Home     News     Obituaries     Sports     Dallas Cowboys     Features     Entertainment     Opinion     Classifieds

SPORTS Local Baseball Basketball Dallas Cowboys Football Golf Motor Sports Outdoors Recreation Soccer Tennis Tiger Woods Track and Field Other Sports

PRINT THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE Wednesday, October 21, 1998 SMU still struggling for respect By DENNE H. FREEMAN AP Sports Writer DALLAS (AP) - Southern Methodist is trying to prove there really is life after the NCAA death penalty. It's been and continues to be a struggle for the Mustangs' football program. Tom Rossley provided some interesting teams but they never could climb over the .500 mountain. Along came determined Mike Cavan. The Mustangs finally posted a winning record (6-5) and almost made it to a bowl game in 1997 before a late-season loss to Texas Christian killed that idea. This year the Mustangs have fielded a good defense and a struggling offense that has trouble finding an identity and a starting quarterback. Freshman quarterback Josh McCown, whose brother Randy is the starting quarterback at Texas A&M, leads the Mustangs, who have been outscored 141-164 this season as they posted a 2-4 record. Before the season, the Mustangs had hoped the strong arm of quarterback Chris Sanders would provide an offensive spark. Sanders, however, has yet to prove he can move the team through the air. SMU has turned into a running team, averaging 175.6 yards per game overland. "That's our forte," Cavan said. "It's not a bad one to have." However, SMU lives and dies by defense. The Mustangs have surrendered just 18 points in their last three games. "We bend but we don't break," Cavan said after SMU beat TCU 10-6 on Saturday in an important Western Athletic Conference game. "We just need more offense." SMU has been gaining about 57 percent of its yards on the ground, not the 50-50 balance some teams shoot for as running backs Rodnick Phillips and Kelsey Adams bear the rushing load. SMU must close fast or it won't have to visit the mailbox for bowl invitations. The Mustangs will be moving to a new on-campus home in the year 2000 and they need to do so. They just aren't drawing in the Cotton Bowl. The SMU-TCU game drew only 26,000 fans on Saturday for a game dedicated to the late Doak Walker. The Cotton Bowl, the "House that Doak Walker built" back in the 1940s, has become a place where fans don't go see the Mustangs play. In a game earlier in the year against Tulane, SMU announced 14,000 fans but the turnstile count was around 5,000. Moving to the Gerald J. Ford Stadium which seats 32,000 fans and will be on the existing site of on-campus Ownby Stadium, could provide SMU a cozy place to play where sellout crowds could intimidate opponents. The $58 million stadium was expected to be ready for the 2000 football season. SMU started the season with losses to Arkansas, Tulane and Mississippi and had to travel to Hawaii to get their first win, 28-0 over Hawaii. After a narrow loss on the road to Wyoming, SMU returned to the Cotton Bowl for its win over TCU. "We're getting better ever week," Cavan said. "We just have to stay patient." SMU has a tough road ahead. Nevada-Las Vegas comes calling this week then it's at the Air Force, at home against Tulsa and Colorado State and a season-ending game at Navy. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: Enter their email address below: texnews.com Reporter OnLine Local Sports Texas Sports Copyright ©1998, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: Enter their email address below:

Search current site:        Search archives for:

© 1995- The E.W. Scripps Co. and the Abilene Reporter-News. All Rights Reserved. Site users are subject to our User Agreement. We also have a Privacy Policy.