By Patrick Engel
The SMU football team opens its 2014 season on the road against 10th-ranked Baylor in prime time on Aug. 31. Playing a road game in Waco is a daunting task on its own, but playing in the first ever game at McLane Stadium will provide an extra challenge for the Mustangs. A sell-out crowd that will make a lot of noise will be in attendance, but SMU Head Coach June Jones has made some adjustments in anticipation of it.
“We’ve been going on the silent snap count,” Jones said. “We’ve been giving signals and preparing for it. Those first couple series, those first couple drives, you really find out how you practiced because you can’t say anything, and everything’s got to be signaled.”
Baylor Head Coach Art Briles have been looking forward to the stadium’s opening for a long time, and Briles believes McLane is as nice as any venue in the country.
“We’ve had about as good of atmosphere as you can have,” Baylor Head Coach Art Briles said at media day earlier this week. “I have no doubt [McLane’s atmosphere] will be phenomenal. I think it’s going to be hard for anyone in the USA to mimic what we got going on. They’ve given us the best, so we’ve got to take advantage of what they’ve given us.”
Senior quarterback Heisman hopeful Bryce Petty conrols Baylor’s offense, which led the nation in 2013 with 619 yards per game and 52.4 points per game. The Bears rode the offense to an 11-1 record, a Big 12 title and a Fiesta Bowl berth. Petty says the offense will be better this year, but he is not taking the Mustangs lightly.
“They’re really good, they’re extremely well-coached,” Petty said about SMU’s defense. “They’ve got a lot of good players. It’s easy to overlook things, especially with the distractions we’ve got going on (with the stadium), but it’s about playing football, and we’ve got to make sure we’re on our game.”
In addition to Petty, Baylor returns two other offensive stars: wide receiver Antwan Goodley and running back Shock Linwood. Goodley caught 13 of Petty’s 32 passing touchdowns and is regarded as one of the nation’s best receivers. Linwood will be the feature back after rushing for 881 yards in limited time as a freshman.
On offense, the key for SMU is sustaining drives and controlling the clock to keep Baylor’s offense on the sideline. The defense will need to create turnovers early in the game and play physical against Baylor’s talented receivers to keep the game close.
“The main thing is playing physical, getting aligned and communicating,” said SMU safety Shakiel Randolph. “I feel like if we play bend-but-don’t-break defense, we’ll be okay.”
SMU posted a 5-7 record in 2013 and failed to reach a bowl game for the first time since 2008. The Mustangs are breaking in many new starters, including quarterback Neal Burcham, who started two games last year when Garrett Gilbert was injured. Kevin Pope, who was SMU’s second-leading tackler, is now the top running back.
SMU has dropped ten straight games to Baylor, most recently 59-24 in 2012. But all-time, the series is tied at 36-36-7, including an 18-18-3 mark in Waco. SMU last beat Baylor in 1986 when the two teams were Southwest Conference rivals.
Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m.
Prediction: Baylor 52, SMU 24
