SMU’s Jessie Henderson (center) is taken down by TCU’s Jerry Hughes (right) during Saturday night’s game in Fort Worth. (Stuart Palley)
A different team showed up in Ft. Worth last weekend. In the first three games, the Mustangs came out slow in the first quarter, being outscored 42-6. This time around SMU showed up for the first quarter, but that was about it. In the 21-7 loss to TCU, the Mustangs scored on their second drive of the game, but that was it. It was a marked improvement from Arkansas State, but is not close to where SMU wants and needs to be.
“We’re not into moral victories that’s just plain and simple, you’ve got to make plays to win and they made more than we did,” SMU head coach Phil Bennett said.
And the biggest plays weren’t even with TCU’s offense on the field. In the first quarter Thomas Morstead’s blocked punt led to the first points for the Horned Frogs.
“We can’t accept the blocked punt, it’s something we work on,” Bennett said. The play was all too reminiscent of North Texas from one year ago.
The other play was an interception that TCU linebacker Robert Henson returned 58 yards for the Horned Frogs’ second and game-winning touchdown.
“In the first half we made a couple of mistakes, the interception I threw, we couldn’t convert,” quarterback Justin Willis said.
The SMU offense looked like it had things working in the first quarter for the first time this season.
On their first drive of the game the Mustangs didn’t score, but looked like they could move the ball against the tough TCU defense. It was the second drive that put SMU on the board – a quick attack that produced 76 yards in just three plays. A 15-yard pass to DeMyron Martin, a 46-yard pass to Emmanuel Sanders and a 15-yard run by Martin were all the Mustangs needed to score and take their only lead of the game. After that, everything seemed to fall apart.
The blocked punt, an interception, turning the ball over on downs and a fumble were mixed in with six other punts through the rest of the game.
SMU faced arguably the best defense so far in TCU, and possibly the best they will see all season. But the offense failed to convert when the defense kept them in the game for the first time this year.
The Mustangs’ defense looked considerably better, but also played the worst offense they have faced all season.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was the 16-play, 78-yard touchdown drive mid-way through the second quarter. It was the last scoring drive of the game and put SMU in a two-possession hole.
On the following drive the Mustangs turned the ball over on downs within field goal range. But down by 14, Bennett took the chance and tried for the end zone.
“I wasn’t going to kick it there because it was 21-7, I can second guess everything we did, but I won’t,” Bennett said.
Running back James Mapps was sent up the middle rather than Martin, who averaged 5.9 yards a carry in the first half. But on the previous play, Martin took a hit to the head and was “woozy” on the sideline. The bad timing took a weapon away from the SMU offense and it came up short right before the end of the half.
The second half was dominated by missed opportunities and failed third-down conversions.
Both TCU and SMU’s offense had issues staying on the field during the second half. Neither team matched its first-half yardage, nor were any points put on the board in the second half.
But the most distinct display of offensive collapse was with eight and a half minutes left in the game when Devin Lowery dropped a sure touchdown pass in the end zone. The SMU passing game gave up 14 points, seven on the interception and seven on that dropped pass.
Bennett and his staff said the next job is obvious: regrouping and focusing on conference play.
“We go to conference and try to win conference,” Bennett said. “We challenge ourself, keep working and keep striving.”
Justin Willis spent a lot of time on the turf during the second half of the game against TCU. The Horned Frogs’ defensive line wore down SMU’s offensive line late in the game. (Stuart Palley)
