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SETTING THE SCENE
• SMU's home opener is set for Friday, Sept. 7, against TCU in the Battle for the Iron Skillet at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. The Mustangs have won their last two home openers with victories over Stephen F. Austin (2017) and North Texas (2016). 

• Braeden West led the Mustangs with a rushing and receiving touchdown, while James Proche caught a touchdown of his own against North Texas in week one. Ben Hicks also tied SMU's all-time touchdowns responsible for mark (54 pass, 3 rush) with a pair, bringing his career total to 57 (Flanigan, 1992-97 & Willis, 2006-08). Rodney Clemons tied his career high with 11 tackles, and graduate transfer Patrick Nelson added 10 tackles, three TFLs and a sack in his first game as a Mustang.

• Mustangs Xavier Jones (Maxwell, Doak Walker, Earl Campbell Tyler Rose), Jordan Wyatt (Wuerffel, AFCA Good Works), James Proche (Biletnikoff), Braeden West (Paul Hornung) and Jamie Sackville (Ray Guy) also highlight preseason watch lists.

THE SERIES
SMU and TCU will meet for the 98th time, the most for SMU against any opponent. TCU leads the series 50-40-7. The non-conference match-up is the sixth longest active (defined as playing this season) pairing in the country. SMU fell in Fort Worth, 56-36, in 2017. SMU and TCU have played all but five years since SMU's first season in 1915 (2006, 1987-88, 1919-1920). 

ABOUT THE HORNED FROGS
TCU is coming off a season opening, 55-7, win over Southern on Saturday. The Horned Frogs went 11-3 in 2017, advancing to the Big 12 Championship. They capped off the season with a 39-37 victory over Stanford in the Valero Alamo Bowl. 

THE COACHES
• Sonny Dykes is in his first season on the Hilltop after serving head coaching stints at Cal (2013-16) and Louisiana Tech (2010-12). Dykes spent 2017 at TCU as an offensive analyst. In seven seasons as a head coach, Dykes holds a career record of 41-47. 

• Gary Patterson is in his 18th season with the Horned Frogs and has a career record of 161-57. TCU has won six conference championships, in three different leagues, under Patterson. He has also been the coach of the year in each conference.

LAST TIME VS. TCU
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – SMU fell to TCU, 56-36, on Sept. 16, 2017. The Mustangs led 19-7 before Kenny Hill threw three TD passes in the final 7 1/2 minutes of the second quarter. 

Darius Anderson ran for two touchdowns for TCU (3-0) in the second half, including the first drive after halftime. Speedy running back Kenedy Snell also scored twice, while Hill completed 24 of 30 passes for 365 yards and four touchdowns.'

Snell had a 10-yard TD run and later turned a short pass into a 71-yard sprint to the end zone. 

Josh Williams kicked his third field goal for SMU after Snell's big play, but TCU still had time. Taking over at its 44 with 10 seconds left after the kickoff, Snell had an 18-yard run before a timeout to set up the final play.

Ben Hicks threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns for SMU with two interceptions, one returned 19 yards for a touchdown by linebacker Travin Howard. Trey Quinn, an LSU transfer, had seven catches for 116 yards with a 58-yard TD that put the Mustangs ahead only 2 1/2 minutes into the game.

1935 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
The Mustangs, ranked No. 1 in the country, played second-ranked TCU and its star quarterback, Sammy Baugh, for the unofficial national championship and the right to play in the Rose Bowl Jan. 1, 1936, against Stanford. Bobby Wilson scored two touchdowns to give SMU a 14-0 lead before Baugh rallied the Horned Frogs to a 14-14 tie. Early in the fourth quarter, Bob Finley connected on a long pass to Wilson after the Mustangs faced a fourth down at the TCU 39. Wilson caught the ball at the five and rolled into the end zone as the Mustangs held on to win, 20-14, and earned a trip to the Rose Bowl.

BIG BEN
Ben Hicks opened 2018 with a pair of touchdowns at North Texas, bringing his career touchdowns responsible for total to 57, tied for the most all-time at SMU (Flanigan 1992-97 & Willis 2006-08). He sits seventh among FBS active leaders in career passing TDs (54) and ninth for career passing yards (6,751).

Hicks is one of 30 candidates on the Manning Award Watch List, and is also a member of the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Watch List and was named a Player to Watch by the Touchdown Club of Columbus. He was also selected as the No. 11 player to watch on the College Football News Preseason All-American Athletic Conference list and is an All-AAC preseason selection by Athlon Sports.

Hicks set the SMU single-season (33) and career (52) passing touchdown records in 2017, registering 276 completions for 3,569 yards. 

BACK AT IT
Jordan Wyatt ranks atop SMU's all-time lists with five defensive return touchdowns and four career interception return touchdowns. He finished 2017 with 288 career interception return yards, also the most for a Mustang, and became just the sixth player in FBS history to record an interception return and fumble recovery for touchdowns in the same game week one against Stephen F. Austin.

Among national active leaders, Wyatt tops the list for both active career fumbles forced (8), career interception return TDs (4) and career defensive return TDs (5).

Wyatt is a member of the Wuerffel Trophy Watch List, as well as a nominee for the AFCA Good Works Team. He has also picked up preseason accolades from College Football News, Athlon Sports and Dave Campbell's Texas Football.    

Wyatt missed the 2017 Frisco Bowl game after suffering a knee injury in the Mustangs' game against Tulane.

TRIBUTE 23
Since 2009, the SMU coaching staff has chosen a deserving student-athlete to wear the number 23 to honor Jerry LeVias.

LeVias was the first African-American to receive an athletic scholarship in the Southwest Conference. While at SMU, LeVias made athletic and academic All-America teams and, in 1966, contributed to the Mustangs' first SWC title in 18 years. He was an All-American in 1968 and was chosen All-SWC in 1966, 1967 and 1968.

Senior cornerback Jordan Wyatt has been awarded the number for 2018.

Players To Wear #23 In Honor of Jerry LeVias
Jordan Wyatt, CB, 2018
Nick Horton, DE, 2016-17
Jeremiah Gaines, TE, 2015
Stephon Sanders, LB, 2012-14
Chris Banjo, DB, 2009-11
    
BIG GAME JAMES
With the departure of All-Americans and 2018 NFL Draft picks Courtland Sutton and Trey Quinn, James Proche is the Mustangs leading returning receiver headed into 2018. 

Proche opened 2018 with a pair of catches for 77 yard, including a 59-yard touchdown.

In 13 games last season, Proche caught 40 passes for 816 yards (11th AAC) and six touchdowns (12th AAC) and earned a spot on the preseason Biletnikoff Award Watch List. He also ranked second in The American and 12th nationally at 20.40 yards per reception. Proche also spent time on special teams for the Mustangs and finished with 872 all-purpose yards.

X GON' GIVE IT TO YA
Preseason Maxwell and Doak Walker Award candidate Xavier Jones is back for his junior season after a successful 2017 campaign. Jones led the team with 1,075 yards on 182 carries, including a career-high 175 yards at Memphis on Nov. 18, and posted nine rushing touchdowns (10th AAC). He also added 14 receptions for 84 yards.

Jones has five career games of 100+ yards rushing, including games of 175, 146 and 106 in 2017, and 20 career rushing TDs.

In addition to the Maxwell and Doak Walker Watch List selections, Jones is a member of the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Watch List and earned preseason accolades from Dave Campbell's Texas Football and Athlon Sports.

GO WEST, YOUNG MAN
Paul Hornung Watch List member Braeden West showed his versatility in week one versus North Texas with a rushing and receiving touchdown. His 71-yard TD catch was the fifth longest for an FBS running back in week one, and is the longest by an SMU running back since a 57-yard reception by Derron Brown in 2003. He finished the outing with 112 all-purpose yards.

West played in 12 games for the Mustangs in 2017, finishing second on the team with 568 rushing yards on 73 carries and added a pair of rushing touchdowns. West also registered 18 catches for 185 yards and 423 yards on 23 kick returns. 

West has six 100+ yards rushing games in his career and sits 13th on SMU's all-time list at 1,956 yards. He has 3,551 career all-purpose yards, including a career-high 1,176 (12th AAC) in 2017. 
    
C'MON  KE'MON
Ke'Mon Freeman led the Mustangs with 11 rushing touchdowns (4th AAC) in 2017, including multiple TDs in three games (at TCU, Arkansas State, Tulane). Starting with the TCU game on Sept. 16, 2017, Freeman posted a stretch of six straight games with a rushing TD, the longest for a Mustang since Reggie Dupard's streak of 13 straight (last 6 1984, first 7 1985).

Freeman has 1,197 career yards on 288 carries and 15 rushing TDs.   

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
SMU welcomed eight graduate transfers, three FBS transfers and six junior college transfers who are eligible for the 2018 season. 

Graduate transfer CJ Sanders joins the Mustangs after three seasons at Notre Dame and currently leads active players in total return yards (2,378) and kick return yards (2,071). He is the only active player in the country with multiple kick and punt return TDs.

Sophomore wide receiver Reggie Roberson, Jr., spent 2017 at West Virginia playing in all 12 games and registering six catches. He had four receptions for 67 yards and was on the receiving end of a two-point conversion to open 2018.

SMU IN THE CLASSROOM
The SMU football team has set multiple term and cumulative GPA records since 2014.

The 2018 SMU roster features 14 student-athletes who have already earned a degree, giving them one of the highest totals in the country. Andrew Adams, Jourdan Blake, Paka Davis, Jake Hall, Ben Hicks, Larry Hughes, William Jeanlys, Nick Natour, Patrick Nelson, Chad Pursley, CJ Sanders, Cole Sterns, Noah Westerfield and Jordan Wyatt have all earned undergraduate degrees.

MAKING OUR POINT
The Ponies averaged 37.8 points per game (12th nationally) in 2017 with a pair of 50+ contests to open the season. SMU was 1 of only 3 FBS teams (Maryland & Kansas State) with 50 points in each of the first two games. It was the first season since 1928 that the Mustangs had back-to-back 50+ point games. The Mustangs ranked seventh in the country last season in biggest improvements over 2016 in ppg (10.1).

SMU IN THE AP
SMU is one of only 44 schools that have ever been ranked No. 1 by the Associated Press since 1936. The Mustangs have been ranked No. 1 twice. SMU was No. 55 on the AP's Top 100 Programs list.

PONY UP-GRADES!
SMU has made significant investments in Ford Stadium improvements since 2011, including an upgraded locker room finished in August 2018, a new team meeting room with stadium-style seating and renovated positional meeting rooms, a new playing surface, lighting system, A/V system, new suites and club seating.

SMU recently broke ground on a 67,000-square-foot Indoor Performance Center, which will include a 4,000-square-foot multi-use Boulevard Club, a 2,000-square-foot recruiting lounge and access to a 1,500-square-foot outdoor patio, and a turf field with access to a training room and fitness/rehab area.

Prior to the 2016 season, Paragon Sports Constructors installed a new synthetic turf playing field at Ford Stadium. The new synthetic turf field is PowerBlade Bolt as manufactured by Shaw Sports Turf. The design for the new field remained the same, featuring the Mustang logo at mid-field with 'SMU' and 'Mustangs' in opposing end zones.

In the summer of 2013, SMU added a new 233-seat Hall of Champions Club and seven new suites in time for SMU's move to the American Athletic Conference. Among the great features of the new Club and suites is their indoor/outdoor design which allows fans to enjoy the comfort of indoor amenities as well as the excitement of sitting out in the bowl and hearing the roar of the crowd and the hard-hitting action on the field.

THE RED CARPET
SMU may need to install a red carpet in the Mustang locker room as SMU has become "the place to be" in Dallas.

Among the celebrities, legends, current and former pros that have attended practice or stopped by the stadium in recent years are: Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Terrell Owens, Tim Brown, Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders, as well as former SMU standouts Reggie Dupard, Eric Dickerson, Craig James, Jerry Ball, Russell Carter and Don Meredith.

Former President George W. Bush even visits SMU football practice. Bush has also performed the ceremonial coin toss at games against Navy (2011), Memphis (2012), Texas Tech (2013), Cincinnati (2014) and North Texas (2015).

FAST LAYNE   
Paul Layne holds an unrivaled Mustang record, having attended every SMU game for the last 40-plus years, even going to Tokyo.

He had to pull a "fast one" more than once to keep his streak alive – like the time his ex-wife remarried. He persuaded her to schedule her wedding on a Friday within driving distance of SMU's game at Nevada the following day. So the night before the Mustangs tangled with the Wolf Pack in Reno, Layne attended the wedding in California's Sonoma Valley, then drove 200 miles to catch the opening kickoff.

Layne even attended a game dressed in a Halloween costume to disguise his case of adult-onset chicken pox. Starting when Layne attended SMU and was a team cheerleader, he's attended 496 straight games.

WE DON'T TAILGATE, WE BOULEVARD.
The editors at Southern Living posted a roster of the top 20 Southern schools with the greatest pregame celebrations, and SMU's Boulevard made the list.

From the food and drink to the style and traditions, nobody does tailgating quite like the Mustangs. SMU's beautiful Bishop Boulevard is tailgate central for fun and entertainment.

Along The Boulevard, fans can mingle with family and friends and bring a picnic, fire up a grill or visit Mustang Alley vendors.

The Boulevard is so famous that the guys from Dude Perfect picked SMU to shoot their tailgate game trickshot video. See it here - https://goo.gl/uYCuWj.