Week 5: SMU at Tulane

Two of the more anemic offenses in Conference USA battle in a Thursday night encounter with the reward a first league victory of the young season. Don't expect SMU to even hint at running the football. The Mustangs ranked last in the league at 31.2 yards per game and Tulane ranks first in the conference in rush defense.

SMU, like Tulane, ranks nears the bottom in several league categories. SMU is last in scoring defense (45.8 points per game) and total defense (530.5 yards per game). The total defense number places SMU last in the nation among the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

The Mustangs also are next-to-last in rushing defense (223 ypg) and total offense (313 ypg) in C-USA. The total offense number is somewhat surprising considering new coach June Jones' penchant for converting teams into high-scoring, uptempo attacks. But in last weekend's loss to TCU, the Mustangs were held to a season-low 210 yards.

Tulane has relied on its surprisingly strong defense to overcome early season inefficiencies on offense. The Green Wave rank first in the conference in scoring defense (19.3 ppg), pass defense (150.3 ypg) and total defense (223.3 ypg). Offensively, the Green Wave have scored a West Division-low 54 points in three games.

Notes:

SMU freshman quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell has been intercepted a league-high 10 times in four games. Seven of those picks have come in the team's last two games, blowout losses to Texas Tech and TCU.

Tulane junior running back Andre Anderson rushed for a career-high 157 yards and a touchdown in a 24-10 victory last weekend over Louisiana-Monroe. Anderson ranks fourth in the league in rushing at 90.3 yards per game.

SMU junior Emmanuel Sanders had 62 receiving yards last weekend against TCU and moved into sixth place on the school's career list with 1,940 yards. However, his streak of 100-yard receiving games was snapped at four.

Tulane limited an opponent to fewer than 100 first-half yards for the third consecutive game. In fact, the Green Wave have held two of their three foes to fewer than 200 total yards. They held Alabama to 172 total yards in the season-opener.
 
Key player (Mustangs) — Thomas Morstead, P

Morstead has been among the busiest on the SMU squad this season. He has punted 18 times for an average of 45.6 yards per kick with a long of 59 yards. Had Morstead not been as efficient as he has, the Mustangs would be battling more field-position issues and an even more disappointing start.

Key player (Green Wave) — Logan Kelley, LB

Kelley had two sacks for 17 yards in losses in last weekend's win over Louisiana-Monroe. Kelley has had at least one sack in each of the team's three games and spearheaded a defense that ranks first in every league category.
 
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