Mustangs Come Back, Hang On to Beat Rice

By Robby Gillespie
rgillespie@smu.edu

SMU held off the winless Rice Owls 31-28 Saturday at Ford Stadium to move to 5-4 and one win away from bowl eligibility.

The Mustangs (5-4, 4-1) scored first, but fell behind in the second quarter 20-7. After a 23-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders, Rice (0-9, 0-5) drove into SMU territory and was set up to put in a field goal as the first half time expired, but Sterling Moore blocked the kick right into Bryan McCann’s hands, who returned it 73 yards for a touchdown, and SMU took a 21-20 lead into halftime.

Margus Hunt also had two blocked kicks and now has six on the season, an SMU record.

True freshmen Kyle Padron started for the second straight week, leading the Mustangs with 234 passing yards and one touchdown. He led the SMU to a touchdown on the first drive, but the next two drives ended when Padron threw an interception and fumbled on SMU’s 22 yard line.

“He’s done a good job controlling games,” said senior linebacker Chase Kennemer.

Sophomore quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell’s health is still uncertain, as Padron was the game time decision. Mitchell had started every game in his SMU career until two weeks ago after injuring his collar bone.

SMU is 4-1 in the conference, it’s best start since 1986.

Junior running back Shawnbrey McNeal ran for 88 yards and two touchdowns. His 9-yard touchdown run with 10:12 left in the game proved to be the winning score.

Defensively, the Mustangs didn’t look like themselves. SMU trailed 20-7 late in the first half, allowing Rice 208 first half yards. The 28 points allowed Saturday by SMU was the highest point total for Rice all season and SMU’s 31 points was Rice’s second lowest opponent total this season.

For a breakdown of the game, watch the Extra Point, hosted by Robby Gillespie and Chris Dell.