To say that the SMU Mustangs haven’t gotten off to an ideal start would be the understatement of the year.
After being outscored 88-6 by Baylor and North Texas in two overwhelming defeats, the Mustangs headed into their bye week hoping to get some of their issues worked out before their home opener against the Texas A&M Aggies.
Instead, SMU is now faced with even more questions as they prepare to face Kevin Sumlin’s team.
The biggest news came on September 8, just two days after the embarrassing loss to the Mean Green, when head coach June Jones announced his resignation. Jones’ relationship with the administration and fans soured after he nearly left the school to become the head coach at Arizona State after the 2011 season, only to have the Sun Devils suddenly rescind their job offer.
From this point forward, his tenure seemed to be on borrowed time, especially given the decline in performance by the team over the past couple years.
And just when it seemed like things couldn’t get any worse for the Mustangs, naturally, it did.
Just one day after Jones’ resignation, news broke that starting quarterback Neal Burcham will miss the rest of the season with a right elbow injury. Burcham suffered the injury in the loss to North Texas, and finishes the 2014 campaign having completed 27 of his 48 passes while throwing no touchdowns and two interceptions. With Texas A&M transfer Matt Davis also dealing with an injury, redshirt freshman Kolney Cassel will now face the daunting task of starting under center.
Oh, and by the way, SMU still has to face Kenny Hill (also known as Kenny Trill and/or Kenny Trademark, if you prefer) and No. 6 Texas A&M this Saturday.
Even without the Burcham injury and difficult matchup against the Aggies, the job of interim head coach/defensive coordinator Tom Mason would’ve been extremely difficult. Now, he’s gone from being thrown into the deep end to being thrown into man-eating, shark-infested waters during a Category 5 hurricane.
Expectations for SMU this weekend shouldn’t include a win; a victory by the Mustangs over Texas A&M would be approaching “Appalachian State upsets Michigan” territory. Instead, interim coach Tom Mason should be hoping to see some life out of SMU’s stagnant offense and perhaps a few nice stops from a defense that hasn’t been able to do much of that through two games.
Of course, there’s no reason to believe that Hill and the Aggies won’t move the ball almost at will against the Mustangs. After all, this is a team that has put up the second-most points (163) and fourth-most yards (1,787) in the entire country. However, it would be a nice sight for Mason to see his defense create a few turnovers and show some sustained resistance at some point during the game.
In all likelihood, it isn’t going to be a pretty sight when SMU and Texas A&M clash in Dallas Saturday afternoon. But after what the team has gone through the first three weeks of the season, any signs of positive momentum to build off of going forward would be a welcome sight for the Mustangs and their fans.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
