The SMU Mustangs won their home-opener against the UTEP (University of Texas at El Paso) Miners, 28-17, on Saturday, September 10. Surprisingly, it wasn't the offense that won the game for the Mustangs; it was the defense that was the deciding factor against the Miners.

Junior Ja'Gared Davis led the charge for the Mustangs and ended the game with an impressive stat line. He recorded eight tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles-for-losses, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, one interception and one touchdown. For his performance, Davis was named Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week. He shared the honor with Marshall's George Carpenter.

The forced fumble, fumble recovery and touchdown all came on the same play when Davis stripped Miners' quarterback Jay Hall of the ball in the Miners' endzone and pounced on it for the touchdown. That play, with a little more than two minutes remaining in the game, sealed the victory for SMU.

The Mustangs play at home against next week when they host Northwestern State University on Saturday, September 17 at 7:00 p.m.

All stats courtesy of smumustangs.com.