What a difference a year makes.

When the SMU football team began preseason workouts in August, cornerback Richard Crawford was just another newcomer on the Mustangs’ practice field. Sure, he was a little older than the other new faces, having arrived at SMU after two years at Saddleback Community College in Mission Viejo, Calif., but in terms of his knowledge of the SMU defense and comfort level with his teammates, he was just like the Ponies’ freshmen.

Richard Crawford earned all-conference honors after leading the Mustangs with four interceptions in 2010 (photo by Travis Johnston).

Nine months later, Crawford is one of the old men of the SMU secondary, one of the leaders of the defense. In his first year with the Ponies, Crawford started 13 of 14 games, registering 59 tackles and four interceptions, and served as one of the team’s top punt returners, en route to Honorable Mention All-Conference USA honors.

At the start of the season, Crawford was admittedly a little lost. Defensive coordinator Tom Mason said Crawford earned the starting cornerback job because of his intelligence, as well as his pure athletic ability. Mason also said that he assumed Crawford would struggle at first while he adjusted to his new team and the speed of the game, but said his maturity would help accelerate that adjustment.

Less than a year after arriving on campus, Crawford found himself foregoing repetitions so some of his younger teammates could get more repetitions. The reduction in practice repetitions for any upperclassman is token sign that the coaching staff believes the veteran players have a better grasp on things, from schemes to terminology to specific techniques.

“It’s a little hard,” Crawford said when asked if he now feels like one of the elder statesmen in the secondary. “I’ll be a senior next year, but at the same time, (2010) was my first season. I’m still learning.

“Now that I’m more comfortable with the defense, I want to be more aggressive, I want to learn (receivers’) splits, learn their stems (groups of pass routes).”

Crawford is a student of the game. He spends hours in the coaches’ offices, talking defense and watching film, and when other cornerbacks were on the field during spring workouts, he did mental reps. The time spent as an observer also allowed him to assess the progress being made by some of his teammates, including Keith Robinson, who ran with the first-team defense at the other cornerback spot, opposite Crawford, in spring workouts following the graduation of former starter Sterling Moore.

“‘K-Rob’ is the (other) starter until he’s not the starter, I guess,” Crawford said. “There are a lot of guys competing, and that makes everyone better. You know you’re going to have to play well, because we have several guys who can step in and play.

“(Robinson) has really quick feet. He backpedals fast, and he comes out of his breaks really well, and for a guy who isn’t that tall (Robinson is listed on the SMU roster at 5-foot-9) he really gets up well and battles for the ball at the highest possible spot.”

Crawford said he was very impressed with the progress made during the 2010 season and in the team’s spring workouts by freshman corners Chris Parks and Kenneth Acker.

“Chris is really impressive,” Crawford said. “He has gotten a lot better with press coverage with those long arms, and as he gets stronger, he’s going to get even better. He looks kind of skinny, because he’s so tall, but he’s already strong. Give him another year or two with (strength and conditioning coach) Mel, and he’s going to be even stronger.

“If he had to, I could see him starting against Texas A&M. He has gotten a lot better, for his first year.”

Crawford said he enjoys watching Acker, whose confidence and aggressive nature allow him to try to make plays many first-year cornerbacks would not attempt.

“Acker’s going to take chances, and he’s going to make plays,” Crawford said. “He’s like Chris — and me — in the fact that he’s only had one year in this defense. He doesn’t know the whole defense, but neither does Chris and neither do I. We’re still learning. But he’s a really confident guy. He’s a great athlete, and he’s going to make some plays.”

Crawford said that he went several games into the 2010 season before he showed some of the same aggression Acker naturally brings to the position.

“At first, I wasn’t taking as many chances as I should have,” he said. “What got me here was taking chances and making plays. When we were getting ready for the (Nov. 20) Marshall game (secondary) Coach (Derrick) Odum told me to relax. He told me, ‘just do what you do.’ That’s when my success really started.”

Crawford intercepted two passes against the Thundering Herd, earning Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week honors for his efforts.

As he prepares for his senior season, Crawford said he plans to be more aggressive. Whereas he often played off the line of scrimmage, keeping a receiver in front of him, he said he hopes to force opposing offenses to make a perfect play to beat him in 2011.

“I don’t want to let (receivers) catch the ball underneath me as much,” he said. “I need to force the play more — that’s what I did a lot of in the spring: pressing more. I’d rather make them throw over the top with a perfect throw. If I’m in a good position and use the right technique, I can still make plays if they go over the top.

“All of our corners can. It’s all about being in the right place and using the right technique. We think we’re going to have a pretty good defense next year, but we have to do our part.”