By GARY FAUBER
BECKLEY — UCF provided the fireworks, but it was SMU’s responsibility to follow through.
Mission accomplished.
After learning that UCF had upset Houston earlier in the day, the Mustangs knew a win over UTEP would vault them into first place in the Conference USA West Division. They did their part, beating the Miners 35-31 last Saturday.
That puts SMU (6-4, 5-1) two wins away from playing for the league championship. The Mustangs visit Marshall at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the first of their two-game season.
“It feels great to be back on top,” senior strong safety Rock Dennis said. “We were really depending on Houston losing, and then we felt like we could take advantage of the opportunity.”
Dennis said he was not surprised by UCF’s win, even though Houston was ranked 14th in the country at the time and has the conference’s most prolific offense.
“Anything can happen in Conference USA,” he said. “If it happened, it happened, and if it didn’t, it didn’t.
“It was a big confidence booster. I don’t think SMU has been on top in a long time. When we found out Houston lost, it lifted up the whole stadium.”
Dennis is part of a defense that has lifted the Mustangs. SMU has 16 interceptions, good for seventh in the county, and 26 total takeaways (eighth).
Dennis, a 5-foot-9, 180-pound senior, has four interceptions. He returned one 53 yards for a touchdown in a 28-21 win over East Carolina. He also has 47 tackles, six pass breakups and a fumble recovery.
SMU is excelling in coach June Jones’ second season. The team posted its second straight 1-11 record last season before this year’s turnaround.
“Last year we were learning on the fly,” Dennis said. “We didn’t really know our reads and our keys. Now we know the defense and it’s a lot easier to play with that type of mentality.”
A simple philosophy has driven the Mustangs this season: The other team can’t win if it doesn’t score. Part of that goes with special teams, where SMU has excelled to the tune of nine blocked kicks. Two of them came on field goal attempts and were returned for touchdowns.
“Getting zero instead of three is big,” Dennis said.
It has SMU on the brink of a championship.
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Notes: Senior receiver Courtney Edmonson will not be among those recognized on Senior Day prior to Saturday’s game. Edmonson was injured early in Marshall’s season opener against Southern Illinois and will apply for a medical redshirt. … Running back Darius Marshall (ankle) did not practice Wednesday as a precaution. His status for the game is still uncertain.
— E-mail:
gfauber@register-herald.com
