For the first time since 2011, there will be no winless team in major college football.
SMU, which entered Saturday at 0-11, went to UConn and won 27-20 on Saturday for the program's first win in 378 days. SMU, was 5-7 last season and last won at South Florida on Nov. 23, 2013.
And the victory resulted in a bath for interim coach Tom Mason.
Former Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris was announced earlier in the week as SMU's new coach. June Jones had resigned two games into the 2014 season and was replaced by Mason.
Want to congratulate the players, staff and the Seniors at SMU on the WIN today. #Tempo #PonyUP
— Chad Morris (@coachchadmorris) December 6, 2014 Saturday's winning touchdown was scored with less than 10 minutes left by running back Prescott Line to break a 20-20 tie.
UConn punted the ball back to SMU with 4:13 left in the hopes of using all three timeouts to get the ball back for one more chance to tie the game. However, Line ran for 17 yards on 3rd-and-1 to give SMU a critical first down after UConn used two timeouts. From there, Matt Davis runs of 21 and 16 yards iced the game.
Not only was SMU winless before Saturday, all of its losses had been ugly. The Mustangs entered with an average loss of 42-10. The worst loss was a 56-0 drubbing at the hands of TCU and the closest was a 14-13 loss to South Florida. Had the Mustangs lost, SMU would have been the only winless team at the FBS level.
Now, with Morris taking the reins of the program, SMU has some optimism pointing towards 2015. The rebuilding job may not be any easier because of the game, there's at least a reason to smile about 2014.
For more SMU news, visit HillTopics.com.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - SMU avoids winless season with victory over UConn
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