PonyPride.com - Houston game could be pivotal

October 21, 2009

Brian Chuck
PonyPride.com Staff Writer

SMU travels south on Saturday to face one of their conference rivals, the University Houston at John O'Quinn Field. Many Mustang fans believe beating 17th ranked Houston would be the statement game the program needs. Other Pony fans see Houston as a throw away game and look to the "more winnable" home conference games as the statement SMU should be concentrating on this year.

After listening to Houston's players and coaches, it's easy to believe that perhaps the Mustangs have already made a statement this season.

"We feel like (SMU) is very talented and had a few close ones. They very easily could have won a lot more games," said Houston quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Case Keenum. "We know that we're going to have to play well in order to be successful against them."

For the 5-1 (1-1) Cougars, it is literal and figurative homecoming, playing in front of their loyal Cougar fan base for the first time after a three game road trip.

"This is the first time we are coming back home since we (beat) Texas Tech," Keenum said. "We are all really excited about being back home and playing in front of a home crowd again."

The Mustang and Cougar offenses' have similar offensive attacks, each having a roughly 1.75 pass to run ratio. Both teams feature three receivers with over 300 yards receiving and each with one receiver ranked in the top ten in receptions. SMU senior Emmanuel Sanders currently ranks 3rd in the nations while Houston junior James Cleveland is tied for 7th. The difference is Houston has the nation's leading passer, while SMU is still looking for offensive consistency.

The Mustangs are last in Conference USA when it comes to 3rd down conversions. It's a statistic that SMU head coach June Jones has been referring to when he talks about consistency.

"You can't be consistent unless you are completing a lot of balls," Jones said. "(It takes) execution. Throwing and catching. Making the right reads."

Sanders acknowledged that the inconsistency might have cost his team two wins, yet he still takes an optimistic view of the season.

"I feel like we could be 5-1 and that hurts a little," Sanders said. "But I am happy with our position. We are 2-0 in the conference. We beat Houston, we are 3-0. I think we are in the right spot to achieve the goals we set at the beginning of the year."

While the Mustangs will look for any kind of regularity against the Cougar defense, Houston will be attempting to keep the Pony defense from creating turnovers.

"They do a great job of forcing turnovers." Keenum said. "Turnovers are game-changing plays that can change the course of how the game turns out. We know that ball security is a big issue."

Whether the game is a potential signature win, or just another game in a season that cannot be evaluated until Thanksgiving, Jones sees it like this:

"Here is the deal, it is going to go down to the last play every week. That is the way it is going to be. We have a chance to win this thing. We don't win it, we go to the next one. You don't think past the next play when you are in the position we are in."

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