DALLAS, TEXAS — The SMU Mustangs kick off conference play on Saturday at home against the 2019 American Athletic Conference champions, the Memphis Tigers. The Mustangs enter the game 3-0, and while the Tigers are also undefeated, they have only played one game this season due to positive COVID testing within the program.
In his media availability this week, SMU head coach Sonny Dykes said this means a few things: One, the Tigers will be more rested and injury-free, but could also be rusty after not playing in a few weeks.
Two, he only has one game of film to watch while they have three and more time to specifically prepare for this match up. Lastly, it’s not clear who will be available to take the field for Memphis. Dykes said regardless, they are going to focus on themselves and what they can control as they get ready to face a very good team.
Memphis rounded out this week’s college football rankings, landing at no. 24 on the coaches poll and 25 on the AP poll, while SMU received votes. One of the keys for SMU will be their defense. Memphis has a very explosive offense, led by a veteran quarterback in Brady White who threw for 350 yards and three touchdowns in last year’s matchup.
The Mustang defense allowed only 7 points last week. They will need to keep up that strong defensive performance if they want to compete. Dykes also said his team needs to tighten up their execution and compete for all 60 minutes. He feels that they’ve been able to out-athlete their past three opponents in certain areas.. but won’t be able to do that against another athletic team such as Memphis.
The Tigers have won the past six match ups between these two teams, and the Mustangs are looking to break that streak and start conference play 1-0. Something Dykes said is very important in order to accomplish their goal of being conference champions.
