The marquee win SMU fans have been waiting for has arrived. The SMU Mustangs beat the No. 22 ranked TCU Horned Frogs 21-10 Saturday night at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. The Mustang’s win is the first against a ranked opponent since before the NCAA dealt the death penalty to SMU in 1986. That last win, against then ranked No. 13 Baylor, was before some SMU students were even born.
The difference for SMU was the performances of first-time starters Jerad Romo and DeMyron Martin. Martin was good for all three of the Mustangs touchdowns, and Romo contributed 48 rushing yards as well as completing 11 of 21 passing attempts for 101 yards.
The first five minutes of the game were fairly slow with SMU punting on the sixth play of a 19-yard drive and TCU returning the favor to end a five-play, 23-yard drive. TCU was later able to force a fumble off a pass from Jerad Romo to Chris Foster, but the Mustang offense was back on the field very quickly, thanks to an interception by senior Jamey Harper that he returned for 16 yards. The Mustangs were unable to capitalize on their good fortune however, losing seven yards on the drive. With 4:30 left on the first quarter clock, it appeared that the Horned Frogs had positioned themselves to get on the scoreboard first with a 41-yard field goal attempt. The stadium bellowed with the sounds of fans pumped with anticipation when TCU kicker Peter Lococo came up short, giving the Mustangs the ball on their 23-yard line. A second negative gain drive by SMU gave Lococo a second chance to get TCU on the board. He succeeded with a 24-yard kick, making the score 3-0, TCU.
The Mustang offense struggled early in the second quarter. SMU scraped by when Lococo missed a second field goal attempt, this time a 38-yarder that ended a nine-play, 57-yard drive. The game got exciting on the Mustangs next drive. SMU’s newest running back, DeMyron Martin, made plays when juniors Reynaldo Pellerin and Ryan Kennedy couldn’t. A pair of rushing downs and a completed pass could not keep the Mustangs alive for a second first down, but a TCU penalty for roughing the kicker did, and it proved to be fatal for the Frogs. Chris Foster caught a Romo pass for 18 yards, Martin rushed for an additional 35 yards and a touchdown, and kicker Ryan Mentzel made the extra point to put the Ponies on top, 7-3. The defense came out and quickly ended a two-minute, five-play drive by TCU, with critical stops by defense playmakers Alvin Nnabuife and D.D. Lee. Lee is back this season for his sixth year, after being awarded a medical redshirt when he hurt his elbow against TCU last year. SMU built on its momentum from its previous scoring drive with a powerful 11-play, 77-yard drive. The three-headed rushing monster known as Jerad Romo, Cedric Dorsey, and DeMyron Martin was faster than Peruna galloping down the field. Pellerin also contributed an 11-yard pass in a drive that ended with a beautifully executed play action fake between Romo and DeMyron. At the snap, DeMyron ran alongside Romo and effectively convinced the Frog defense he had the ball. When they realized that Romo still had it hiding behind his back, DeMyron was already wide open in the end zone to receive a 22-yard pass from Romo. The second half ended with a TCU penalty for holding and the Mustangs leading the contest 14-3.
At the start of the second half, something went horribly wrong on the Mustang special team. Kicker Chris McMurtray lobbed the ball a short 52 yards to Cory Rogers who returned it all the way, putting TCU within four points of SMU, much to the dismay of hopeful Mustang fans looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. The rest of the third quarter was offensively stingy. On the next kickoff, TCU was penalized for an offside call, but the drive was fruitless, producing three plays for two yards. TCU got the ball back on the SMU 38-yard line and moved it up to the SMU 14, but Lococo missed his third field goal, a 31-yard attempt, this time going wide right. TCU took a lot of gambles in the third quarter. In addition to this missed field goal, they tried and failed to push the ball across the line on a fourth and one situation at the 50-yard line. On SMU’s next drive, the Mustangs were unable to advance the ball, but a punt by Mentzel seemed to go all the way to the one-yard line before bouncing out of bounds, a situation that would have put TCU with their backs against SMU’s end zone, but the call on the field was reviewed and declared a touchback, putting the Frogs on the 20-yard line. SMU was able to contain TCU quarterback Tye Gunn once again, who was 16 of 36 in pass completions and had negative 21 rushing yards, and the Mustangs got the ball on their 31 with 1:53 left in the quarter. On the first play, Romo was sacked for a nine-yard lose, got the lost yards back on a 10-yard rush, but was speared in the chest by sophomore safety Brian Bonner. Romo left the game for the rest of the quarter and Tony Eckert, who has been regulated to the position of back-up quarterback, came out and shot off a incomplete pass to Zach Sledge, but TCU was penalized for pass interference, giving SMU a first down as the third quarter wound down.
SMU opened the fourth quarter continuing their drive and scoring, with Bobby Chase and Sledge catching one completion each and Martin, Massey and Romo rushing, bringing the score to 21-10, SMU. On TCU’s next drive, Gunn fumbled, and Brandon Jones was able to recover the ball for the Mustangs. On SMU’s next drive, the offense was able to get the ball to the TCU 25-yard line, but on a 42-yard field goal attempt, McMurtray hit the right upright, and TCU got the ball back. Alvin Nnabuife then snagged an interception, returning it for 26 yards. On the following SMU drive, McMurtray missed another field goal, this time a 44-yard attempt that went wide left. TCU tried to make a big play on a fourth and seven, but Gunn missed his target. SMU took over the ball at the TCU 30, but McMurtray missed a third field goal when the TCU special team blocked the kick. TCU tried to make another come back with a little more than two minutes left in the game, but Harper caught his second interception on the SMU 26-yard line with 1:10 left. Frog fans began filing out of the stadium, and as the clock ran down, SMU began its celebration.
Coach Phil Bennett said that he was “proud of the defense,” and “the offense was good enough to win.” He categorized the game was “a big win,” and was impressed with Massey who, according to Bennett, “blocked his butt off” to help Martin gain all the yards he got during the game. After the Baylor game, Bennett said that the Bears “wore us out.” He cited using a large number of defenders was the key to alleviating that problem.
Martin and Lee both said teamwork got them the win. “This was our day, not my day, it was a team effort,” said Martin. Lee said “I’m happy for our fans-it means a lot to the old alums-mos def, this was for the fans.”
This was the first non-conference win for SMU since Kansas in 2000. It was also the end to a six-game winning streak by TCU in the Battle for the Iron Skillet. The Skillet will remain at SMU for at least two more years, as the rivalry will be on hiatus next year due to scheduling conflicts between the two schools. For their efforts, Martin and Harper were named Conference USA offensive and defensive players of the week, respectively. Next week, SMU travels to Kyle Field in College Station to take on Phil Bennett’s alma mater and former employer, the Texas A&M Aggies in a game that will be broadcast on Fox Sports Southwest at 11:30 a.m. This is third straight former Southwest Conference rival SMU has played this season. The Aggies lost their first game 24-25 against Clemson and had this weekend off. This weekend’s game is SMU’s first away game, and A&M’s home opener.
