Last second loss to Rice for football
Jordan Hofeditz, Sports Editor, jhofedit@smu.edu
Issue date: 11/13/07 Section: Sports
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In a season that has been as insane as this, the final seconds at Gerald J. Ford Stadium might not surprise anyone.
With the Mustangs holding onto a 42-40 lead with just seconds remaining, Rice ran one final play, or so SMU thought.
The Owls' Justin Hill ran for six yards and it appeared the Mustangs had just their second win of the season. The SMU players ran onto the field as the game clock hit zero.
But head referee RG Detillier said Rice was able to call a timeout with one second remaining on the clock.
That decision allowed Rice to lineup for a 31-yard field-goal attempt that Clark Fangmeier was able to just sneak in by the left upright to win the game for Rice, 43-42.
"The clock ran out, believe me," said head coach Phil Bennett. "The guy kept running, the play went longer than [the refs] thought."
But in a game when the Mustangs held a 42-27 lead in the third quarter, the game was not lost in the final seconds.
Once again SMU had costly turnovers than led to points to the opponent.
"It's brutal," Bennett said. "We had chances to make plays. We didn't make the plays to win the game."
Justin Willis threw two interceptions in the first half, both of which were returned for touchdowns. Those two plays nullified the two touchdown passes Willis threw to Zack Sledge. Sledge finished the game with three touchdown catches and now has five in the past two games.
DeMyron Martin found his running game in the first quarter, but then couldn't continue it through the rest of the game.
Martin, who rushed for 115 yards on five carries in the first quarter, ran for just 22 yards on 11 carries in the last three quarters.
The Mustangs went into halftime down 27-21, but came out in the third quarter and scored 21 points while shutting out Rice to take a 42-27 lead into the fourth.
"Our resiliency has been obvious, but our success has been evident also," Bennett said. "The whole goal is to win, find a way to win."
With the Mustangs holding onto a 42-40 lead with just seconds remaining, Rice ran one final play, or so SMU thought.
The Owls' Justin Hill ran for six yards and it appeared the Mustangs had just their second win of the season. The SMU players ran onto the field as the game clock hit zero.
But head referee RG Detillier said Rice was able to call a timeout with one second remaining on the clock.
That decision allowed Rice to lineup for a 31-yard field-goal attempt that Clark Fangmeier was able to just sneak in by the left upright to win the game for Rice, 43-42.
"The clock ran out, believe me," said head coach Phil Bennett. "The guy kept running, the play went longer than [the refs] thought."
But in a game when the Mustangs held a 42-27 lead in the third quarter, the game was not lost in the final seconds.
Once again SMU had costly turnovers than led to points to the opponent.
"It's brutal," Bennett said. "We had chances to make plays. We didn't make the plays to win the game."
Justin Willis threw two interceptions in the first half, both of which were returned for touchdowns. Those two plays nullified the two touchdown passes Willis threw to Zack Sledge. Sledge finished the game with three touchdown catches and now has five in the past two games.
DeMyron Martin found his running game in the first quarter, but then couldn't continue it through the rest of the game.
Martin, who rushed for 115 yards on five carries in the first quarter, ran for just 22 yards on 11 carries in the last three quarters.
The Mustangs went into halftime down 27-21, but came out in the third quarter and scored 21 points while shutting out Rice to take a 42-27 lead into the fourth.
"Our resiliency has been obvious, but our success has been evident also," Bennett said. "The whole goal is to win, find a way to win."
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