SMU Mustangs Look To Take Advantage of First Bowl Bid Since '84

It's been 25 years since the SMU Mustangs played in their last postseason game.

It's been 23 years since those very Mustangs were given the "Death Penalty" following an investigation into a massive scandal that uncovered the improper distribution of benefits to players from the mid-70s onward.

My father graduated from SMU in 1982, and though his Ponies were given the axe by college football, he hasn't lost faith in the once proud SMU football program and he continues to wait for the Mustangs to climb back on to the college football radar.

Coach June Jones may have just kick-started the revival of Mustang football.

The Mustangs went 7-5 (6-2) in Jones's second season in Dallas, finishing second in the C-USA West behind Houston.

On Thursday night, the Mustangs will end their 25 year bowl drought in Honolulu, Hawaii where they will take on the vaunted running attack of Nevada (8-4) in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

This is an interesting matchup because this is a contest of two vastly different styles of football.

June Jones's high flying passing attack, which was so successful at Hawaii, has finally taken hold at SMU. 

Second year quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell is the trigger man of the Mustang attack, and though he missed the last five games of the season due to injury, he was still able to throw for 1,725 yards and 12 touchdowns.

However, in Mitchell's place, freshman Kyle Padron performed valiantly, passing for 1,462 yards and eight touchdowns, while only throwing four interceptions (64 percent completion rate).

Whichever quarterback gets the nod, he will be throwing to a reliable target in senior receiver Emmanuel Sanders.  The 5"11 speedster has caught 91 balls for 1,215 yards and six touchdowns on the season.

But SMU's best offensive weapon may very well be junior running back Shawnbrey McNeal.  McNeal has rushed for 1,125 yards and nine touchdowns and has also hauled in 230 yards receiving and two touchdowns. His best game came in a 169-yard effort against UTEP.

The Mustangs average around 27 points a game, but they will likely need closer to 40 to hang tough with the second ranked Nevada offense, which is putting up 521 yards (362 on the ground) and 40 points per game.

Leading Nevada's attack is junior quarterback Colin Kaepernick, one of the nation's premier dual-threat quarterbacks.

Kaepernick has thrown for 1,875 yards and 19 touchdowns accompanied by 1,160 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground. 

The Nevada quarterback is one of three 1,000 yard rushers on the team, yet he will be the only one playing in this game.

Running backs Vai Taua and Luke Lippincott will both miss the game.  Taua was ruled academically ineligible and Lippincott suffered a season-ending toe injury.

With neither back playing, Kaepernick will be forced to carry the offense on his shoulders, which could mean he may have to throw more. 

While Kaepernick has been efficient in his limited attempts this season, you have to believe that a porous, yet opportunistic Mustang defense will take advantage of any mistakes Kaepernick makes in the passing game.

The Mustangs are ranked 16th in the nation in interceptions (16) and could cause some major problems for Kaepernick and an untested Nevada passing game.

Both defenses will be key in this game.  With neither unit is ranked in the top 50 nationally, we could be looking at a fireworks display for the offenses.

Whoever pulls out the key stop on defense or special teams will likely win this game.  While it's hard to tell which of these very leaky defenses will make that stop, I'm willing to go with SMU.

Redshirt freshman Margus Hunt is a special teams demon, having blocked seven kicks this season.  If he he gets one more, he'll tie the NCAA record.  Look for the 6'8" giant to make a big impact on this game with his special teams play.

This contest should be a real barn-burner and while Nevada is a prohibitive favorite to win with its high octane offense, I'm taking the emotionally charged Mustangs in this game.

SMU 38,  Nevada 35

Merry Christmas Dad and Merry Christmas Mustangs fans, your boys are finally back.