Pony NATE-tion: Mustangs need offensive spark in home finale
SMU, Houston square off Friday on Senior Day
Posted on 11/26/2014 by PonyFans.com
PonyFans.com is proud to welcome back, for his second season as a columnist, Nate, who is 14 years old, in eighth grade, might want to be a sports writer and knows more about football than a lot of people who already make their living covering sports. Nate will offer his thoughts and will preview each game throughout the season, looking at a key player, matchup or statistic that could prove relevant in each upcoming game … and explain why it will impact the outcome. Feel free to post comments and constructive criticism, ask him questions, and/or give suggestions for upcoming columns!

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If the Mustangs wanted to win last week’s game at UCF, they had to play close to perfectly, and they didn’t. After Tuesday’s practice, interim head coach Tom Mason said that the game was just about over midway through the second quarter. He also said in a game in which his team had to play just about perfectly, the Mustangs turned the ball over on offense, gained just 116 yards and blew assignments on defense.

A versatile athlete who played numerous positions in high school, Nate Halverson will help an injury-plagued SMU secondary this week by playing cornerback against Houston (photo by PonyFans.com).
UCF clearly was the better football team and outmatched SMU, and while it has been a long year, we all hope for these players to finally win a game. Visiting practice Tuesday humanized this all for me. Before making fun of the team’s record, go ahead and attend a practice for two hours and see how hard these players work. They are giving their all and trying so hard just to win a football game. These guys are working their butts off. I saw it.

So the UCF game is behind us. Now these young men will face Houston Friday in what will be the final home game for some of the Mustangs. It stinks it had to end like this for those guys but I hope they pick themselves up and make the most of these last two weeks. SMU comes in as a big underdog on Friday again against Cougar High. Houston comes in as a team that has underperformed despite beginning the season with hopes, thanks to the opening of a new stadium and a surplus on talent on both sides of the ball. John O’Korn was supposed to be the next big quarterback after Case Keenum, and UH always has lots of wide receivers. But O’Korn did not pan out at all, and the Cougars have been an average football team. Yes, their 6-4 record makes them eligible for a bowl, but they also have suffered a couple of bad losses, to Tulane and in the opener against UT-San Antonio.

Houston has been such an up and down team. The Cougars opened up their new stadium with a bad loss to UTSA. During the thick of the year, they won three straight games and four of five, but then had a bad loss to Tulane. One of the keys to the Houston offense is quarterback Greg Ward Jr.: who has the distinction of having touchdowns as a passer, runner and receiver.

Houston has lots of talent at the skill positions like wide receiver with wideouts Deontay Greenberry and Steven Dunbar. But the one to really worry about is running back Kenneth Farrow, who scored four touchdowns last week against Tulsa, earning American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors. On the year, he has 127 carries for 686 yards and nine touchdowns. The Cougars are average in the major stats (72nd in passing yards, 64th in rushing yards and 69th in points scored), but they are backing up the claim I made in my season preview that this would be one of the best defenses in the conference: through 10 games, they only surrender 18.7 points per game.

The Mustangs go into Friday’s game with a secondary that has spent too much time in the ER. This week, injuries have forced wide receiver Nate Halverson to step in at cornerback. When asked about the move, Halverson, who also played cornerback in high school, said, “it's not brand new. Corner is not that complicated of a position, but you have to know your stuff. They're throwing it all at me. I've played corner before, but I haven't played in two years. I'm kind of relying on my athleticism."

Nate’s Take: Houston 38, SMU 14

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