Dmn College Blog On Smu

Eagle-96 · September 5, 2007

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SMU's Quick Turnaround

The vibe felt down at SMU's press luncheon today, as would be expected so soon after a 49-9 loss Monday to Texas Tech.

Even the humongous block of cheese Mr. Bailey (of Bailey's First &10 Sports Bar of course) brought over for the lunch seemed to excite only me.

Coach Phil Bennett said he'd been at the stadium most of the night. It's a tough turnaround with North Texas visiting Saturday already. Bennett said the Mustangs have to find a way to move on.

SMU knows all about not being able to afford a loss to UNT. The Mustangs regretted last season's 24-6 loss in Denton all season, but especially when they finished the year one win shy of a bowl bid.

"I told my players yesterday," Bennett said. "It’s not a situation that scares me. I’m determined. I’m not going to sit back and dwell. I’m going to see what we can do better. It’s not a situation we can not fix."

You have to think the offense won't be as overmatched against UNT. Bennett blamed poor execution more than anything. SMU was just 4-of-15 on third-down conversions. The receivers dropped a lot of passes.

Bennett also said the team struggled with its new system of using wristbands in situations where they wanted to hurry up the offense. It caused confusion instead, and SMU's dumping the wristbands.

As for defense, ESPN picked up SMU yelling "All Out" when the Mustangs blitzed. Bennett said he's used it for most of his coaching career and it represents different blitzes in different formations, so he's sticking with it.

SMU didn't sack Tech quarterback Graham Harrell and rarely pressured him.