The SMU Mustangs will play the Tulsa Golden Hurricane Halloween at 3 p.m. This Family Weekend match-up features two 0-3 teams in the American Athletic Conference.
SMU leads the series 13-8, but lost last season’s road match-up 38-28. The teams have split the last 12 meetings.
Like SMU, Tulsa is led by a first-year head coach, Philip Montgomery, who is the former offensive coordinator at Baylor. He has led the Golden Hurricane to a 3-4 record with wins over Florida Atlantic University, New Mexico and University of Louisiana-Monroe.
The Mustangs are looking to avoid a 1-7 start to the season following last week’s loss to South Florida. Many expected this to be a close contest during preseason predictions, and the game is shaping up to be an offensive showcase.
Previews:
This season has just gone from bad to worse for the Mustangs. After an encouraging 1-2 start that featured close games against top-five opponents Baylor and TCU, a homecoming loss to James Madison University erased the confidence that the team seemed to be building. Since then, SMU has fallen apart.
Prior to the season, the SMU Campus Weekly highlighted North Texas, James Madison, USF, Tulsa and Tulane as serious possibilities for wins. However, the Mustangs have squandered two of those opportunities.
Last week’s beat down in South Florida came as a surprise after such a long layoff, and it made fans question whether the team ever actually improved or if it got lucky at the beginning of the season.
SMU’s defense needs to show up if the Mustangs are going to win another game this season. The team has given up 539.4 offensive yards per game, including 270.4 through the air. This week, the Mustangs will face a Tulsa offense led by quarterback Dane Evans, who is averaging 364 yards passing. Also, if fans thought Courtland Sutton was having a good season, they should look at Keyarris Garrett’s numbers. He is averaging 138 receiving yards per game.
The good news for the Mustangs is that Tulsa doesn’t have much of a defense. The Golden Hurricane enter this weekend with one of the worst defenses in the AAC. Matt Davis is going to have to use his legs and his arm effectively and make use of Sutton to keep SMU in what will likely be
a shootout.
The Mustangs desperately need a win. I will take SMU in an offensive battle as they feed off the energy from a larger Family Weekend crowd, though this may be my last time picking them this season.
PREDICTION: SMU 56 – Tulsa 49
— Brian O’Donnell, SMU CW Sports Editor
SMU laid an egg in South Florida after a bye week and 16 days of rest. I don’t think calling it the Mustangs’ worst performance of the season is a stretch.
SMU had a 12-play, 77-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter, but never clicked offensively the rest of the game. Credit South Florida’s defense for getting consistent push and great play from its defensive backs, but SMU made way too many mistakes on offense and allowed 201 rushing yards to Bulls quarterback Quinton Flowers, the most by an FBS quarterback this season.
The good news about this week’s home tilt against Tulsa is that the Golden Hurricane doesn’t feature a mobile quarterback, or much of a running game at all. Even better, Tulsa gives up 550 yards and 27 first downs per game, worst in the American Athletic Conference.
The bad news is that it possesses a passing game that averages 364 yards per game, the best in the conference. SMU’s struggles against the pass are no secret. Tulsa Head Coach Philip Montgomery brought a lot of Baylor’s passing concepts with him, and that means SMU needs to be ready for a lot of quick throws and run-pass options and needs to make plays in space.
While Tulsa doesn’t have the athletes that Baylor, TCU or even South Florida does, SMU has struggled to take good angles in space and tackle in the open field, or as Head Coach Chad Morris likes to call it, “one-on-one battles.”
I think SMU will have a good game plan defensively, but the Mustangs just won’t be able to get enough stops or force enough turnovers to win.
PREDICTION: Tulsa 52 – SMU 41
— Patrick Engel, SMU CW Sports Columnist
Many SMU fans would like to think SMU is going to beat Tulsa this weekend. The game is at home and it’s Family Weekend, meaning the atmosphere in Ford Stadium is going to be absolutely electric.
However, the Mustangs haven’t proven themselves capable of winning games that look like sure wins on paper, and they don’t have much positive momentum to build on coming off of their loss to USF.
Despite USF quarterback Quinton Flowers’ record-breaking performance, the Mustangs failed to execute, especially through the air.
Quarterback Matt Davis completed less than 40 percent of his passes, threw an interception, and was sacked three times.
On the other hand, Sutton continues to prove his consistency week after week. We can expect him to be the cornerstone of the passing game regardless of who lines up at quarterback.
Ultimately, I believe that the game on Saturday will boil down to consistency. We know that SMU’s young team has the capability of playing at an extremely high level. But, we have also seen it stumble and appear to be incoherent at times during games.
Tulsa comes into the game with a 3-4 record, including some hard-fought losses to Oklahoma, East Carolina, and Memphis. In addition, Tulsa is more than capable of putting points on the board, averaging 34.6 points per game and 548 yards per game.
If Tulsa can put up similar numbers against SMU’s defense, they shouldn’t have much trouble winning, making SMU 1-7 on the year.
PREDICTION: Tulsa 38 – SMU 24
— Breck Spencer, SMU CW Associate Sports Editor
