DALLAS, Texas – HCU football dropped its season-opening game on Saturday night at Gerald J. Ford Stadium, falling to ACC newcomer SMU by a 59-7 final.
HCU (0-1) opened the game on defense, forcing the Mustangs (2-0) into a quick three-and-out and forcing a punt. The Huskies picked up a pair of quick first downs before the drive stalled out at the HCU 45 leading to a
Reed Chandley punt. SMU then scored on four consecutive drives and added another score on a fumble recovery to build a 35-0 lead.
Following that fifth SMU touchdown, the Huskies started the ensuing drive at the 50 after a penalty against the hosts was enforced on the kickoff and the kick went out of bounds. On third and seven,
Cutter Stewart connected with
Ismael Fuller down the right side for a 37-yard completion to the SMU 10. On the next play, Stewart stepped up under pressure and found
Deuce McMillan at the back of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown pass and the PAT made it a 35-7 ballgame with 12:19 remaining in the first half.
On the fourth play of the next Mustangs' possession,
Semaj Brown stepped up and leveled a big hit on running back JR Johnson to knock the ball loose and
Braden Hay fell on it to secure the turnover for the HCU defense. The Huskies were forced into a three-and-out, however, and SMU scored one more touchdown late in the second quarter for a 42-7 advantage at the intermission.
The pace of the game slowed in the second half as SMU chewed up more than 20 minutes of game clock over the two quarters. The Mustangs tacked on 17 more points in the half for the 59-7 final.
Hay, a junior linebacker, led the Huskies with eight tackles, including one for a loss, and had a fumble recovery. Sophomore
Andrew Huff added seven tackles while
Caleb King and
Ashton Williams had six apiece. The HCU defense finished the night with five tackles for loss.
Offensively, redshirt freshman
Champ Dozier led HCU with 94 all-purpose yards. He finished with 48 kickoff return yards along with 22 yards on seven carries and three receptions for 24 yards. Redshirt freshman quarterback
Cutter Stewart ended the night completing 10-of-25 through the air for 118 yards, a touchdown and a pair of interceptions.
The Huskies will open the home portion of the 2024 schedule next Saturday, Sept. 7 when they host No. 21 Tarleton State at Husky Stadium at 6:00 p.m.
