Southern Methodist Mustangs NCAA Football News

While SMU lost control Saturday of playing for and hosting a Conference USA championship, the Mustangs' message to each other was clear: All is not lost.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. The lasting image from Saturday for SMU won't be celebrating a long-awaited bowl milestone.

The post-Cody Slate era begins today, a bit sooner than Marshall fans had anticipated.

The story has made the rounds about a referee who planned to announce that Southern Methodist had just taken a timeout, but instead told the crowd, "Timeout, Hawaii ." That would have been a humorous but understandable slip.

UCF provided the fireworks, but it was SMU's responsibility to follow through. Mission accomplished.

Nick Greer wraps up Mora's Preston Carlisle during the Patriots 31-14 State AAA Tournament quarterfinal loss on Saturday afternoon in Duluth.

Series Record: SMU leads 9-7. Last meeting: 2008, UTEP 36-10. SMU is one victory away from becoming bowl eligible.

Originally published November 14, 2009 at 5:57 p.m., updated November 14, 2009 at 6:26 p.m. DALLAS a ' SMU quarterback Kyle Padron threw two touchdowns and added a pair of TD runs while Shawnbrey McNeal rushed for a career-high 169 yards and a score to lead the Mustangs to a 35-31 win over UTEP on Saturday.

On the scale of Texas tall tales, Margus Hunt's story rates as the most outlandish since Hakeem Olajuwon curled out of a cab in front of the University of Houston nearly 30 years ago.

June Jones has been given the moniker of a miracle man of sorts based in his success in Hawaii, and it's beginning to look like he still has the touch.

SMU senior receiver Emmanuel Sanders tapped out a text message to his teammates and coaches during the off-season, reminding them to put in inspired, hard work.Jeff Reinebold, the receivers coach, took it in, unsure of how Sanders would follow through on his leadership missive.

Originally published November 12, 2009 at 3:51 p.m., updated November 12, 2009 at 3:56 p.m. DALLAS a ' June Jones does not bring up SMU's dreadful history to his players.

June Jones has a history of rebuilding college football programs. Back in 1999, no one paid attention to The University of Hawaii.

Athletic director Steve Orsini, clad in his standard red blazer, slapped backs and hugged with zeal.

Shawnbrey McNeal rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowns to lift SMU to a 31-28 win over Rice Saturday afternoon.

Sure, SMU is buzzing about potential bowls, its first-place tie with Houston in Conference USA's West division and freshman quarterback Kyle Padron.

The mustangs made their bow during halftime of SMU-Navy on October 17. a A couple of weeks back, during halftime of the SMU-Navy game at Ford Stadium, the university debuted two new mustangs donated by the National Wild Horse Foundation, on behalf of Madeleine and T. Boone Pickens.

SMU's Emmanuel Sanders hopes to celebrate at least three wins in the team's final four games.

The Mustangs canceled their scheduled morning practice Thursday because of predicted storms and then bused out to use Rockwall ISD's indoor facility in the afternoon.

Freshman quarterback Kyle Padron made his first start a memorable one, turning two broken plays into scoring passes in leading Southern Methodist to a 27-13 victory over Tulsa on Saturday.