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June Jones Gets First SMU Win; No. 12 Texas Tech Looms

DALLAS – Head coach June Jones’ first win at SMU, a 47-36 thumping of the Texas State Bobcats last Saturday, also ended the Mustangs’ 11-game losing streak.

That spells relief.

SMU quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, in his second collegiate start, completed 24 of 37 passes for 320 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions. Senior wideout Emmanuel Sanders hauled in three first-half scores from Mitchell as the Mustangs built a 30-6 lead before the Bobcats crept back in the game.

Peruna breathes a sigh of relief as the Mustangs' 11-game losing streak comes to an end.

Sanders finished with eight catches for 138 yards, his third consecutive 100-yard game. Aldrick Robinson, also with eight catches, tallied 172 yards and two touchdowns. It was the first time in nine years that two SMU receivers surpassed 100 yards in a game.

Sanders and Robinson, twin bullets in Mitchell’s arsenal, are each averaging right at 130 yards per game after two weeks.

Running back DeMyron Martin made the most of his seven rushes against the Bobcats, averaging 6.2 yards per carry. His seven-yard run and dive for the pylon was his first touchdown of the season and put SMU up, 40-22, early in the fourth quarter. Martin also caught four passes for 20 yards.

“I thought Texas State was a little better, athletically, than I thought going in,” Jones said Monday. “I think that they will end up winning some games this year.”

SMU defenders nabbed five turnovers, including two picks and three fumbles. Sophomore linebacker Pete Fleps led the Mustangs with 12 solo tackles. His 21 tackles for the year, (16 unassisted), are tops on the team.

Sophomore Derrius Bell played big on the corner with two tackles for a loss, an interception, a fumble recovery and a run-back of a blocked PAT for two points.

“Derrius has the mindset of all great corners,” Jones said. “He plays the game the way it’s supposed to be played.”

Still, the defense gave up 465 yards and allowed 12 of 15 third-down conversions.

“Defensively, it’s very difficult in college football to stop anybody anymore,” Jones said. “The offenses are all over the place. You see everything.”

The Mustangs will certainly see everything Saturday when they travel west to face the aerial monstrosity that is the Texas Tech offense, a beast cultivated by head coach Mike Leach, in his ninth season in Lubbock. (That spells uh-oh.)

Emmanuel Sanders is hoisted by guard Sean Lobo after a second-quarter touchdown pass from Bo Levi Mitchell, right. Sanders had 8 catches for 138 yards and three touchdowns.

“Mike Leach has done a fantastic job of building that program and winning every year,” Jones said. “And he’s got the guys. He’s been there long enough where he can get the guys that he needs to make his thing go.”

Two of those “guys” are quarterback Graham Harrell, the nation’s leading passer last year with 5,298 yards, and All-American receiver Michael Crabtree.

Crabtree led the nation in receptions (134), receiving yards (1,962) and touchdowns (22) last year as a redshirt freshman.

“[Crabtree’s] not the only receiver on their team,” said Jones. “Trust me. They’ve got four guys who can go get it.”

The Red Raiders’ offense was nearly dormant last week - by Tech standards - in a 35-19 win over Nevada. After hanging 500 yards on Eastern Washington the week before, Harrell managed just 19 completions on 46 attempts for 297 yards with two picks at Nevada.

Two big scores, Crabtree’s 82-yard reception and Eric Morris’ 86-yard punt return, were the difference for Tech.

Jones isn’t buying that the Red Raiders might be slipping.

“People don’t understand,” he said. “When you go to Reno, [ Nevada], it’s tough up there. You’re breathing hard and, no matter how in shape you are, there are a lot of little things that happen in Reno.”

“They’re in Lubbock this weekend and those things aren’t going to happen.”

Jones said his young defense must make game-changing plays to compete with Harrell and company.

“What you have to do to win, until you get good in every area,” Jones said, “[is] you have to take the ball away and you have to get sacks and create things on defense.”

Harrell has yet to be sacked in ‘08.

“He’s tough to get to,” Jones said. … “And if you do pressure him, he knows where to go with the football.”

“You’ve got to pick your time. Pick your poison. He’s going to do what he does and … you just hope you pick a few off and make a few plays, knock a few out when you tackle them.”

The Red Raiders’ defense? So far, they’ve given up 426 yards per game, 302 through the air. But they’ve also held opponents to 21 points per game – plenty good enough with Leach’s scoring freaks in the wings.

“They’re very well coached on defense,” Jones said, “even though their stats have not been good. They bend but they haven’t broken. And that looks like their philosophy.”

Jones wouldn’t speculate on what beating Tech would mean for SMU. “We’re going to go there and play hard and be better than we were this past week,” he said. “And if it’s good enough to win, then it’s good enough to win.”

Quotable Jones:

• On quarterback Justin Willis, (who rushed twice for eight yards and a first down against Texas State), now taking reps at receiver: “He’s got a little quickness and gameness to him.”

• June Jones won his initial home opener, something an SMU coach hasn't done since Bobby Collins in 1982.

  On Emmanuel Sanders: “The thing that separates Emmanuel from everybody else is his work ethic in practice. He wants to be the best. … “When you do that and you have talent, guess what? You really go to the next level. He’s a special kid, I think.”

SMU Football Notes:

• Cody Cardwell and Chris Cunningham were the last pair of SMU receivers to reach 100 yards each in a game, 146 and 141 yards, respectively, in a 28-14 win at Tulsa in 1999.

• Texas Tech has won all 12 games with SMU since 1989, the Mustangs’ first year back from the “death penalty.”

• The Red Raiders have won the last two meetings with SMU in Lubbock by an average score of 46-6.

On deck: SMU vs. Texas Tech, Saturday, September 13, 2008, 6 p.m. CT, Jones AT&T Stadium (52,882), Lubbock, Texas; TV: FSN; radio: KTCK 1310 AM.

Prediction: Something about SMU in Lubbock brings out the best in the Red Raiders. Hope I’m wrong. Texas Tech 59, SMU 31.

Did you know? Saturday will mark June Jones’ first game against a Big 12 opponent. His record against other BCS conferences:

• Big 10 3-3
• SEC 1-3
• Pac-10 3-5

Article by Rick Atkinson -
CUSA Fans SMU Correspondent