The first seven games on the SMU Mustangs‘ schedule looked daunting even before the season started, when expectations for this team were quite a bit higher. But now, after getting blown out in their first three games of the season, these next four contests seem more difficult than ever.
SMU has been outscored 146-12 in losses to Baylor, North Texas and Texas A&M to start the 2014 campaign, and hasn’t looked good at all in any facet of the game.
On offense, the Mustangs rank dead last in the FBS in points per game (4.0), total yards per game (194), rushing yards per game (28.7), first downs per game (12.3) and sacks allowed (20). Defensively, they’re allowing more points per game than any other team in the country (48.7), the sixth-most yards per game (530), and rank 103rd and 121st in passing yards allowed (272) and rushing yards allowed per game (258), respectively. There are more statistical categories that they rank very poorly in, but I think you get the picture.
And while this season has been an absolute disaster for SMU thus far, things might not get better anytime soon.
The Mustangs’ next four games come against a tough Big 12 opponent (TCU) and arguably the three best teams in the American Athletic Conference (ECU, Cincinnati, Memphis). They’ll start this tough four-game stretch by hosting TCU this Saturday. The Horned Frogs are 2-0 this season, including a convincing 30-7 victory over Minnesota.
The following week, they will start AAC play by traveling to North Carolina to take on East Carolina and its star quarterback, Shane Carden. The Pirates are currently ranked 23rd after defeating a pair of ACC opponents (Virginia Tech and North Carolina) in consecutive weeks.
Next, after a bye week, SMU will play host to Cincinnati and Memphis. The Bearcats are off to an 2-0 start behind the arm of sophomore quarterback Gunner Kiel, who has thrown 10 touchdowns already this year. Meanwhile, the Tigers have started the season 2-1 with wins over Austin Peay and Middle Tennessee, and nearly went into Pasadena and upset the UCLA Bruins.
SMU hasn’t looked like its making much progress in its three losses, which is very troublesome given the level of difficulty of its next four games. The Mustangs last five games look much more merciful, as they’ll face Tulsa, South Florida, UCF, Houston and Connecticut. Though they may be able to salvage a couple wins in that final stretch, it would take an upset for them to get a win before their eighth game.
SMU came into the season looking to return to the postseason, but now it looks like it’ll be fortunate to avoid getting off to an 0-7 start.
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