Lashlee Looking for Better Performance from SMU Once in Scoring Position

Mustangs need to figure out how to finish drives before facing Charlotte team coming off strong defensive outing against Florida

DALLAS – For SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee, this Saturday's AAC opener at home against Charlotte at Ford Stadium will be an opportunity to see if the Mustangs can finish drives.

Lashlee was particularly frustrated with his team's inability to take advantage of opportunities deep in opponent territory following a 34-17 loss to TCU that saw the Mustangs push into scoring position six times while only putting up 17 points.

"Obviously, we're not putting the points on the board that we need to in these games," Lashlee said. "I believe in our guys. I don't think we're very far off. If we were far off, we wouldn't be competing. We wouldn't be moving the ball the way we are." 

Against TCU the Mustangs got a strong push from the offensive line early in the game and was able to use it to dominate the first half. SMU out-gained the Horned Frogs 213-155 and had a huge edge in rushing, 123-26 that should have indicated a solid lead at the break rather than being lucky to trail only 14-10.

On three of SMU's first four drives, the offense powered its way inside the TCU 30-yard line. However, only one resulted in a touchdown. The other two ended in a 24-yard field goal from the six and a failed fourth down attempt after the Mustangs made a pair of attempts to get two yards from the TCU 27.

"That's the deal offensively," Lashlee said. "We're not playing bad, but we're not playing good. We're moving the football on just about anybody we play. Two teams that are gonna contend to win the Big 12 and have really good defenses as you've seen. but you can't win scoring 17 points and you can't win if you can only play between the 20 and 25 yard lines. If we're not explosive, we've got to find a way to finish those drives if we want the results to be different."

The SMU offense found its way into scoring territory two more times. The first came on a Preston Stone interception in the end zone with just over 12 minutes left to play while down 27-10. By the time the Mustangs got back into scoring territory and punched it in on a Tyler Lavine run from two yards out, the game was essentially over with less than two minutes to play.

"I've got to find a way to push the right buttons and put us in position to overcome the things that are stalling us right now," Lashlee said. "We're not gonna panic. There's no reason to. We're a good football team. We've competed. We haven't won. That's not good enough for us, but we don't have to go back to the drawing board. We've just got to tighten some things up and find a way to win this week."

SMU's game with Charlotte kicks off Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and can be seen on ESPNU and FuboTV. The 49ers come in with a 1-3 record, but had a strong showing defensively against Florida that kept things close most of game before falling 22-7 in The Swamp.