Fan on the scene

Because we just can't give you enough SMU coverage on this here blog, I'll be reporting back Saturday night on my Ford Stadium experience during the SMU-Texas State game. Will be perched above the 25 yard line, behind the home bench.

SMU home game highlights:

• The Boulevard. It's got free beer and barbecue.
• The stadium. Not a bad seat in the house, though it's only got 32,000 of them.
• The band. Dubbed the "Hub of SMU Spirit," the SMU Mustang Band is one of a kind. It's played a jazz style since the 1920s, and its arrangements are actually pretty fun. The best pieces, though, are the originals -- "Shanty Town," "Dial 'M' for Mustang," etc. Oh -- and they do a uniform change just before halftime.

Downsides:

• The fans. Get there during the second quarter, leave early in the fourth. And there are often more from the visiting team than there are on the home side.
• The lame ways they try to rev up the crowd. Every time I hear "It's time for some THIRD DOWN THUNDER!!" I get a little sick to my stomach.
• My seats. It's so much more fun in the student section, rather than on the home side of the field.

Bitter loyalty

The entire watch party at Ted's abode Friday night was shocked -- shocked! -- by how easily I stomached SMU's utter failure on both sides of the field. I wasn't wallowing in misery, as a friend and Aggie fan was this weekend after she stood at Kyle Field (they don't sit there, you know) and watched Texas A&M lose to Arkansas State.

No question about the difference here: It's all about history.

SMU fans are a long-suffering group, and I'm not even talking about our little "incident" back in the 80s. Winless and countless 1-11 seasons, the tradition of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, 20 rebuilding years in a row. Sure, it's an abusive relationship, plagued by disappointment after disappointment. But he tells me he's sorry, so it's love, right?

On the other hand, A&M (and Texas and UCLA and countless others) have winning traditions. Sure, many may only be 7-5 years, but by my count, that's a winning record. Not gonna get you a conference championship, and they may land you in the North Dakota Bowl. So when your team posts 14 points against a Sun Belt Conference school, you're going to grumble angrily when people ask you how the game went. To a team with a losing tradition -- hello, Baylor -- even 6-6 is a relief. If Mack Brown or Pete Carroll only managed a 6-win season, they'd be handed their walking papers immediately.

To close, here's a quick analysis of the SMU-Rice blowout: Poor execution, but there's already been tremendous change on the Hilltop. The offense for the most part looked like an offense. June and Bo came out gunning. There was an aggressive hunger that has been missing from the field. What's left to work on? Defense, defense, defense. That scheme they were running -- don't really know how to describe it -- just looked scattered and unfocused. And it was disappointing to see Thomas Morestead break his school-record streak of 78 successful PATs.

But Friday night's game was the first real test of the gamble June Jones took with naming a true freshman as a quarterback and trying to clean up the recruiting mess that Phil Bennett left behind. June, you're not completely wrong when you say you need to go back to the drawing board. Still, I saw more promise on Friday than I have in any of the 12 previous season openers I've watched. And it's refreshing to be able to watch a game and to see some coherence on at least one end of the field. That makes every one of the gazillions of dollars being thrown at June and crew worthwhile.

And that's why I, a loyal Mustang, was at least a little proud of my guys Friday night. Go Red, go Blue, go Mustangs, S-M-U.

Shaky Start for SMU.

For all of you non-Dallas-based readers out there, SMU gets some special attention because two of our "Fans," Ian McCann and Jake Batsell, have direct ties. As someone who stands at arms length from the school, allow me an unvarnished take on the team following last night's 56-27 whuppin' at the hands of Rice.

They are certainly not good. Not yet anyway. They made Rice, Rice, look like god's gift to football. Freshman QB Bo Levi Mitchell looked like a lost puppy at times, while the defense appeared to be playing some kind of a rugby-style, linebacker-less, 3-0-8 scheme. Needless to say, it didn't work.

All of that said, there was a lot to take hope from. Mitchell came out firing early and the offense moved the ball in the first quarter, a sign that the team was well prepared. That early execution also gives clues as to what a polished, more mature Pony team might do down the road. And, who knows, it's early in the season. Maybe Rice is some kind of spread formation, BCS-busting, Patriots-in-Disguise, juggernaut and the nation just doesn't know it yet (um, yeah, right).

It's clear that SMU is far from LSU. But this is the beginning, the foundation, Level One, for SMU under new coach June Jones. It only goes up from here.

Weighing in on SMU-Rice

Winding down on the Hilltop on a Friday afternoon, waiting to see if I can manage to snag some of the free BBQ they'll be serving in front of Dallas Hall for the outdoor game-watching party, I offer my completely uninformed prediction: SMU 38, Rice 28. Ian, where's the faith?

Ted Kim's SMU-Rice Prediction...

SMU 23, Rice 16. (SMU's potent scheme is neutralized by their lack of a QB, and Rice just, well, kind of sucks.)

SMU vs. Rice: An offensive affair

Because I'm a little backward, I'm going to start with the bottom line on tonight's SMU-Rice game: My beloved Mustangs start the season 0-1. But it'll be a squeaker, much like last year's 43-42 loss to the Owls.

I was there at Ford Stadium last year, and it hurt to see Rice score 16 in the fourth quarter. And it felt worse to see SMU's offense allow two first-half touchdowns off interceptions.

Why am I violating the "Don't bet against your team" rule? Because, despite weeks (months?) of practice, the Mustangs are undoubtedly still getting used to their new Run and Shoot system. And they're a young team, possibly too young to be competitive this season. Thirteen true freshmen (including starting QB Bo Levi Mitchell) on the two-deep. I'm just hoping June has saved enough redshirts to let this recruiting class eventually shine.

We're not going to see all that much on the ground tonight. Combined with SMU's new offense, Rice brings a powerhouse passing-receiving matchup of Chase Clement and Jarett Dillard. Lots of fireworks there.

But the game will come down to defense. SMU's secondary has had some serious holes. We'll see them tested early and often. But they do have Will Bonilla and Bryan McCann returning at linebacker and defensive back. Those guys are good. Relatively speaking, anyway. But safety has been a problem in the past. Again, we'll just have to see.

SMU hasn't won at Rice Stadium since 1986. Going to have to wait until 2010 for that to happen again. Final score tonight: Rice 47, SMU 45.

June cometh.

That's the slogan I saw plastered on the walls at the SMU student union last week. After a quick double-take -- "Wait a sec. It's July and they're still talking about June?" -- I realized they're talking about June JONES, the gridiron guru who is expected to bring the Pony Express glory days of the 1980s back to the Hilltop. As distinguished connoisseurs of college football, we must bear witness to this high-stakes experiment. Here's the SMU schedule. What do you say -- should we shoot for the TCU game?