SMU quarterbacks Josh McCown and Kelan Luker both posted solid numbers in the Mustangs' first full-contact football scrimmage Tuesday morning. McCown, a sophomore, was 16-of-22 for 163 yards while the freshman Luker was 11-of-12 for 180 yards and two touchdown passes. Overall, SMU gained 341 yards of total offense despite playing without several key offensive linemen who missed the scrimmage with injuries.

"Considering we played without five offensive linemen we expected to produce for us, I thought it was a solid first scrimmage," said third-year SMU coach Mike Cavan. "The first offensive unit played pretty well this morning. Overall, I was really pleased."

The defense was aggressive, tallying seven quarterback sacks for 40 yards in losses. Defensive end Markus Pratt had two of the seven sacks. SMU was led by safety Shane O'Neill, who registered a game-best seven tackles, including six unassisted stops. Overall, the Mustangs' starting secondary of Tracy Hart, Kevin Garrett, Raymon Brown and O'Neill had 17 tackles, two pass breakups, one forced fumble and two interceptions. Hart had a 30-yard interception that he returned for a score.

"I thought we had good contact and high energy out there today," said Cavan. "I was particularly pleased with how hard our secondary hit. They caused a few turnovers with physical play. Everyone on both sides of the ball competed very well today."

Luker connected with Stephenville High School teammate Cody Cardwell for a 58-yard touchdown strike. Cardwell led all receivers with 83 yards on three catches. Senior Damond Blueitt (five receptions-60 yards) and junior Tony Newsome (5-50) led SMU with five receptions apiece.

Senior Rodnick Phillips, who eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark as a junior in 1998, had a game-high 26 rushing yards on 10 carries. Senior fullback Jeff Pennington added 16 yards on two carries and also caught four passes for 45 yards, including a five-yard TD reception from Luker.

On special teams, sophomore transfer Jacob Crowley nailed both of his field goal attempts (30 and 37 yards). Consensus preseason All-WAC punter Colin Vadheim had three punts for 101 yards (33.7 yards per punt).

STATISTICS

SCORING SUMMARY

Jacob Crowley 30-yard field goal
Tracy Hart 30-yard interception return (no PAT attempt)
Cody Cardwell 58-yard pass from Kelan Luker (Crowley kick)
Jacob Crowley 37-yard field goal
Jeff Pennington five-yard pass from Kelan Luker

RUSHING

Rodnick Phillips 10-26; Kris Briggs 5-8; Jeff Pennington 2-16; Brendan McGraw 8-4; Josh McCown 4-4; Michael Mayon 4-(-5); Jason Pipkins 2-(-8); Kelan Luker 5-(-29).

PASSING

Josh McCown 22-16-163-3 INT-0 TD; Kelan Luker 12-11-180-0-3 TD; Michael Mayon 4-2-9-0-0.

RECEIVING

Damond Blueitt 5-60; Tony Newsome 5-50; Chris Cunningham 4-54; Jeff Pennington 4-45-1 TD; Cody Cardwell 3-83-1 TD; Kris Briggs 2-17; Rodnick Phillips 1-12; Ryan Riddle 1-11; Bryan McDearman 1-6; Michael Brown 1-5; David Ellen 1-5; Brendan McGraw 1-4.

TACKLES

Shane O'Neill 7; Billy Ford 6; Kevin Garrett 4; Roy Coats 4; Corey Riley 4.

ALL RETURNS

Tracy Hart 1-30-1 TD (interception); Devonric Johnson 1-16 (interception); Raymon Brown 1-12 (interception).