Dallas Sports Blog

SMU wasn't ready to let fans storm the field. Are the Mustangs ready to bypass Memphis for Honolulu?

​As I write in this week's Dallas Observer column, SMU picked a bad year to have a good year.

And now - on the verge of his school's first bowl bid in 25 years - Mustangs' head coach June Jones is picking a strange time to get homesick.

Behind freshman quarterback Kyle Padron, SMU has won three straight, is 6-4 and poised not only for a bowl game but also a Conference USA Championship and the automatic berth to the Liberty Bowl. But the Hawaii Bowl is also interested in the Ponies.

Alas, we have a problem. And Jones might just have a conflict of interest.

Despite the Liberty Bowl promising more money and better TV ratings, seems Jones desires a return to the islands.

"The conference is going to dictate what bowl we go to, but obviously, I've told the guys we're going to Hawaii so that's where I want to go," Jones told Conference USA reporters this week. "These guys have never been to Hawaii. Plus, I think it would be way better PR for the school."

Que?

For a packed house, plenty of good seats available. Or so it seems.

​Tickets sold to Saturday night's SMU opener at Ford Stadium: 34,749, a reported sellout.

Actual attendance, however, wasn't 34,749. But SMU actually beat Stephen F. Austin, so ... Pony Up?

In other college football news ...

So now what do we do with all these Justin Willis schedules?

​

I'm told that when Willis - who last season was moved to receiver by head coach June Jones - found out this week that he wasn't considered a starter, he quit the Mustangs. The SMU-friendly site PonyPride.com confirms it.

Sad.

And that's just the start of it.

Matt Doherty hasn't done much to put SMU back on the college basketball map. He is, however, powering the Ponies to the top of the Twitterverse.

SMU urges its coaches to connect to its community. Events. Fund-raisers. Handshakes. Blogs. But you get the feeling Doherty Tweets not because he has to, but because he likes it.

In the last week, in fact, Coach Do has posted updates about his affection for honey glazed wings, playing golf with mega-booster Vic Salvino, texting former North Carolina Tar Heel Sam Perkins on his birthday, weighing less than 250 pounds, hanging out with Phil Romano, hiring new assistants Reggie Brown (from UTA) and Reggie Geary (from Arizona) and hosting his 12-year-old son's birthday party in the Crum Center while dining on pizza, Sprite and chocolate chip cookie cake.

*Son's 12th birthday party today! We are having a party in Crum! Half court shots, guitar hero and pizza! Good times! 6:28 PM Jun 13th from txt

Wait, what?

New Crum Center. Same crummy results.

In Matt Doherty's first season as SMU basketball coach back in 2006-07, the Mustangs started 9-1. A victory at Oklahoma would've likely propelled the Ponies into the Top 25. Instead, SMU was humbled in Norman by 27 points, and it's been all drastically downhill since.

The latest defeat - to Houston last night in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament - caps another dismal season and commences another March Madness where the Hilltop hoopsters are nowhere close to anyone's bracket.

Doherty, a former National Coach of the Year at North Carolina, was supposed to revive a program dormant since the days of Jon Koncak and Carl Wright in the mid-'80s. But the progress has been slow, if not stagnant.

Shun the 11-year-olds if you want. But someday they'll be college freshmen.

I had really high hopes for June Jones and SMU. But as far as first impressions go, this year sucks.

First, on the field, the offensive guru turned talented quarterback Justin Willis into one of David Copperfield’s assistants, quickly disappearing never to be seen again. His Mustangs – heartily entertaining, only to lose at the gun – look a lot like Phil Bennett’s Mustangs. Entering Saturday’s slaughter at Navy, SMU has lost six row and is 1-7, mostly thanks to its atrocious defense. The Ponies are surrendering an unfathomable 501 yards per game, 119th out of 120 I-A teams.

Young players. First year. New system. Learning curve. Yadda and more yadda. Maybe.

But there’s no excuse for how Jones and SMU are treating the young football kids of Richardson.

The athletic challenge is about to commence. Do you have any Grey Poupon?

Glorious afternoon last Saturday.

On my way to N9NE Steakhouse, Ghost Bar and the Fairmont hotel, I stopped by the Hilltop to see what the fuss was all about. What was this boulevarding that the Pony Up crowd speaks about so highly of?

And on a sun-splashed day I got my answer. For systemically strewn across the SMU campus before the game against TCU were, in no particular order:

Thought we'd see a lot -- and I mean a lot -- of this in 2008. Thought wrong.

I’ll have much more on this in next week’s column in the dead-tree version of The Sportatorium, but it commands addressing right here and right about now.

Justin Willis won’t be SMU’s starting quarterback next Friday when the June Jones era kicks off at Rice. And the reason isn’t another suspension.

Nope, despite entering his junior season already holding SMU’s all-time record with 51 touchdown passes, despite last year being voted All-Conference USA honorable mention, despite producing four of the top 15 most prolific total yardage games in school history, despite starting 22 of the Mustangs’ 24 games over the last two years and despite being the team’s most athletic, most talented, most experienced quarterback and arguably its best overall player, Willis has somehow been beaten out of the job.

Twice.

By true freshmen.

SMU’s basketball team is back safely and successfully from its summer camp in Africa. If you’re interested, head coach Matt Doherty will provide details tonight at 8 on KRLD 1080 AM.

I don’t expect an explanation of the above video, which seems to be SMU football players dancing. But I’d like one.

Anyone? -- Richie Whitt

Wonder if SMU AD Steve Orsini has an extra $400k laying around. Just in case.

SMU football coach June Jones is going back to Hawaii. Relax. It’s just so he can avoid re-paying his former employer a cool $400,000.

The University of Hawaii thinks Jones owes it the cash – half his annual paycheck while turning the Warriors from bitch-slapees to BCS big boys – for terminating his five-year contract before its June 30 expiration date. Jones, making a healthy $2 million on The Hilltop, disagrees, claiming he had a legally amended agreement with former athletic director Herman Frazier that waived the penalty. The AD was fired the day after Jones left Hawaii for SMU.

Since Jones’ agent, Leigh Steinberg, promises he has detailed emails from Frazier about the agreement and since such changes are allowed under UH rules, SMU’s boss seems in the clear. Mediation is set for June 9th in Honolulu.

Expect Jones to win. After all, he’s no dummy.

David Stanley

When you think Penn State football, it’s Joe Paterno. Texas? Gotta go with Earl Campbell. Boise State? Blue astroturf. Boston College? Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary in the Orange Bowl. SMU?

Hmmm. Can I phone a friend?

In a confusing-yet-intriguing promo, CBS College Sports TV is somehow, I think, teaming up with ESPN SportsNation to identify the Face of the Program for all college football schools. With some, pinpointing an iconic image is a no-brainer. With our heroes on The Hilltop, however, CSTV/CBS/ESPN apparently needs a little help.

Mark ... get set ... jump for My Top 10:

class="blogImageCaption">Longest road trip in Mustangs' history?

If ZZ Top can appear on American Idol, I guess anything’s possible. Even SMU’s basketball team embarking on an African Tour.

The squad, led by head coach Matt Doherty, leaves Sunday for a 12-day trip to Senegal and South Africa. Why? Good will. Recruiting. Opponents they can actually beat.

SMU, including Senegalese players Bamba Fall and Papa Dia, took an anthropology class called People of Africa and will keep online journals of their trip. They’ll take tours of Johannesburg, zip past Nelson Mandela’s house and go on a safari in Dakar. Oh yeah, they’ll also play three exhibition games before returning June 5.

The NCAA might wipe off the SMU dust and fire up ol' Sparky one more time.

Since the NCAA sentenced SMU’s football program to the death penalty 22 years ago, the organization has admitted its error by pardoning more than 30 schools that committed similarly egregious violations.

Thanks to Division I-AA Alabama State, that might be about to change.

The Montgomery, Ala. school committed a cool 668 violations, according to a five-year NCAA investigation. The governing body also found the dreaded “lack of institutional control” that most experts believe got SMU the chair.

Not a big deal, I know, but somehow seeing another school similarly penalized would make the Mustangs feel better, right?