Statement Time?

SMU Looks to Shake Texas Tech Bugaboo on Sept. 5

True freshman Darryl Fields and others look to keep the Mustangs' rushing game productive.

DALLAS – There’s nothing like mentioning Texas Tech to an SMU fan to start some air leaking from the ol’ optimism balloon. After all, the Mustangs are 0-13 against the Red Raiders since 1989, including a most recent 43-7 loss in Lubbock two years ago.

(New Tech coach Tommy Tuberville has a bugaboo too, though not as glaring: he’s yet to win his inaugural game as a college head coach, losing openers at Ole Miss in ’95 and Auburn in ’99.)

SMU returns to Lubbock on September 5 as a 13-point underdog to open its 2010 campaign. The Mustangs are coming off their first bowl game in 25 years - a 45-10 TKO of Nevada in Hawaii last December.

This early, more accurate, measure of the Mustangs’ progress toward the big time should have a huge, football-starved television audience. ESPN is featuring the game on the last NFL-free Sunday for months.

Such a test right of the chute is new for a June Jones-coached SMU squad. Jones’ first two schedules on The Hilltop started more civilized - on paper anyway: at Rice in ’08 and at home against FCS foe Stephen F. Austin in ‘09. (SMU was blown out at Rice and rallied to dump SFA, 31-23.)

Senior wide receiver Patrick Fleming said starting at Tech this year doesn’t change much. “It just motivates us more,” he said. “I’ve been here three years and … we haven’t had good luck against Texas Tech.”

“It hasn’t changed our preparation, but we’re definitely motivated for the game.”

“One of the things that we talk about is never having a game be ‘too big’ for us,” Fleming said. “And I don’t think this game is anywhere near ‘too big’ for us. I think we’re mentally, physically, everything, prepared and we’re really starting to mesh as a team. We’re going to be 100% ready to react to whatever they throw at us. We’re going to be ready to set a tone. We’re excited.”

As a sophomore in ‘08, Fleming played defensive end against Tech and recalls having a “pretty good game.” “It was a great atmosphere but obviously we weren’t successful. It was exciting, though, either way.”

“My freshman year they were here and they were [chanting], ‘Raider-Power’ across our stadium. That was my first college game.” Fleming called it “pretty embarrassing,” and “hard to take.”

Unranked – For Now

Neither Tech nor SMU is ranked in AP’s Top 25. (The Red Raiders received 14 votes to the Mustangs’ 1.) SMU is picked to challenge Houston for the C-USA West title, while Tech ranks fourth in the South, according to Big 12 scribes.

The match-up features two bowl-MVP quarterbacks: SMU’s Kyle Padron and Tech’s Taylor Potts. Potts, a fifth-year senior, threw for 3,440 yards and 22 touchdowns last year, including a 372-yard, two-touchdown performance in the Red Raiders’ Alamo Bowl win over Michigan State. Tuberville only recently tabbed Potts to start this year over senior Steven Sheffield.

As a true freshman, Padron didn’t start until the eighth game last season but still managed 1,922 passing yards and 10 TDs en route to a 5-1 record. He threw for a school-record 460 yards in SMU’s bowl win.

The Mustangs have a full stable of young running backs and receivers to fill voids left by wideout Emmanuel Sanders’ and running back Shawnbrey McNeal’s moves to the NFL. With Padron at the helm, an upset in Lubbock is not unthinkable.

Coach June Jones, center, and the Mustangs prepare for Texas Tech last Thursday.

Smart’s Take

“I don’t know that we look at [the Tech game] necessarily as ‘a big test,’” said senior linebacker Justin Smart. “I think we approach this game like any other game. We’re going to prepare just like we do for Houston or Tulsa or ECU. And the experience of being under Coach Jones, it helps because all the veterans are used to his system, the way we practice, the tempo that we practice at, and especially the mentality that we have.”

“I recall that their fans are pretty rowdy,” Smart said of Tech. “They have good fans. They definitely support their team.”

Smart echoed the point that the game, the fans, mustn’t be seen as “too big.” “I think that’s key, because they’re going to be loud, they’re going to be obnoxious. They’re going to be Tech fans. But we have to go out there and we have to play our game, and keep our heads on straight.”

“That’s what happened to me [in ’08],” said senior wideout Aldrick Robinson. “It was ‘too big’ for me.” Robinson said the crowd noise caused him to run the wrong play to start the game.

“This year, I don’t think that anybody is going to think that the game is ‘too big’ for them. I think we’re all going to go down there with cool heads and we aren’t going to let the crowd get to us.”

“We know that Tech is going to be a tough opponent,” Robinson said. “For the first game, we’ve got to go out here and set the season off right. … The game is getting close, so we’ve got to work harder and harder every day.”

“It’s gonna be crazy.”

Prediction

Call me crazy, but SMU wins this, 32-30, with senior kicker Matt Szymanski’s leg and turnovers. Have the busses ready to go. It could get sporty.

Gameday

SMU @ Texas Tech, Sunday, Sept. 5, 2:30 p.m. Central, ESPN­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Notes

*The Mustangs have yet to beat Baylor, Texas, Texas Tech or Texas A&M since those teams left the Southwest Conference for the Big 12 in 1996. In fact, since 1989, the closest SMU has come to beating those teams was a 21-21 tie with No. 7 Texas A&M in 1994.

*The SMU Radio Network’s live game broadcasts can be heard on SMUMustangs.com, the school’s official athletics website.

*Next up: UAB @ SMU, Saturday, Sept. 11, 7 p.m. Central