Tough to Swallow

Houston Takes First Lead In Final Seconds, Dumps SMU, 44-38

DALLAS – If SMU head coach June Jones’ stomach hurt for days after last week’s miserably close loss to Tulsa, then Saturday’s gut-knotting late fall to Houston was enough to cause a full-blown spastic colon.

At Monday’s media breakfast, though, Jones appeared relaxed, upbeat and more talkative than usual. How is that?

Aldrick Robinson works against Houston in the first half. Robinson finished with eight catches for 186 yards and two touchdowns. He leads the nation with 909 receiving yards on the season.

After all, SMU had led Houston by as many as 14 points for more than 59 minutes, before letting it slip away – again - in cold-blooded fashion. Case Keenum’s 26-yard pass to Tyron Carrier with 24 seconds left gave the Coogs their first lead of the game - and the win.

This, after Thomas Morstead’s short field goal had given SMU a 38-30 lead with five minutes left; and after SMU had stopped a Houston two-point conversion pass to keep the lead, 38-36, at the 2:34 mark; and after the Mustangs needed one first down to run out the clock, but couldn’t get it.

“I feel like we should have won three or four games already,” Jones said. “But great things happen when you fight through adversity. … We’ll fight through it and we’ll be better because of it.”

“We’ve got to refuse to lose and find a way to make a play when we have to.”

“The last ten seconds, I’m still thinking we’re going to win,” Jones said of SMU’s last-ditch Hail Mary that was intercepted.

Jones said he told associates before the season he’d be disappointed if SMU didn’t win four or five games this year. “Well, we’ve had our chances to win four or five already,” he said. “Guess what? We can still win four or five games through the rest of the season.”

Maybe Jones sounded upbeat because he’s seen the light - in quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, that is. “I see the light coming on with Bo,” he said. “He was different this past week. He actually saw some things I didn’t see. … He threw two touchdowns in the game that he wouldn’t have thrown [in the first game] against Rice.”

Mitchell passed for 365 yards against the Coogs, with four touchdowns and two picks.

Perhaps Jones is psyched about receivers Aldrick Robinson and Emmanuel Sanders, who keep racking up sick yardage and now rank one-two in the nation with 909 and 823 yards, respectively.

Deion Sanders, right, takes in the action Saturday at Ford Stadium in Dallas.

Whatever the reason, and as painful as the losses are, Jones sounded more sure than ever that the winning will come – perhaps this week.

“It will turn,” Jones said. “It’s unfortunate to me right now. It hurts because I see the kids who have lost so many games. I wanted to send them out with the spirit that it can be done, you know?”

Saturday, when Houston cut SMU’s lead to 35-30 in the fourth quarter, Pony fans could see it coming: another tough loss. Call it deja red-and-blue. Do Mustang players see it too and tighten up? “I don’t sense it,” Jones said “But I don’t see that attitude of ‘I’m going to be the guy who takes over the game, right here.’ I don’t feel that. And that comes from doing it. The one time we do that it will start to take hold.”

“I see it starting to take shape on the sideline. In earlier games, nobody was encouraging everybody. I just kind of looked around with two minutes to go [last Saturday] and the offense was up cheering the defense on. I see those intangible things that winning teams do.”

Deion Sanders, a sideline guest of Jones on Saturday, liked what he saw from Emmanuel Sanders. “He has a long way to go, but I’ll tell you what, he has all the tools to get there,” Deion said at halftime. And he praised SMU’s young stable of receivers: Robinson, Cole Beasley and Terrance Wilkerson. “They’re not there, but they’re on their way. You’ve got to give them credit for being in this system. And they’re being productive.”

Deion also likes corners Derrius Bell and Bryan McCann. “They’re not afraid and that’s the main ingredient you want in any corner - not to be afraid of anything.”

Jones, Deion said, with time, will succeed at SMU. “I think the fans should give him three to four years to get his players in, to nurture them. The way he recruits is unbelievable. There’s so much talent here in the Metroplex.”

Deion compared Jones and SMU to the situation at South Florida. “Everyone thinks because of Bobby Bowden or the Florida Gators, as well as the Miami Hurricanes, that you can’t recruit there, but you can. [South Florida] proved that you can. And I think June Jones should have the same respect here in the near future.”

Next-up for SMU is Navy, coming off a 42-21 home loss to No. 23 Pittsburgh. The Midshipmen have won three of their last four, including a road win at then No. 15 Wake Forest. Navy’s triple-option ground attack ranks fourth nationally, averaging 296 yards per game. (SMU ranks last in C-USA against the run, allowing 214 yards per game.)

Head coach Ken Niumatalolo is in his first year at Navy after a long stint there as assistant head coach.

Senior Shun White (5-9, 190) is the team’s leading rusher, with 708 yards. Senior quarterback Jarod Bryant (5-10, 189) has played since senior Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Endada injured a hamstring against Wake Forest. Sophomore Ricky Dobbs (6-1, 194) came in late against Pitt to lead a touchdown drive.

The Baltimore Examiner reported Monday that Niumatalolo hadn’t yet decided on a starting quarterback for Saturday.

Bo Levi Mitchell, left, and Emmanuel Sanders teamed up for two touchdowns against Houston. Sanders now has a school-record 26 career touchdown catches.

SMU Football Notes:

• Sanders’ career mark of 26 touchdown catches is an SMU record.

• Sanders and Robinson have a combined 1,732 receiving yards in ‘08, a single-season school record for a tandem.

• Jessie Henderson, SMU’s all-time leader in career kickoff return yardage (2,671) needs 63 yards per game over the last four weeks to break the national mark set by Tulane’s Jeff Liggon (2,922) in 1993-96.

• Saturday will mark Navy’s 1,200 th football game since the Midshipmen began play in 1879. The Mustangs last played at Annapolis in 1998, winning, 24-11.

On Deck: SMU (1-7, 0-5) @ Navy (4-3), Saturday October 25, 2008, 2:30 p.m. CT; Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (34,000), Annapolis, Md.; TV: CBS College Sports; Radio: KTCK 1310 AM

Prediction: A third straight six-point loss for the Mustangs? The humanity! Navy’s road wins at Wake and Air Force forced my hand: Navy 29 SMU 23.

Did You Know?
Deion Sanders played for June Jones when Jones was head coach of the Atlanta Falcons in the 90s.

Article by Rick Atkinson -
CUSA Fans SMU Correspondent