 "Photo: Sam Grenadier")
Someday soon, first-year coach June Jones will have the offense he wants at SMU. Saturday's trip to Lubbock gives his players a chance to see just how dynamic that offense could become.
"We're still trying to get from A to B," said Jones, whose Mustangs play No. 12 Texas Tech at 6 p.m. Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium. "I think (Tech coach Mike Leach) is already A to B to C and D."
This season, former Southwest Conference rival SMU (1-1) is looking for the magic Jones brought to Hawaii, where he won 76 games in nine seasons. With the Warriors, he won two Western Athletic Conference championships and flipped a winless 1998 season into a 9-4 record the next year - the biggest turnaround in NCAA History.
Now he is working on another project in Dallas, where his Mustangs entered the season riding a lowly 10-game losing streak, but Jones already seems to be getting to his players with his run-and -shoot offense.
For the third straight game, Tech (2-0) will go up against another dynamic offense. First it was Eastern Washington's spread offense, which threw for 335 yards, and then it was Nevada's pistol formation that put up a total of 488 yards.
However, Tech's defense rose to the occasion both times. Now the Red Raiders face a passing offense that ranks ninth in the nation with 348 yards per game.
"We want it to be equal," Tech receiver Eric Morris said. "That's the sign of a great football team, and all these teams that you see that are winning championships, defense is definitely stepping up and making big plays, and the offense as well."
While quarterback Graham Harrell and the Tech offense have put up enough points to win its first two games, there still seems to be some inconsistencies that come at the beginning of the season, Leach said.
Harrell's 41 percent completion percentage against Nevada marked the first time Tech managed to win a game when Harrell threw under 60 percent, but SMU's defense could be exactly what Harrell needs to regain his rhythm.
"We know the offense is gonna start clicking sooner or later," defensive end Jake Ratliff said, "and you know they're gonna get some."
SMU has allowed 220.5 yards per game on the ground while giving up 251.5 through the air so far this season.
Jones said communication in a hostile environment could be a problem for his young team - the Mustangs have played more true freshman than any other team in the nation this season.
"I think communication becomes more difficult with crowd noise," Jones said. "Both defensively - knowing what the call is, hearing what the call is on defense - and (offensively) then of course, snap count and everything else. You've got to just mature and learn how to do it. If we want to be a bowl team, we have to be able to win on the road."
Jones' offense is set up to give its quarterback all the ingredients necessary for a huge season, and his freshman quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell is picking it up quicker than some anticipated.
Mitchell, who had no interceptions in his last outing against Texas State, has thrown for 614 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions.
Mitchell has a pair of athletic receivers to work with in Aldrick Robinson and Emmanuel Sanders, who each have more than 15 catches, 250 yards and four touchdowns a piece.
Jones said it's still a matter of time until his team can understand the capabilities of his offense, which starts with Mitchell's progression.
"I think every time the quarterback plays, because he's young, he's gonna get better," Jones said. "Hopefully he'll take another step this week."
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