East Carolina 49, SMU 23: What We Learned

[caption id="attachment_18553" align="alignright" width="300"]Photo by Mike Williamson Photo by Mike Williamson[/caption] SMU resembled a couple other teams playing in the DFW area early on Saturday.  Was I watching the Baylor-Texas Tech game? I had to double check I was on the right channel. SMU’s first two scoring drives replicated what the Bears and Red Raiders were doing on a different ESPN network. Quarterback Matt Davis found Jeremiah Gaines for a 60-yard bomb on the game’s second offensive play, and found Xavier Castille for a 40-yard connection on the team’s sixth. The Mustangs traveled 115 yards between the two touchdown drives, and took 38 seconds off the clock. In four minutes, the Bears and Red Raiders combined for 218 yards and three touchdowns on 12 plays. There were a few teams with some serious offense in the Metroplex on Saturday. The defense is still a concern. Blake Kemp was East Carolina’s starting quarterback but the Mustangs limited his production with two interceptions. They didn’t have an answer for his replacement, James Summers, in part because senior linebacker Jonathan Yenga was called for a first quarter targeting penalty, and was subsequently out for most of the game. SMU allowed 160 points in its three non-conference losses, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that its 23-7 lead faded away in today’s game. That was the score with 10 minutes to play in the first half, but East Carolina scored six consecutive touchdowns. Summers took over and the Pirates never looked back. They wore down the struggling Mustangs defense with three long scoring drives, and three short. It was not a storybook ending for SMU. The Mustangs rallied in the second half of its last three games. That was not the case today. The offense was shut out in its last nine drives. SMU had 25 second half yards before its final 12-play drive. Davis definitely felt the pressure because he was sacked on numerous occasions, and he finished the second half with 64 passing yards. Both his touchdown passes came in the game’s first seven minutes.