Way Out West

Mustangs Prepare For Fourth-Longest Journey In Team History

DALLAS – For SMU Coach June Jones, who’s used to packing up a football team and traversing half the Pacific Ocean for a road game - any road game, Friday’s journey to Pullman, Washington is no sweat.

“Really nothing different that what we [always] do,” Jones said when asked how he prepares a team for extended sojourns. “It just happens to be a little bit longer this trip. We just stay on our normal schedule; do everything the same we do all the time. You’ve just got do it. You’ve got handle it, you know?”

The Washington State trip (1,928 miles, one-way) will be the fourth-longest in SMU history, behind Tokyo, Japan (6,473 miles), Honolulu, Hawaii (3,790 miles) and Corvallis Oregon (2,046 miles). It’s also the furthest the Mustangs have traveled in the continental U.S. in 36 years. (See Notes.)

SMU’s current team has as its longest trip to date a 1,371-mile trek to Annapolis, Maryland, last year to play Navy, a game the Midshipmen won, 34-7.

Bell Better

Derrius Bell, who was knocked out Saturday while blitzing from his cornerback position and taken to a hospital, was at Monday morning’s conditioning drills but did not participate.

“I’m feeling alright,” said Bell, a junior. “I’ve got a little bit of a headache. My back and my neck kind of hurt a little bit. Besides that, I’m feeling better than I did the day of - and yesterday too.”

“I’ve been going through treatment and getting ice all throughout my neck and down my spine.”

“I remember the hit,” he said, “but besides that, I don’t remember anything. I remember waking up in the ambulance.”

Bell said he had been knocked out earlier in the game too, but kept it to himself. “I should have told my trainer or my doctor,” he said. “They said I probably already had a concussion earlier from one of my hits.”

Bell said he was glad he got to return to Dallas with the team. “It felt real good,” he said. “Much love. Everybody, Coach Jones, the whole team, gave me a hug and told me how happy they were to see me walking. A couple of players told me how emotional they got, seeing me laying down there like that.”

Another post-game highlight? “They brought me some Krispy Kreme [donuts] after the win,” Bell said. “Coach Jones let [the team] go to Krispy Kreme.”

Bell said, for now, he’s been told he won’t play Saturday at Washington State.

“If everything goes good,” Bell said, “I’ll go see a spine specialist today or tomorrow and just keep getting my treatment. They said if everything is thumbs up, I should definitely be able to be at practice starting next week.”

Bell had an interception in the second quarter, the second of his career.

Team captain Emmanuel Sanders said the key this week, as always, will be to maintain focus in the midst of distractions. “We approach it like every other game,” he said. “The plane ride there, you can be a little loose, you can laugh.”

“The bus ride over to the stadium is going to be a little longer, so it’s going to be a little harder to focus. … Really, this team is much more mature. You don’t even have to tell guys. They already know. You’re on that bus for 45 minutes, you take a nap, you focus, you listen to music. No joking around, no nothing.”

Sanders said he’ll listen to music on the three-plus hour flight – and something else too. “Actually, I need to get caught up on my homework, so I’ll read some books.”

Senior center Mitch Enright credits the coaches for making road trips manageable. “The coaches do a great job with our schedule,” he said. “Every week is the same on the road trip. The only difference in going far away is we might leave a little earlier in the day.”

Enright said road experiences are good for young players, though it can be a bit unsettling at first. “Anytime you’re a freshman or a sophomore you’re obviously going to have the ‘big eyes’ going into a new stadium with a lot of fans. Then, just going to another stadium and hearing how loud it gets when we’re on offense.”

“It’s something that they just adjust to, like I did when I was a freshman and sophomore. It’ll be good for them, going to a place like Washington State.”

Enright’s plans for the flight? “I hope I can fall asleep, that’s all I know. Usually I try to stay awake because it’s only an hour, hour and a half flight.”

Sophomore wideout Bradley Haynes said he thinks the team is ready to travel. “It’s not going to be a big deal for any of my teammates or myself,” he said. “I think by now we’re used to it. We’re maturing as a team and it really shouldn’t be a problem.”

Haynes said he’ll pass the in-flight time by reading sports magazines or catching a movie on his PSP.

In the end it’s about one thing. “Everyone has it in their mind,” said Sanders, “we’re going up to Washington State to become 3-0.”

And if that happens, the Mustangs may not need a jet to fly home.

Notes:

*SMU football’s Top Ten one-way distances traveled, in miles:

1) 6,473 - Tokyo, Japan, vs. Houston, 1983

2) 3,790 - Honolulu, Hawaii, vs. Notre Dame, 1984/vs. Hawaii, 1998, ’00, ’02

3) 2,046 – Corvallis, Ore., vs. Oregon State, 1973

4) 1,928 – Pullman, Wash., vs. Washington State, 2009

5) 1,727 – Berkeley, Calif., vs. California, 1957

6) 1,695 – Santa Clara, Calif., vs. Santa Clara, 1947

7) 1,690 – San Jose, Calif., vs. San Jose State, 1999, ’01, ‘03

8) 1,665 – Reno, Nev., vs. Nevada, 2001, ’03

9) 1,604 – Boise, Idaho, vs. Boise State, 2004

10) 1,557 – Fresno, Calif., vs. Fresno State, 2000, ’02, ‘04

*June Jones, on WSU: “We’re going to have to play better than we played at UAB to beat Washington State. They’re big, they’re heavy. I know what they’re going to try to do. They’re just going to try to maul us and run the ball. We’re a speed, undersized defense. They’re big and they’ve got some good talented running backs and big tight ends. They’ll try to maul us, I’m sure.”

*Jones, on injured freshman wideout Darius Johnson: “He’s better. He’s out of his sling. I noticed him moving his arm a little bit. I think he’s still five weeks, probably four weeks away [from playing.]”