Tag: SMU Mustangs

Sooners have a field day on Field Trip Day in 97-74 win over SMU

Madi Williams led the way with 25 points, and the Sooners shot 60% from three in Oklahoma’s 97-74 win over the SMU Mustangs. From @john9williams

SMU took an early 5-2 lead on a three-pointer from Jasmine Smith in the early going of Oklahoma’s mid-morning showdown with the Mustangs. And that was about all the momentum the Sooners allowed on Friday as they rolled to a 23-point win over SMU 97-74 during Field Trip Day in Norman.

Madi Williams led the way with 25 points and five rebounds on 10 of 14 from the field and 3 of 3 from three-point range. Oklahoma had four players in double figures and 10 of 11 players scored in the win.

Junior Neveah Tot, Aubrey Jones, and Skylar Vann were the other Sooners in double figures. Jones led the bench with 17 minutes, and Vann played 13 minutes in reserve for the 2-0 Sooners.

The Oklahoma Sooners are going to be incredibly tough to beat if they shoot the way they did on Friday morning. From the field, the Sooners shot 52.3% and were even better from three, where they were 14 of 23 for 60.9% from downtown.

It was just a 10-point game late in the third quarter when Madi Williams hit a three to make it 72-59. Early in the fourth, Skylar Vann added a three of her own to make it 78-59 and the Sooners cruised from there, leading by as many as 23 points with under six minutes to play.

Oklahoma held SMU to 34.9% from the field and 25% from three. The Sooners forced 18 turnovers in the win providing a complete performance at both ends of the floor.

Oklahoma is now averaging 101 points per game through their first two contests. After hitting just nine of 29 three-point attempts in the season-opening win over Oral Roberts, Oklahoma bounced back in a big way against SMU. And that was with Taylor Robertson taking just five shots in the win over SMU.

The Oklahoma Sooners now prepare for their first road trip of the season to take on future Big 12 opponent BYU in Provo on Tuesday. BYU opened the season with an 82-62 loss at Colorado State.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

SMU QB Tanner Mordecai throws 7 TD passes … in the first half

Houston and SMU were having a TD pass party on Saturday night

Tanner Mordecai of SMU had quite a game in the first 30 minutes against Houston on Saturday.

Mordecai was 22-of-27 for 297 yards with 7 touchdown passes.

The Mustangs led 56-35 at the break.

Houston QB Clayton Tune threw 4 touchdown passes.

Oh, and the break did nothing to stop either QB.

Clayton threw his fifth TD pass and Mordecai threw his eighth in the third quarter.

Navy-SMU game delayed after pony mascot has accident at 40-yard line

You seriously won’t believe why the Navy-SMU game was delayed for 15 minutes

This would be a delay of game with no shame.

The Navy-SMU game was, um, interrupted for about 15 minutes Friday night thanks to some “leftovers” on the field after the pony mascot raced across the field following a Mustang touchdown.

Unfortunately, a pony had to go and left some souvenirs around the 40-yard line.

That caused a delay while the field was cleaned up from the incident or accident.

Peruna, SMU‘s black Shetland pony, debuted in 1932 and there has been one, over the course of time, present at every home football game (except one).

Longhorns face Texas Tech in Lubbock: Big 12 week four predictions

It’s a busy week in the Big 12, who will come out on top in some pivotal conference matchups? Could Kansas move to 4-0 on the season?

Big 12 play is finally in full swing with several big matchups on the week three slate. Some teams are trying to show they’re more than a flash in the pan while others are looking to stay afloat.

The Kansas Jayhawks still stand alone at the top of the Big 12 standings heading into week four, but with Big 12 play finding other campuses, the Jayhawks will get some company.

Let’s see what we’ve got on tap for this week.

Top 5 Big Ten Week 3 games and predictions

After a week 2 that saw some upsets in the Big Ten, the week 3 slate takes it up a notch with some big matchups. Here is the top five games.

Week 2 saw the Big Ten have a handful of teams stumble with some opponents that did not appear to be a threat beforehand. But, that is college football and the unpredictability makes it so special.

This week we see a handful of Big Ten teams draw primetime matchups that pit two teams from the Power 5 against each other for some of the first real tests of the season. Not only are the big matchups, the Big Ten is getting quite the amount of national coverage this week. They will have teams airing across Fox, CBS, ABC, and ESPN.

There are a few duds of games such as Iowa-Nevada, Michigan-UConn, Northwestern-Southern Illinois, and Wisconsin-New Mexico State. The fun part about these is that there is a decent chance we are back here on Monday talking about which one of these ended up having a boat load of points or saw a big time upset.

Nonetheless, let’s get into the top five Big Ten games in week 3 with a prediction of how each shakes out.

OU announces home-and-home series with SMU amid Georgia cancellation

With the cancellation of the 2023 game against Georgia, the University of Oklahoma scheduled a home-and-home series with the SMU Mustangs

Just minutes after the news broke that Oklahoma would not be playing Georgia in 2023 or Tennessee in 2024, OU announced a home-and-home series with the American Athletic Conference’s SMU Mustangs.

The Mustangs will be coming to Norman in September of 2023 and the Sooners will go to Dallas in 2027. With this game being scheduled, the Sooners already have a higher quality of nonconference games for 2023 than they did for 2022.

The university released a statement with the announcement of the series against SMU:

The Sooners have replaced the Georgia series with a home-and-home series against SMU. OU will host the Mustangs on Sept. 9, 2023, and will play at SMU on Sept. 11, 2027. OU is also working to replace its home-and-home series with Tennessee and will announce those details when they are finalized.

“And we’re grateful to be able to fill the Georgia scheduling gap with the series against SMU, a program that has won 25 games over the last three seasons,” athletic director Joe Castiglione shared in a statement. “Special thanks to SMU Athletics Director Rick Hart for his cooperation during this shift in scheduling.”

– Statement from OU Football

The Oklahoma Sooners and SMU Mustangs have played seven times with OU holding a 5-1-1 record against the Ponies. The two sides haven’t played since 1995, a 24-10 win for the Sooners.

Georgia and Tennessee will be in Norman soon enough. However, they won’t be playing a Big 12 team when they make the trip.

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Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today. You can also follow Ben on Twitter @bendackiw.

SMU Mustangs Preview 2022: Season Prediction, Breakdown, Key Games, Players

SMU College Football Preview 2022: Team breakdown, season prediction, keys to the campaign, and what you need to know

SMU Mustangs Preview 2022: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the SMU season with what you need to know and keys to the season.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

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SMU Mustangs Preview
Head Coach: Rhett Lashlee, 0-0, 1st year at SMU
2021 Preview: Overall: 8-4, Conference: 4-4
Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
SMU Top 10 Players | SMU Schedule

SMU Mustangs Preview 2022

Let’s put it this way.

If Rhett Lashlee was named the bright young new head coach of the TCU Horned Frogs instead of the bright young new head coach of the SMU Mustangs, would it seem the least bit shocking?

Former SMU head coach Sonny Dykes took over the TCU gig, and the 39-year-old Lashlee will take the leap from interesting offensive coordinator to first time head man.

He was the SMU OC in 2018 and 2019 before being plucked away by Miami, and now it’s his job to take the program up another level.

Things have been fine at SMU, but there’s been a hard ceiling on how high it’s been able to get over the last few years. The winning seasons have been nice, but the Mustangs finished sixth in the AAC last year and fifth the year before in the division-less format.

And yes, the focus will be on Lashlee and the staff growing into the job as the AAC reboots next year without Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF – and adds a slew of fine-not-amazing programs to Moneyball its way to replace the stars – but this team should be good enough to be in the mix in 2022, too.

The biggest games are at home, the experience is there, and the expectations will be set at bowl-not-AAC-title level. This team should be good enough to exceed that.

Lashlee might just be the catalyst to turn SMU into the AAC’s power program going forward – at least that’s the hope.

SMU Mustangs Preview 2022: Offense

It’s a Rhett Lashlee-coached team. It’s going to throw the ball – he’s a former SMU offensive coordinator under Sonny Dykes – and it’s going to crank up the production.

The offense is loaded with experienced parts, good skill guys, and the line to make it all work from the No. 1 AAC attack last year.

It led the league with 466 yards and 38 points per game, but it couldn’t rise up and come through down the stretch of a rough second half of the season.

Lashlee and offensive coordinator Casey Woods have their veteran quarterback to make it all go. Former Oklahoma transfer Tanner Mordecai threw for over 3,600 yards and 39 touchdowns with 12 picks in an All-AAC season, and Preston Stone is a rising talent who’ll get every shot at the gig.

The receivers are there to make it all rock, even with Danny Gray, Reggie Roberson, and TE Grant Calcaterra – three of the team’s top four targets – done.

Leading receiver Rashee Rice – 64 catches with nine scores – is back – he’s the No. 1 guy – and the corps landed a few great parts with All-Conference USA target Jake Bailey from Rice, Beau Corrales from North Carolina, and Kelvontay Dixon from Texas.

The running game should be like it was last year. It might not blast away for a gazillion yards per game, but as long as it’s averaging around 4.6 yards per carry again, it’ll be doing its job.

Longtime all-around factor Ulysses Bentley is off to Ole Miss, but former North Texas transfer Tre Siggers is back after averaging five yards per pop with nine scores, and with a team-high 727 yards.

TJ McDaniel is back after suffering an injury, and ready to roll is Alabama transfer Camar Wheaton. The talent is there from Wheaton and the rest of the backs to do the job.

The SMU line will play around with the veteran parts – four starters are expected back from the end of last year – but Alan Ali is off to TCU and the depth will have to come from the transfer portal. Overall, the group that was the best in the AAC in pass protection should be fine once the staff comes up with the right starting five.

SMU Mustangs Preview 2022: Defense

If the Mustangs could get any more consistency out of the defense, and if it could somehow step up against the better teams, this could and should be a ten-win team.

The Mustangs allowed 415 yards and 28 points per game, doing a nice job against the run but having lots and lots of problem against the better passing games, giving up 200 yards or more against everyone but Navy.

The front three should be the early strength. Leading pass rusher DeVere Levelston is back at one end after coming up with 6.5 sacks, Elijah Chatman is an all-star who can get into the backfield from the other side, and it all works around 324-pound Terrance Newman – a big presence in the interior who has to hold up.

The outside linebackers will be factors again, too. Turner Coxe has been a solid four-year producer, and Jimmy Phillips was second on the team with 60 tackles.

Isaac Slade-Matautia was a good three-year tackler at Oregon State and should bring the size and thump again in the middle of the Mustang linebacking corps. The transfer portal is bringing in a ton of help for the depth, at the very least.

Now the secondary has to do its part. The corners will be figured out in fall camp, but there are options to play around with. The safeties can hit, and new to the mix is ULM veteran Nick Roberts, a good tackler who’ll find the field in some way.

Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
SMU Top 10 Players | SMU Schedule

SMU Mustangs: Keys To The Season, Top Game, Top Transfer, Fun Stats NEXT

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

7 teams the Big 12 should target in next round of college football realignment

Conference realignment is a story that never ends, and with the Big 12 considering expansion, here are seven teams they should consider.

While NIL and the transfer portal have had huge impacts on the landscape of college football, nothing has changed the sport more than conference realignment.

A decade ago, when Nebraska, Texas A&M, Colorado, and Missouri left the Big 12 it upset the apple cart of college football. Texas and Oklahoma followed by USC and UCLA, leaving their Power Five conferences  for greener pastures has turned over the tables.

The moves over the last year have put the SEC and Big Ten at the forefront of college football, leaving the ACC and Big 12 behind in college football’s version of the Monday Night Wars. The ACC and the Big 12 have solid foundations even if they don’t have the same media rights bargaining position as the SEC and Big Ten. The Pac-12 looks like the conference that is on the flimsiest foundation with the Big Ten and Big 12 lurking.

New Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has been open about the conference’s desire to expand. Not long after the USC-UCLA announcement, it was reported that the Big 12 was looking to add Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah. Things have slowed down since as the Pac-12 entered a 30 day window to open negotiations on their media right deal, but the interest from the Big 12 is still there.

And if they were able to, they’d be interested in adding Oregon and Washington, though the Big 12 will have to contend with the Big Ten for those northwestern powers.

As conference realignment continues to reshape the future of college football, let’s take a look at seven schools the Big 12 should target in conference expansion.

Iowa Hawkeyes make top 5 schools for 2023 twin defensive backs, Caden, Cameren Jenkins

The Iowa Hawkeyes made the top five schools for three-star, class of 2023 twin defensive backs Caden and Cameren Jenkins.

Two is so much better than one. Iowa is still hoping there’s a twin billing in the future patrolling the Hawkeyes’ defensive backfield.

The Hawkeye coaching staff has reason to be optimistic, too. Twin defensive backs Caden Jenkins and Cameren Jenkins out of Lewisville High School in Texas both announced Iowa as one of their top five schools, respectively.

Caden Jenkins, a 6-foot-1, 165 pound cornerback in the 2023 class, revealed that his top five includes Arkansas, Baylor, Iowa, Oregon State and SMU. Meanwhile, Cameren Jenkins, a 6-foot-2, 175 pound safety in the 2023 class, revealed that his top five includes Grambling State, Iowa, Oregon State, SMU and UTSA.

If the pair is ultimately signing as a package deal, then that means that Iowa, Oregon State and SMU are the three schools that show up in both of the Jenkins twins’ final top five schools.

According to Rivals, Caden Jenkins is a three-star recruit, the nation’s No. 56 cornerback and the No. 85 player from Texas. Meanwhile, On3 rates Caden Jenkins as a three-star talent, the No. 74 cornerback and the No. 144 player from Texas.

According to On3, Cameren Jenkins is a three-star safety, the No. 78 safety nationally and the No. 173 player from Texas. Rivals also lists Cameren Jenkins as a three-star recruit.

Below is a look at Caden and Cameren Jenkins’ junior season Hudl highlights at Lewisville High School, their complete recruiting profiles and a glance at Iowa’s full list of 2023 commits.

SMU Mustangs Top 10 Players: College Football Preview 2022

Who are the top 10 SMU players going into the 2022 college football season?

SMU Mustangs Preview 2022: Who are the top 10 players going into the season?

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

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SMU Mustangs Preview 
Offense, Defense Breakdown
Keys To The Season | SMU Schedule
Season Prediction, What Will Happen