Life After Death: The Todd Rutledge story

[aztarheel]

Coach Todd Rutledge had watched about an hour's worth of film from the Marshall game with his assistants on Sunday afternoon. Then, he couldn't take it any more. He tossed the remote control to an assistant and stormed out of the room, making a phone call to senior captains Oliver Tores (an offensive tackle) and Glenn Straton (a strong safety). "Guys, I want you to call all your teammates and have them at the practice field tomorrow morning at 5:45 a.m. Make sure everyone is wearing shorts, T-shirts and running shoes, got it? ... And no one had better be late." Sure enough, there were only a handful of stragglers the next morning at the crack of dawn (walk-ons mostly and folks buried on the depth chart). For the next 90 minutes Rutledge and his coaches worked their boys as hard as they could run them. Sprints. Suicides. Up-downs. All the "county fair" type drills that a high school team might do on the first day of practice in early August. And Rutledge didn't just bark out instructions to his players from the sidelines either. He and his assistants joined in (as best they could). Rutledge amazed some of his most fit athletes by keeping up on most runs. Around 7:15 a.m., Rutledge blew his whistle and gathered sweaty, sufficiently worn out team around him at midfield. "Well done, men. You worked hard today. Now, you had better not ever get embarassed like you did against Marshall again, do you understand?" The message got through loud and clear.

[luismiranda]

The loss against Marshall must have been hard to swallow. I've had to endure some tough losses from them. Believe me it feels good to return the favor and I've done that a few times now. :D I will let you know however that as frustrating as that loss was it gets even more frustrating that after a few good recruiting classes you can still lose to a lowly Memphis team and not be able to compete for the conference championship. I can't recall how many times I was in the midst of a conference championship race only to lose to Memphis and get jumped by another team.

[luismiranda]

I thought you might be interested in knowing that SMU won the Conference USA Championship in 2020. They finished with a 7-5 record and then lost in the Liberty Bowl to Boston College by a field goal.

[aztarheel]

[QUOTE=luismiranda;346224]I thought you might be interested in knowing that SMU won the Conference USA Championship in 2020. They finished with a 7-5 record and then lost in the Liberty Bowl to Boston College by a field goal.[/QUOTE] Great, all I have to do is keep plugging away for 15 years, and SMU will win something ... :rolleyes:

[luismiranda]

At least now you have something to look forward too. You know it's possible.

[aztarheel]

2006 Season — Week 9 [IMG]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aztarheel/SMUHelmetrev.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aztarheel/UTEPHelmet.jpg[/IMG] [SIZE="5"][B]Southern Methodist 30, UTEP 17[/B][/SIZE] [SIZE="4"]Renewed Mustangs run, pass, kick their way past Miners[/SIZE] Coach Todd Rutledge got his players’ attention with his Monday morning impromptu conditioning session. He basically sent the message that losing -- and a loser’s mentality -- were no longer acceptable at SMU. The message got through, at least for this week. This was probably the most complete game of the season for SMU. The defense dominated. The running game (finally) got going, with backup Troy O’Connell enjoying a 100-yard day. Quarterback John Key managed the offense well without turning it over. Even kicker Henry Colbert was money, booting three field goals, including a 50-yarder. SMU improved to 4-4 overall with the win, just two games away from being -- gulp -- bowl eligible. Wouldn’t that be something for a program that has been down so long? It’s been a long, long time since the Mustangs have been playing in late December. Coach Rutledge didn’t allow himself to dwell on that too much. There are four games left, and the Mustangs very easily could be 4-8 if they get satisfied now… Here's the box score: [code]UTEP 0 3 7 7 -- 17 SMU 3 17 7 3 -- 30 First Quarter SMU FG 5:38 3-0 Henry Colbert 42 YD Second Quarter SMU TD 14:04 10-0 Benjamin Jones 12 YD run (Henry Colbert kick) SMU FG 6:47 13-0 Henry Colbert 29 YD SMU TD 2:28 20-0 Michael Acosta 15 YD pass from John Key (Henry Colbert kick) UTEP FG 0:08 20-3 Scott Davis 48 YD Third Quarter UTEP TD 12:53 20-10 Russ Brown 15 YD pass from Jefferey Smith (Scott Davis kick) SMU TD 4:15 27-10 Tommy O’Leary 4 YD pass from John Key (Henry Colbert kick) Fourth Quarter SMU FG 7:01 30-10 Henry Colbert 50 YD UTEP TD 6:31 30-17 Daniel Sullivan 3 YD pass from Jefferey Smith (Scott Davis kick) Individual Stat Leaders SMU Passing QB John Key 22 of 42 for 210 yards, 2 TD’s, 0 INTs SMU Rushing RB Benjamin Jones 20 carries, 52 yards, 1 TD RB Tim O'Connell 17 carries, 103 yards SMU Receiving WR Terry McCollum 6 catches, 78 yards, TE Michael Acosta 4 catches, 47 yards, 1 TD WR Tommy O'Leary 5 catches, 34 yards, 1 TD SMU Total Yards 359 yards = 210 passing, 149 rushing UTEP Passing QB Jefferey Smith 12 of 27 for 132 yards, 2 TD’s, 2 INT’s UTEP Rushing RB C. Magana 16 carries, 46 yards RB E. Moreland 9 carries, 20 yards UTEP Receiving WR G. Paul 3 catches, 48 yards WR D. Sullivan 3 catches, 28 yards, 1 TD WR G. Lynch 3 catches, 20 yards UTEP Total Yards 186 = 54 yards rushing, 132 yards passing[/code] [IMG]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aztarheel/conferenceusa.jpg[/IMG] [SIZE="5"][B]Scoreboard[/B][/SIZE] Lots of games in C-USA this week. Tulsa’s now 8-1, wow. Marshall beat up on another foe, so at least that looks better for SMU. Marshall 44, UAB 15 Southern Miss 19, Central Florida 11 Tulsa 21, Houston 14 Memphis 13, ECU 7 SMU 30, UTEP 17 Tulane 36, Rice 13 [B]The C-USA Standings[/B] [CODE]East Division Conf. Total Marshall 5-1 5-4 Memphis 3-2 4-4 UAB 2-3 3-5 East Carolina 2-3 2-5 Southern Miss 2-4 3-6 Central Florida 1-4 1-6 West Division Conf. Total Tulsa 6-0 8-1 SMU 3-3 4-4 Tulane 3-3 3-6 UTEP 2-2 4-3 Houston 2-2 3-4 Rice 1-4 3-5[/CODE]

[aztarheel]

2006 Season — Week 10 [IMG]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aztarheel/SMUHelmetrev.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aztarheel/TulaneHelmet.jpg[/IMG] [SIZE="5"][B]Southern Methodist 26, Tulane 17[/B][/SIZE] [SIZE="4"]Big returns help Mustangs rally from 17-0 deficit for fifth win[/SIZE] Tommy O’Leary probably should have taken a knee in the end zone for a touchback. But something told him to come on out and go for broke. So he did, found a seam along the left sideline, got a couple of great blocks and brought the kickoff back 98 yards. That play may have been the turning point in SMU’s win over the Green Wave in New Orleans. Tulane had just scored its second touchdown to go up on SMU 17-0 midway through the second quarter. But O’Leary’s play brought some life back into the Mustangs’ sidelines and coach Todd Rutledge’s team capitalized by scoring 26 unanswered points for the victory. Granted, the Mustangs only got a field goal after O’Leary’s huge return, but SMU was a totally different team after that. They rose up on defense and did just enough on offense to take advantage of its opportunities. O’Leary began the second half with an 88-yard kickoff return, setting up SMU’s first TD. That made the score 17-10. The Mustangs tied it up at 17 later in the third quarter, then kicker Henry Colbert (one of Rutledge’s favorite players on his first SMU team) booted three field goals in the fourth quarter to seal the win. It wasn’t a pretty game for sure for SMU. Quarterback John Key was just 14 of 39 (ugg). But an ugly win will do any day for a program that has so few victories the past few decades. The Mustangs are now 5-4 overall, 4-3 in Conference USA going into the league finale against Tulsa. If SMU can somehow stop the Golden Hurricane after a week off from game action, Rutledge and his troops really can start thinking about bowls. Tulsa will be a formidable foe for sure. The Hurricane moved to 9-1 this week with a win over Temple. They’ve already clinched a berth in the Conference USA championship game and are dreaming of being 13-1 with a sweep of its remaining games, the C-USA title game and the Liberty Bowl… Here's the box score: [code]SMU 0 3 14 9 -- 26 Tulane 10 7 0 0 -- 17 First Quarter TUL TD 5:12 7-0 Ross Freeman 7 YD run (Harold Rodrigues kick) TUL FG 0:00 10-0 Harold Rodrigues 35 YD Second Quarter TUL TD 8:57 17-0 Orlando Stoddard 6 YD run (Harold Rodrigues kick) SMU FG 6:51 17-3 Henry Colbert 26 YD Third Quarter SMU TD 14:21 17-10 Bryan Simpson 5 YD pass from John Key (Henry Colbert kick) SMU TD 4:46 17-17 Tommy O’Leary 9 YD pass from John Key (Henry Colbert kick) Fourth Quarter SMU FG 9:00 20-17 Henry Colbert 31 YD SMU FG 6:26 23-17 Henry Colbert 44 YD SMU FG 0:49 26-17 Henry Colbert 40 YD Individual Stat Leaders SMU Passing QB John Key 14 of 39 for 147 yards, 2 TD’s, 1 INT SMU Rushing RB Tim O'Connell 13 carries, 56 yards RB Benjamin Jones 14 carries, 30 yards SMU Receiving WR Tommy O'Leary 6 catches, 78 yards, 1 TD WR Bryan Simpson 3 catches, 26 yards, 1 TD TE Michael Acosta 2 catches, 21 yards SMU Total Yards 244 yards = 97 rushing, 147 passing TUL Passing QB V. Martin 21 of 34 for 198 yards, 0 TD’s, 1 INT QB J. Woodard 3 of 4 for 39 yards TUL Rushing RB O. Stoddard 19 carries, 77 yards, 1 TD RB R. Freeman 18 carries, 66 yards, 1 TD FB. J. Flores 1 carry, 21 yards TUL Receiving WR S. Barney 8 catches, 93 yards WR D. Russell 7 catches, 73 yards WR B. Smith 6 catches, 53 yards TUL Total Yards 390 = 153 yards rushing, 237 yards passing[/code] [IMG]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aztarheel/conferenceusa.jpg[/IMG] [SIZE="5"][B]Scoreboard[/B][/SIZE] Lots of league games again this week. Marshall and Tulsa are on a collision course for the C-USA championship game. SMU 26, Tulane 17 Marshall 22, Central Florida 6 Memphis 29, UAB 15 ECU 24, Southern Miss 10 Houston 24, UTEP 16 Tulsa 23, Temple 17 [B]The C-USA Standings[/B] [CODE]East Division Conf. Total Marshall 6-1 6-4 Memphis 4-2 5-4 East Carolina 3-3 3-5 UAB 2-4 3-6 Southern Miss 2-5 3-7 Central Florida 1-5 1-7 West Division Conf. Total Tulsa 6-0 9-1 SMU 4-3 5-4 Houston 3-2 4-4 Tulane 3-4 3-7 UTEP 2-3 4-4 Rice 1-4 3-5[/CODE]

[Holycow98]

Good luck with your last three games. If you can go at least 2-1 you may just get in a bowl game.

[luismiranda]

Who are your last 3 games against?

[aztarheel]

SMU has a week off, then will play Tulsa, La Tech and TCU ... Tulsa is the last C-USA opponent ... I'll be curious to see how many C-USA teams get bowl berths...

[luismiranda]

Tulsa and TCU will be tough. However you do have one thing going for you, in my Conference USA game with ECU I realized that sometimes Conference USA was like the SEC on any given Saturday a bad team could beat a good team. I found that out the hard way several times. Hopefully La Tech will be a win and probably guarantee a bowl game for you. Look for about 4-6 Conference USA teams to be in a bowl game.

[aztarheel]

2006 Season — Week 11 [IMG]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aztarheel/SMUHelmetrev.jpg[/IMG] [SIZE="5"][B]Southern Methodist bye week[/B][/SIZE] [SIZE="4"]Mustangs keep eye on next opponent, Tulsa, which wins 10th game[/SIZE] SMU didn't play this week, but Mustangs coach Todd Rutledge stayed active on Saturday, keeping his eye on Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane, next week's opponent for the Mustangs, improved to 10-1 with a win over Rice. This was the ninth-straight victory for the Golden Hurricane. Even though SMU will be steep underdogs, Rutledge just has a great feeling about this game. Of course, he felt that way about Marshall, too, and that contest was a disaster. Anyways, here's a roundup of Conference USA action that did take place in week 11: [IMG]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aztarheel/conferenceusa.jpg[/IMG] [SIZE="5"][B]Scoreboard[/B][/SIZE] Just four games this week... UAB 14, ECU 6 Memphis 40, UTEP 14 Tulsa 35, Rice 21 Houston 30, Central Florida 6 [B]The C-USA Standings[/B] [CODE]East Division Conf. Total Marshall 6-1 6-4 Memphis 5-2 6-4 UAB 3-4 4-6 East Carolina 3-4 3-6 Southern Miss 2-5 3-7 Central Florida 1-6 1-8 West Division Conf. Total Tulsa 7-0 10-1 SMU 4-3 5-4 Houston 4-2 5-4 Tulane 3-4 3-7 UTEP 2-4 4-5 Rice 1-5 3-6[/CODE]

[luismiranda]

Talk about suspenseful. What was the result of the big matchup against Tulsa?

[aztarheel]

2006 Season — Week 12 [IMG]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aztarheel/SMUHelmetrev.jpg[/IMG][img]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aztarheel/TulsaHelmet.jpg[/img] [SIZE="5"][B]Southern Methodist 23, Tulsa 17[/B][/SIZE] [SIZE="4"]Miracle Mustangs stun Golden Hurricane on final play![/SIZE] SMU thought it would have to settle for the moral victory of playing 10-win Tulsa close after turning the ball over on downs at the Golden Hurricane 41-yard line with 39 seconds left. But then the unthinkable happened. Rather than take a knee, Tulsa -- leading 17-16, decided to hand the ball off to running back Francis Miller (the coaching gaffe of the year for the Hurricane). SMU's Gary Erwin delivered a monster hit after a short gain, and the ball popped loose. Safety Glenn Stratton, the MVP of the defense much of this season, scooped it up the returned it to the Tulsa 39. Still, receiving a miracle, SMU couldn't move the ball any closer to field goal range for kicker Henry Colbert. Quarterback John Key was sacked on first down and threw incomplete passes the next two downs — and very bad passes at that. The Mustangs faced fourth down and 12 from the Tulsa 41 with six ticks left. Key rolled out — and getting a monstrous pancake block from 301-pound offensive tackle Mark Marquis — had time to get off a nice lofting pass to the end zone. Receiver Thomas Miller, running an out pattern, beat the cornerback to the spot and hauled in a perfect strike for the winning touchdown as time expired in the left corner of the end zone!!! SMU had its biggest win under new coach Todd Rutledge, and maybe one of the biggest victories for the school since the 1980s (before the death penalty). Rutledge couldn't believe it. He just stood there with a big goofy grin on his face while players celebrated like crazy and fans rushed the field. Finally, a few walk-ons nailed Rutledge with the ol' water cooler victory bath. Rutledge didn't even feel it. The Mustangs' defense was the ultimate hero, holding Tulsa to 267 total yards and forcing three turnovers. Key had an ugly game from a stat perspective, completing just 17 of 40 passes. But his last throw was golden and will go into SMU lore for years to come. Amazingly, Key and Miller hooked up on another Hail Mary pass on the final play of the first half. This one covered 80 yards and gave SMU a 13-7 lead at the break — fueling belief that one of the sorriest teams in college football the past 20 years could knock off the champs of Conference USA's West Division. The Mustangs led by as much as 16-7 in the third quarter before Tulsa came back to score 10 unanswered points. Rutledge's team had numerous chances in the fourth quarter but something always tripped them up — until the final miracle play... SMU improved to 6-4 overall and completed its conference schedule with a respectable 5-3 mark (not bad for a "lean" year). Tulsa dropped to 10-2 overall, 7-1 in Conference USA (still will play in the league's title game). Here's the box score: [code]Tulsa 0 7 10 0 -- 17 SMU 6 7 3 7 -- 23 First Quarter SMU FG 9:12 3-0 Henry Colbert 20 YD SMU FG 3:06 6-0 Henry Colbert 43 YD Second Quarter TLSA TD 9:17 7-6 Jeffrey Tucker 11 YD pass from James Buckley (Jose Hall kick) SMU TD 0:00 13-7 Thomas Miller 80 YD pass from John Key (Henry Colbert kick) Third Quarter SMU FG 10:28 16-7 Henry Colbert 28 YD TLSA FG 5:43 16-10 Jose Hall 25 YD TLSA TD 2:13 17-16 Charles Phillips 12 YD pass from James Buckley (Jose Hall kick) Fourth Quarter SMU TD 0:00 23-17 Thomas Miller 41 YD pass from John Key (Henry Colbert kick) (funny that the game let us do an extra point after the game-winning TD pass) Individual Stat Leaders SMU Passing QB John Key 17 of 40 for 287 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT SMU Rushing RB Benjamin Jones 25 carries, 101 yards, RB Tim O'Connell 11 carries, 65 yards SMU Receiving WR Thomas Miller 5 catches, 168 yards, 2 TDs WR Tommy O'Leary 7 catches, 70 yards WR Bryan Simpson 3 catches, 43 yards SMU Total Yards 446 yards = 159 rushing, 287 passing TLSA Passing QB James Buckley 11 of 34 for 137 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs TLSA Rushing RB C. Harrison 12 carries, 107 yards RB F. Miller 15 carries, 29 yards TLSA Receiving WR J. Tucker 3 catches, 51 yards WR C. Brown 3 catches, 38 yards WR M. Warner 4 catches, 36 yards TLSA Total Yards 267 = 130 yards rushing, 137 yards passing[/code] [IMG]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aztarheel/conferenceusa.jpg[/IMG] [SIZE="5"][B]Scoreboard[/B][/SIZE] Lots of action as the C-USA schedule draws to a close. It's going to be Marshall and Tulsa for the conference championship, with a spot in the Liberty Bowl at stake. Only one C-USA game left, Houston vs. Rice. Can SMU actually get to a bowl? The Mustangs are now eligible at 6-4! Games remain against Louisiana Tech and rival TCU. SMU 23, Tulsa 17 (wahoo!) Marshall 17, East Carolina 14 (sorry luis) Central Florida 24, Memphis 17 Houston 21, Southern Miss 7 Alabama-Birmingham 17, Rice 8 UTEP 24, Tulane 10 [B]The C-USA Standings[/B] [CODE]East Division Conf. Total Marshall 7-1 7-4 Memphis 5-3 6-5 UAB 4-4 5-6 East Carolina 3-5 3-7 Southern Miss 2-6 3-8 Central Florida 2-6 2-8 West Division Conf. Total Tulsa 7-1 10-2 SMU 5-3 6-4 Houston 5-2 6-4 Tulane 3-5 3-8 UTEP 3-5 5-6 Rice 1-6 3-7[/CODE]

[luismiranda]

Congrats on being bowl eligible. I bet June Jones read this dynasty post and decided he'd try and make it happen. LOL. ;)

[aztarheel]

[QUOTE=luismiranda;353362]Congrats on being bowl eligible. I bet June Jones read this dynasty post and decided he'd try and make it happen. LOL. ;)[/QUOTE] It's funny but since starting this dynasty, I've become a closet SMU fan... I'll be on their real-life bandwagon and hope they can turn things around ... just not before Todd Rutledge does it... ha...

[aztarheel]

[I]2006 Season - Week 13[/I] No Conference USA games this week ... Louisiana Tech, the team SMU plays next, lost to Fresno State 21-18, dropping them to 4-6 on the season. TCU, the Mustangs' big rival and final regular season opponent, didn't play this week and is 5-6. Let's hope SMU can finish strong. A bowl game would be a sweet way to start Mr. Rutledge's career in the Big D...

[Big Six]

Awesome finish against Tulsa, AZ! And congratulations on your bowl eligibility. Two more wins, and an 8-3 record, ought to get you an invitation to a decent bowl. I confess I don't follow C-USA football closely enough to remember which bowls they have agreements with. Keep up the good work with your dynasty!

[aztarheel]

Thanks for stopping by, BigSix ... I wish I had more time to play. Between my full-time job and the part-time gig I'm trying to turn into full-time (and having a family that I love to be with), I don't have much time to spend on my favorite hobby...

[aztarheel]

2006 Season — Week 13 No games in Conference USA this week ... 2006 Season — Week 14 [IMG]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aztarheel/SMUHelmetrev.jpg[/IMG][img]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aztarheel/Louisiana_Tech.png[/img] [SIZE="5"][B]Louisiana Tech 15, Southern Methodist 6[/B][/SIZE] [SIZE="4"]Mustangs go 'thud' after recent win streak[/SIZE] SMU is bowl eligible but may have lost its bowl appeal after a lackluster effort against La Tech (now 5-6 overall). The Mustangs only generated 193 yards of total offense and were 2 of 16 in third-down conversions. A pair of Henry Colbert field goals -- one in the first quarter and one in the fourth -- were all SMU could muster on the scoreboard. While the 'Stangs have lived off of big plays in recent weeks to overcome their deficiencies, none of those materialized on this day. Coach Todd Rutledge's team, now 6-5 overall, will have to hope to close well against TCU in its pursuit of the school's first bowl berth since the 1980s. Here's the box score: [code]Louisiana Tech 3 6 0 6 -- 15 SMU 3 0 0 3 -- 6 First Quarter LATC FG 9:32 3-0 Willie Grant 41 YD SMU FG 6:09 3-3 Henry Colbert 41 YD Second Quarter LATC TD 0:39 9-3 Harlan Beatty 2 YD pass from Steven Drury (Willie Grant kick) Fourth Quarter LATC FG 12:50 12-3 Willie Grant 29 YD SMU FG 10:55 12-6 Henry Colbert 34 TD LATC FG 1:07 15-6 Willie Grant 49 YD Individual Stat Leaders SMU Passing QB John Key 13 of 30 for 128 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs QB Patrick Watkins 0 of 2 QB E. Hawkins 0 of 2 SMU Rushing RB Benjamin Jones 18 carries, 74 yards QB John Key 1 carry, 8 yards RB Tim O'Connell 7 carries, 7 yards SMU Receiving WR Tommy O'Leary 4 catches, 58 yards TE Michael Acosta 3 catches, 21 yards SMU Total Yards 193 yards = 65 rushing, 128 passing LATC Passing QB Steven Drury 11 of 29 for 135 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs LATC Rushing RB L. Young 20 carries, 74 yards RB M. Dominguez 17 carries, 70 yards LATC Receiving RB M. Dominguez 2 catches, 45 yards WR H. Beaty 3 catches, 26 yards LATC Total Yards 270 = 135 yards rushing, 135 yards passing[/code] [IMG]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aztarheel/conferenceusa.jpg[/IMG] [SIZE="5"][B]Scoreboard[/B][/SIZE] Just two games involving Conference USA Teams this week. One is a dud (at least for SMU fans). Another is a bit of an upset: Louisiana Tech 15, SMU 6 Rice 17, Houston 14 [B]The C-USA Standings[/B] [CODE]East Division Conf. Total Marshall 7-1 7-4 Memphis 5-3 6-5 UAB 4-4 5-6 East Carolina 3-5 3-7 Southern Miss 2-6 3-8 Central Florida 2-6 2-8 West Division Conf. Total Tulsa 7-1 10-2 SMU 5-3 6-5 Houston 5-3 6-5 Tulane 3-5 3-8 UTEP 3-5 5-6 Rice 2-6 4-7[/CODE]

[luismiranda]

Tough loss against La Tech. You should still get a decent Conference USA Bowl bid. It's based more on your conference record.

[aztarheel]

[QUOTE=luismiranda;361909]Tough loss against La Tech. You should still get a decent Conference USA Bowl bid. It's based more on your conference record.[/QUOTE] That's reassuring news because SMU fell completely flat on its face in its regular season finale... Not much else to say other than this: 2006 Season — Week 15 [IMG]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aztarheel/SMUHelmetrev.jpg[/IMG][img]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aztarheel/Texas_Christian.png[/img] [SIZE="5"][B]Texas Christian 30, Southern Methodist 0[/B][/SIZE] [SIZE="4"]Is 6-6 good enough for a bowl bid?[/SIZE] SMU didn't have tons of turnovers (one interception). They didn't have lots of penalties (eight). They didn't get stuffed in terms of total offensive yardage (259, not great but not terrible either). Coach Todd Rutledge's team just couldn't put the ball into the end zone or through the uprights. As a matter of fact, the Mustangs never even ventured into the red zone one time. Ouch. Not exactly the way you tell bowl scouts that you're ready for the post-season. No need to post a box score and leaders for this game. Just note that TCU took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, then tacked on two touchdowns to pull away in the third. Two field goals in the fourth sealed it, including one with 16 seconds left in the game to pour a little salt on the rivalry wounds. Rutledge took note of that. [IMG]http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/aztarheel/conferenceusa.jpg[/IMG] [SIZE="5"][B]Scoreboard[/B][/SIZE] The Conference USA regular season concludes with three games: Texas Christian 30, SMU 0 Wake Forest 34, East Carolina 13 South Florida 24, Central Florida 13 [B]The C-USA Standings[/B] [CODE]East Division Conf. Total Marshall 7-1 7-4 Memphis 5-3 6-5 UAB 4-4 5-6 East Carolina 3-5 3-8 Southern Miss 2-6 3-8 Central Florida 2-6 2-9 West Division Conf. Total Tulsa 7-1 10-2 SMU 5-3 6-6 Houston 5-3 6-5 Tulane 3-5 3-8 UTEP 3-5 5-6 Rice 2-6 4-7[/CODE] One C-USA match-up left, the conference championship game between Marshall and Tulsa. Looking at conference records, it looks as though SMU, Houston and Memphis have a shot at bowl games as well. We'll see. Thankfully for Rutledge, there is a glut of bowl games out there...

[aztarheel]

Coach Todd Rutledge felt so rotten about the TCU loss that he just took a few questions in the post-game press conference and walked off, sullen. A few weeks earlier his team had been so high and had played so well in handing Tulsa its only conference loss. That win had improved the Mustangs to 6-4 overall and put them on the bowl radar. Now, Rutledge had to wonder if any bowl scouts would be interested in a mediocre 6-6 team which had scored just three points in its last two games. Probably not, he surmised. Time to start hitting the recruiting trail. As Rutledge walked, head down, back to the team locker room, the SMU athletic director raced up behind him. "Todd, come back here for a minute. We've got to go back to the interview room for a big announcement." "Oh great," Rutledge thought to himself. "They are going to fire me on the spot for our great collapse."

[southernwebb04]

Great dynasty, as I've always love SMU. What is really interesting, is Arkansas State's player was named Martin Webb, which so happens to be my name. Weird. Looking forward to the next installment.

[aztarheel]

I'll have to keep tabs on Martin Webb for you as the seasons progress ... haha ... All of my dynasty worlds are on hold for the time being thanks to a heavy duty work load (I got a huge side job in addition to full-time job that is due in the next couple of weeks, so not much room for gaming for awhile - arrg)... I may gravitate to OOTP once spring arrives but I have no plans to abandon this dynasty, Lord willing ...