Football ready to repeat SMU win

By Nathan Bledsoe     8/28/08 7:00pm

Tonight marks the start of the 2008 season for the football team as they face Conference USA foe Southern Methodist University in their first game of the year. The contest, which is being broadcast nationally on ESPN, marks the debut of SMU's $2 million a year head coach June Jones and his run-and-shoot offense, both of which join C-USA with much fanfare. The run-and-shoot is one of the oldest sorts of spread offenses, and Jones has been a run-and-shoot disciple since his playing days as a quarterback at Portland State in the mid-1970s.

Anyone watching the game on ESPN should expect the majority of media coverage to focus on Jones' arrival at SMU, his offense, and the stir he caused benching two-year starting quarterback Justin Willis in favor of untested true freshman Bo Levi Mitchell, who joins the Mustangs after his senior year at nearby Katy High School.

While ESPN focuses on SMU and their high profile new head coach, fans should expect to see an offensive explosion from Rice's experienced unit led by seniors Chase Clement and Jarett Dillard. Last year, Rice came from behind in the closing seconds to hand SMU a 43-42 defeat in Dallas, and neither SMU nor Jones is well known for a defensive prowess that could prevent the Owls from scoring just as many points this year.

---

---

The game tonight is particularly difficult to preview because of the number of unknowns about the Mustang offense - neither the starting nor the backup quarterback has taken a collegiate snap, and the amount of run-and-shoot offense learned by the receivers at this point is completely unknown.

Head coach David Bailiff said the team could do little to prepare specifically for SMU's offense, given the fact that their scheme is entirely new. Bailiff said the Owls watched last season's film from the University of Hawaii, where Jones spent the last nine years of his career.

More than almost any other offense, the run-and-shoot is predicated on adjustments made by receivers as they move down the field, and the quarterback and his receivers reading the adjustments the same way. With a freshman quarterback and a team running a brand new scheme, the potentially high-powered run-and-shoot has a high chance of struggling mightily. The much-improved Rice defense should help to keep the Mustang offense sputtering.

Led by senior linebacker Brian Raines, a Butkus and Lombardi award watch-list candidate, as well as an extremely experienced secondary, Rice's defense should be much improved in its second season running the 4-2-5. In order to succeed against a pass-happy team like the Mustangs, the Owls will need to get pressure on Mitchell early and often. However, don't be surprised if the game becomes one typical of C-USA; one in which both teams score more than 35 points and it all comes down to a final possession or one big defensive stand.

---