PREVIEW: No. 22 SMU hosts Missouri State to Kickoff Four Game Home Stand

DALLAS, Texas—Coming off a tough loss on the road last week, the No. 22 SMU Mustangs (2-1, 1-1 ACC) will host the Missouri State Bears (1-2, 0-0 CUSA) at Gerald J. Ford Stadium Saturday night. The Mustangs come off a 41-31 loss at Louisville and will hope to get back in the win column against the Bears before going full-fledged into ACC play. As SMU kicks off a four-game home stand that lasts until practically the end of October,

This matchup will be the second ever matchup between the two teams. SMU beat Missouri State last season 28-10 on the road. However, this time a familiar face for the program will be standing on the opposite touchline.

Missouri State Head Coach Casey Woods returns to the Hilltop after three seasons as the SMU’s offensive coordinator and tight ends coach. Woods has led the Bears to a 1-2 record to start his first season in Springfield in what has been a challenging stretch.

The Bears opened up the season with a 50-0 loss to Texas A&M on the road before returning home and dropping 40-plus points of their own in a 48-14 victory over Lindenwood. Last week Missouri State was a late-quarter surge away from coming back and potentially beating Marshall at home, but a tipped pass on fourth and goal in their final offensive drive handed the Bears their second loss of the season. SMU Head Football Coach Rhett Lashlee described his relationship with Woods as brotherly, as the two head coaches have had multiple stops together along their coaching journeys.

“It's interesting, it's weird for both of us. I mean I don't have brothers, but if I did he would be one of the few guys in my life that is like a brother. In the business too, since I have been a coach since 09 he and I have either been on staff together or the years we haven’t we have obviously remained close. It’s kind of the guys you come up with in the business with. Just him, his family obviously, there's the personal connection,” said Lashlee after practice Tuesday. “It’s his fourth game. It's like my 58th game, so I have had opportunities to go against former coaches, and friends, and all that. So I have had some experience with it. It's never fun. I don't like playing friends because someone is going to lose, but at the same time I feel pretty confident, nor he nor I are going to be taking a snap Saturday. He’s going to have his team ready to whip us, and we are going to try to beat them, that's the spirit of competition.”

Lashlee went on to praise Woods for the job he is doing in his first season as head coach at Missouri State. He also expressed that in this era of college football, when a new coach comes in, the expectation is to win, but with the turnover that happens in a new regime, a first year for a head coach presents numerous challenges from the jump. Lashlee would go on to praise Wood’s roster and express that his opponents this weekend are starting to find their footing through a tough slate of games.

“Offensively, you can tell I mean tough task game one going into Kyle Field, they have really found their stride,” said Lashlee. “I think the quarterback is a good player. If you give him time he can make all the throws, he makes good decisions. You can see the experience. They got a couple playmakers on the outside. They got a good running back that can run downhill. It's kind of like the Spider-Man meme when they're pointing at each other when you watch them because you're like wait we run those plays oh wait we run those plays. You can tell from game one, two, and three. They have made massive improvements on offense. So I think they are starting to click.”

Missouri State’s quarterback is senior Skyler Locklear, who transferred in after two seasons at UTEP. Locklear won the starting job during fall camp over former Duke and senior quarterback Henry Belin IV. Locklear has thrown for 597 yards, going 44/65 with a 67% completion percentage through the first three games for the Bears. The senior signal caller threw for a season-high 309 passing yards and two scores in Missouri State's loss to Marshall last week.

Locklear’s leading receiver is senior wide receiver Isaiah Meyers, who transferred into the program from Western Kentucky this offseason. After only having 43 receiving yards last season, Meyers has had back-to-back 100+ yard receiving games after missing the first game of the season, along with senior wide receiver Jmariyae Robinson, who has also been a steady weapon under Meyers, among others. The Bears also have a talented duo on the ground.

On the ground, two veteran backs lead the Bears. Senior running back Ramone Green Jr. and senior running back Breezy Dubar have both split reps in the backfield, rushing for over 120 yards each in their first three games. Green Jr. has had back-to-back games with 10-plus carries and over 70 yards on the ground in each. Dubar has had a score in each of his last two games. Both have averaged 4.7 yards per carry combined to start the season running the football.

With Wood’s return to Ford Stadium, Lashlee expressed that one of the unique challenges his team has faced in this week's preparation has been the adjustment of signals on both sides of the football.

“The challenge for us when you play people that know you that well, you got to change all your signals,” said Lashlee. “On offense, you have to change all your signals or you got to huddle. On defense, you have to change all your signals because they know them all, and even what you verbalize to the line. That's the challenge for us offensively we have had to go in and tweak how we like to play just to give our guys a chance to have the element of surprise. Same thing on defense if they know what you are in, they are going to be really good, and so we have to do a good job of that and still be able to play fast and play downhill.”

Coming off a loss where SMU was practically in an offensive footrace with Louisville for a majority of the game. Turnovers and struggles to stop the run on defense were among the key factors in the Mustangs' first loss of the season. Lashlee spoke on limiting turnovers and improving on tackling, setting edges to stop the run, and forcing teams to beat them by throwing the football as key to improving season-long.

On offense, SMU is coming off a game where the Mustangs were dominant running the football. Senior running back Kendrick Raphael led SMU with 197 yards and three touchdowns in his best game as a Mustang this season. Historically, this season SMU has been dominant in throwing the football. Senior quarterback Kevin Jennings remains top 10 in total passing yards this season across all FBS quarterbacks. As a whole, SMU has been a top five team on offense and the second-best passing attack in the country through the first few weeks of the season.

This week, the Mustangs will have pillar right tackle Andrew Chamblee back, who left the game last week early against Louisville with an injury. Nonetheless, before diving fully into ACC play, SMU has a chance to get back on track with the Bears coming to town. The Mustangs have proven so far this season how explosive they can be on offense, especially at home. SMU has been explosive on offense in Ford Stadium in its last 22 home games, scoring 1,003 points. Now they welcome an opponent that is finding a groove on offense with a coach at the helm who knows SMU all too well.

Kickoff between the No.22 SMU Mustangs and the Missouri State Bears will be at 8:00 PM CT from Gerald J. Ford Stadium or on the ACC Network.

PREVIEW: No. 22 SMU hosts Missouri State to Kickoff Four Game Home Stand

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