two interceptions – yet did not force a turnover of its own.
“It’s a game of turnovers,” Bennett said. “If you look at the takeaways and the giveaways, they had five and we had none and that points to the score.”
With a score deficit of 21 points, the Mustangs took to the locker room at halftime while the 1982 Pony Express took to the field.
That season, the Mustangs went 11-0-1 and finished second in the Associated Press top 25 rankings. NFL Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson offered to put on a uniform and help out his alma mater.
The Mustangs’ defense was a bit stingier the second half, but the offense still had difficulty finding the end zone. The Mustangs failed to score while Navy produced ten more points. The final score was 38-7, Navy.
Despite the loss, Bennett was pleased with Wallis’s performance.
“I saw one thing,” Bennett said. “He’s competitive. I think he’s a guy that can get better. The worst scenario happened to us and we had to ask him to do some things that we didn’t want him to do.”
Wallis finished the game 12-31 for 144 yards and a touchdown. He was also intercepted twice.
Junior runningback Keylon Kincade, listed second on the depth chart behind sophomore ShanDerrick Charles, led the Mustangs in rushing with 101 yards on 20 carries. Bullied by Navy’s defense, Charles was limited to 11 carries for 41 yards.
Despite the disappointing score, Bennett blames himself for the loss, not his players.
“Am I pleased? Absolutely not,” he said. “As I told the players, the first person I’m going to look at is myself, and I didn’t do us any justice tonight.”
