The Iron Skillet has called Fort Worth its home for the past three years. At 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, the Mustangs will face its I-30 rival Texas Christian University. The contest will kick off a three-game road trip for the Mustangs. SMU hopes to bring home the Iron Skillet, the symbol of triumph that goes to the game’s winner.
The Mustangs have lost the past three games to TCU by a combined score of 121-17, with the most recent loss being 38-10 at Gerald J. Ford Stadium last season.
Head coach Phil Bennett knows what is at stake.
“It’s a big game,” Bennett said. “You’re playing for the Iron Skillet. It’s a pride game and it’s a game that should mean a lot to both teams.”
Bennett served as TCU’s defensive coordinator in 1997, so maintains strong ties with many of the coaches and administrators that run the program. When TCU began the search to fill its head coaching vacancy in 2001, Bennett’s name surfaced as one of the lead candidates.
Bennett made the decision that it was not the right situation for him and one year later he was hired by the rival program, SMU.
Senior tight end Billy Ford and the rest of the Mustangs try to keep the game in perspective.
“They’re our rivals, but I don’t think it has the significance it used to because it’s not a conference game,” Ford said. “It is our rival and they’ve beat us the last three years. We just want to win the game.”
Winning the game and the skillet will prove a daunting task against the frogs. TCU won its last game easily, handing Northwestern a 48-24 loss. Saturday will be TCU’s first home game and SMU’s first road game, so the crowd will play a large part in what happens on the field.
SMU will try to mix up its offense this week to keep TCU honest defensively.
“TCU has a very aggressive, opportunistic defense,” Bennett said. “They cause turnovers…and they score with them.”
Bennett and his staff will seek to be more versatile offensively. Quarterback Tate Wallis is getting more and more comfortable on the field, making it easier for the Mustangs to give more looks with the football. The result, they hope, will be more points on the board.
TCU is a team that has been relatively difficult to judge thus far. With a big win over a Big 10 team and a clutch loss in the season opener, they have shown two different sides of a solid program. Conference foe Cincinnati rallied to beat TCU 36-29 in overtime. TCU has been solid both on the ground and in the air, but success has come from its passing game. Quarterback Sean Stilley has passed for 508 yards in the two games, while SMU’s Wallis has amassed 288 yards. SMU’s success has come on the ground with the emergence or tailback Keylon Kincade. The reigning WAC Offensive Player of the Week, Kincade has rushed for 269 yards, more than TCU’s top two running backs combined.
“[Kincade] is hot,” Bennett said. “He hit plays front side, back side, and he creased them.”
Even with Kincade’s success, Bennett wants to use sophomore ShanDerrick Charles more than he has so far.
The last time SMU seemed poised to play run vs. pass, it came up two plays short of a brilliant game – last weekend against Texas Tech. Avoiding mistakes and controlling Stilley can bring the skillet back to Dallas.
“My daughter says she wants me to cook breakfast in it on Sunday,” Bennett said.
