Although Pistol Pete never fired his guns, OSU’s football hit the ‘Stangs smack between the eyes in Saturday’s 52-16 loss.
“It was obviously embarrassing to everyone involved at SMU,” said SMU head coach Phil Bennett. “Me, most of all.”
Since the start of the season, SMU’s score has been the result of turnovers and frivolous mistakes. This week was no different.
Missed tackles and poor coverage let OSU rack up 345 yards total offense in the first half.
“Their receivers were athletes,” cornerback Jonas Rutledge said. “They made plays when we didn’t. I give them credit for that.”
The defense seemed absent as the Cowboy offense spurred down the field. Rutledge and fellow cornerback Kevin Garrett, hyped as two of the best in the WAC, seemed absent when the ball was on the OSU line.
“When [OSU] started making a few plays on us we lost our defense,” Bennett said. “We were lost in our coverage aspect … we had double coverage at times and just didn’t compete for the ball. We have to compete for the ball and at reception point being stronger in coverage.”
In the second quarter, a Rutledge kickoff return for 18 yards seemed the momentum change the Mustangs needed. The play gave SMU the best field position of the first half, but a flag on the field soon resulted in a holding and the end of the sparse hope.
“I always look to make a big play that kind of sparks the team and gets us going,” Rutledge said. “Saturday was just a day when one thing goes bad, everything goes bad.”
Those wrongs included OSU holding SMU to four first downs for 88 yards in the first half. The Cowboy defense also shot junior tailback Keylon Kincade’s string of three straight 100-yard rushing games, holding him to 78 yards on 20 carries.
“Your running game working and not working is a fine line just like your passing game,” Bennett said. “We just didn’t have the edge in the running game that we had in the past couple of weeks.”
By halftime, the ‘Stangs were down 45-0, the largest half-time deficit since 1989. As the players exited the field at halftime, hats were removed and helmets slung down. The team appeared very aware of the Cowboys’ smoking guns.
“At half time I told the kids, ‘The first half’s over,” Bennett said. “I am gonna grade you on your effort and who comes out and competes and challenges themselves in the second half.'”
Although the team never recovered from the deficit, the Mustangs managed to put 16 points on the board and hold OSU to one touchdown in the second half.
Freshman Quarterback Tate Wallis appeared more comfortable with his passing arm than he has all season. Wallis managed a couple of key completions that resulted in two touchdowns by senior fullback Kris Briggs and a 26-yard field goal by sophomore punt-kicker Trent Stephenson.
“I thought we had better timing [in the second half],”Bennett said. “Our receivers did a nice job.”
The defense also recovered strongly. They managed to hold the Cowboy offense to 126 yards.
“I think a lot of what we got away from on Saturday was technique,” Rutledge said. “I think we kind of just wanted to go up and do our own thing and make plays.”
The Mustangs begin WAC conference play Saturday in Hawaii.
“We still want to win the WAC. We are basically starting from fresh, you know – we are 0-0 in the WAC,” Rutledge said. “We are looking to go out against Hawaii and turn our season around.”
