Postgame Debrief: SMU

After getting stampeded by the Pony Express, TCU's defense is left searching for answers.

Photo credit @ USA Today

Touchdown. Touchdown. Touchdown. Touchdown. Those were the results of the first four possessions of the 100th edition of the Battle for the Iron Skillet. What started out as a defensive coordinator's nightmare for both teams ended in a dream victory for the SMU Mustangs. The nightmare is still ongoing in Fort Worth and likely to be relived again and again as Tanner Mordecai threw four touchdowns, and the Pony Express stampeded through TCU's Amon G. Carter Stadium, Hell's Half Acre, Sundance Square, the Stockyards and every other square inch of Fort Worth enroute to a 42-34 victory over their DFW Metroplex rivals on Saturday.

By halftime, the TCU defense had allowed 168 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air while snagging two key interceptions to keep them in the game. Even more worrying, however, were the signs that the ghosts of Pony Express past were beginning to rear their ugly heads as Ulysses Bentley IV and Tre Siggers had already racked up 106 yards on 13 carries and 67 yards on seven carries a piece. Fortunately for TCU, the offense was able to keep pace with Max Duggan accumulating 162 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air while Zach Evans and Kendre Miller averaged  9 and 8 yards per carry in the first half.

Quarterback	Completions	Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions
Tanner Mordecai-SMU	10	168	2	2
Max Duggan-TCU	8	162	2	0

Rusher	Carries	Yards	Touchdowns	Average
Ulysses Bentley IV-SMU	13	106	0	8
Tre Siggers-SMU	7	67	0	10
Tanner Mordecai-SMU	2	8	1	4
Tyler Lavine-SMU	1	1	0	1
Zach Evans -TCU	6	54	0	9
Max Duggan-TCU	6	30	0	5
Kendre Miller-TCU	3	23	1	8

After the first half ended with the scored notched up at 21 a piece, TCU came out to start the 2nd half looking scared. I'm going to say that again, TCU looked scared to start the second half. After a holding penalty on the return of the second half kickoff backed TCU up inside their own 10 yardline this happened on the first play from scrimmage to start the second half:

Two plays later, Bentley would run it in for a touchdown to put SMU up 28-21 and the stampede was on. SMU would never look back as they racked up 29 first downs on 595 total yards, 350 of which game on the ground courtesy of the Pony Express.

Team Statistics	SMU	TCU
Total Yards	595	446
Passing Yards	245	276
Rushing Yards	350	170
Yards per play	7.4	7.7
First Downs	29	20
3rd Down efficiency	8/12	6/12
4th Down efficiency	0/1	0/1
Total Plays	80	58
Punts	2	2
Penalties (Yards)	4 (30)	9 (61)
Fumbles Lost	0	1
Interceptions Thrown	3	0
Time of Possession	33:52	26:08

Rusher	Carries	Yards	Average yds per carry	Touchdowns
Bently	20	153	7.7	1
Siggers	18	110	6.1	0
Lavine	8	52	6.5	0
Mordecai	4	37	9.2	1

If TCU does not get it's defense fixed in a hurry 2021 could be another long year.