Defense Looks Sharp in First Football Scrimmage
Aug 17 | Football
DALLAS, TEXAS -- The SMU defense looked formidable on Saturday night as the Mustangs held their first full scrimmage of the fall before a crowd of about 500 in Gerald J. Ford Stadium.
SMU, which returns eight starters from the Western Athletic Conference's top-ranked defense a year ago, recorded five sacks and recovered two fumbles. A heavy portion of the workout was dedicated to special teams.
"We were very basic on both sides of the ball tonight, but I was encouraged by a lot of things I saw," said first-year SMU head coach Phil Bennett. "We did some nice things on special teams, particularly our kickoffs, the defense looked pretty good and I saw some good things out of the running game."
The defense allowed just one touchdown, a one-yard run by Keylon Kincade, and a 46-yard field goal by Chris McMurtray. Defensive end Melvin Williams recorded two sacks, four tackles for loss and recovered a fumble. Fellow end Khalid Beard had a sack and two tackles for loss. End Clay Glockzin and true freshman tackle Brent Karrington also had sacks while Alvin Nnabuife also recovered a fumble.
"Melvin was very productive," Bennett said. "He has kept on improving since the spring. Khalid was made some things happen also."
Kincade led the SMU offense with 71 yards rushing on 17 carries. ShanDerrick Charles carried seven times for 49 yards.
No. 1 quarterback Tate Wallis completed 6-of-12 passes for 68 yards while No. 2 Richard Bartel was 5-of-10 for 62 yards. Cody Cardwell led all receivers with three catches for 60 yards.
The only other touchdown of the scrimmage came during the special teams portion when Jonas Rutledge returned a punt 48 yards for a score.
Chris Cunningham suffered the only injury of the night when he was brought down on a punt return. He suffered a sprained left foot and will be evaluated further on Sunday.
The Mustangs will practice once on Sunday then resume two-a-days and begin preparation for the Aug. 31 season-opener against Navy on Monday.
