HOUSTON — They didn’t fear the road that began Saturday in Houston, though they knew it was treacherous. History had taught them that. An 8-0 season that ended in 2019. A 5-7 record in November and beyond for a team that’s consistently cracked the Top 25, but had yet to finish in it.
Under head coach Sonny Dykes, SMU has backloaded the downs that usually accompany the ups of a college football season. The Mustangs knew that and had made it their season-long goal to not let that happen again.
Not allowing Marcus Jones, the nation’s most dangerous kick returner, to score against them, was also a part of SMU’s plans on Saturday. Both goals came to an unsuccessful end in one 13-second play.
For most of Saturday night SMU held Jones in check. They punted out of bounds, they stopped his first return after a modest gain, and they didn’t let them beat him — until the last final moment, when a kickoff from strong-footed Brendan Hall died in the Third Ward night and landed in the arms of Jones, who broke a tie game with a 102-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to give Houston a 44-37 win over SMU and an edge in the race toward the conference title game.
SMU, just like it did in a 39-37 walk-off win over Louisiana Tech earlier this year, had one final shot to the end zone, but Houston knocked the ball down, sending Houston fans spilling onto the TDECU Stadium Field.
