Sophomore quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell prepares to throw a pass at a morning practice last spring. The Mustangs will kick off their season against Stephen F. Austin next Saturday, September 5. MICHAEL DANSER/The Daily Campus

For the second time in as many years, the SMU football team ended the season a disappointing 1-11. But, there is a glimmer of hope that SMU can rebound from last year and make it to that elusive bowl game.

“I’m more optimistic being 1-11 than I was when I came here last year,” head coach June Jones said. “I see things changing. I know what needs to be done and I can see it’s getting done.”

Jones is in his second year at SMU and unlike last year, this year’s recruiting class will be his own. Jones announced in early February, the signing of 25 student athletes to National Letters of Intent. Of those 25, eight are three or four-star recruits on Rivals.com, which is equal to the number of such recruits in the 2007 and 2008 years combined.

From the returning class, those of particular importance will be quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and his talented wide receiving corps. In his freshman year, Mitchell was tossed from the frying pan directly into the fire after Justin Willis lost the starting position before the beginning of the year. Mitchell struggled at first, posting almost as many interceptions as touchdown passes during the season. However, his play improved quickly over the season and Jones has no reason to believe that Mitchell cannot succeed in his second year as quarterback.

“Last year, when you go through the tapes, his failures to hit a guy were when he didn’t really know where the guy was going,” Jones said. “When he knew where the guy was going, almost to a tee, he threw a strike. When he knew where a guy was going, he threw some nice balls. And, he knows a lot more now, so he’ll throw it better.”

Emmanuel Sanders and Aldrick Robinson, SMU’s top two receivers and one of the top receiving tandems in the nation, will be the ones to keep opposing defenses on their toes. With the two of them applying pressure to the secondary, it will free up space for receivers such as Cole Beasley and Terrance Wilkerson to make big plays. Sanders can also see the transformations that are occurring on and off the field.

“It’s definitely changing,” he said. “I tell all the media that with coach Jones at the helm, we have a great leader at the top. He knows where to go and he’s taking the program in the right direction. I mean, for a 1-11 team, they say that what doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger. Those 1-11 seasons that we’ve had, it only makes us stronger and more hungry. So right now, we’re very hungry.”

Last year’s defense was SMU’s greatest weakness, surrendering an average of 38.2 points per game, which put even more pressure on Mitchell and the offense. Jones has addressed this issue by recruiting several top-notch defensemen, such as Ryan Clark, a four-star Rivals.com recruit who played at Navarro Junior College and James Scott, a three-star Rivals.com prospect at safety.

Unlike the Western Athletic Conference that Hawaii plays in, Jones believes that Conference USA is much tougher battleground, where no team stands higher than the rest.

“I think this conference is more evenly matched: anybody can beat anybody,” he said. “I felt like, when I was in Hawaii, in the whole conference, there were probably only four teams that had a chance to win the conference. In this conference, if you’re picked last, you got a chance to win it still.”

SMU will start off the season against Stephen F. Austin University and University of Alabama at Birmingham and then the road only gets tougher. In the middle of the season, SMU will face a critical stretch that could very easily build momentum towards a bowl game push or send the season spiraling downwards. After meeting rival TCU in Fort Worth, SMU will play East Carolina, Navy, Houston and Tulsa. ECU, Houston and Tulsa are conference games while Navy is one of the most anticipated games of the season. Following those four games will be Rice University for homecoming and UTEP for Parents’ Weekend.

However, whether or not SMU wins the first game or even if the season falls short of expectations, students and fans can at least rest assured that this team is going in the right direction. Jones has a history of turning around football programs and the players are all behind him. The foundation that has long been missing is now in place to rebuild a championship-caliber team.

“It’s not really about winning. It’s about the journey; it’s about coming together as a group of guys and teaching them how to play together and enjoy the competition,” Jones said. “Being the best when you got to be the best and that’s what it’s about. If you can focus on those things in the locker room and focus on those intangible things that make your team a team, the wins come. And that’s why anybody can win.”