College Football Scores/Schedules Rankings Standings Statistics Transactions Injuries Weekly lineup Teams Recruiting

	Tuesday, September 5 SMU has new stage, but will it shine?
	By Stephen Tsai Special to ESPN.com Southern Methodist Mustangs 1999 record: 4-6 (3-3 WAC) Coach: Mike Cavan Starters returning: 17 (9 offense, 8 defense) Outlook The building of the Mustangs' program begins with their new building, the $56.8 million Gerald J. Ford Stadium on the downtown Dallas campus. The stadium seats 32,000 but has the capacity to expand to 45,000. The Mustangs also have the capability of improving on a season in which they finished a game short of playing for a share of the league championship. A seventh conference game, against San Jose State, was canceled because of a power failure at Spartan Stadium. It would have been played had the Mustangs been in title contention. The Mustangs will move from a run-oriented offense to a wide-open, single-back scheme. Quarterback Josh McCown, who started SMU's last 15 games over two years, has sticky-fingered receivers in sophomores Chris Cunningham (39 catches) and Cody Cardwell (31 receptions). The defense, which attacks out of a 4-3 alignment, welcomed back Vic Viloria, who averaged 6.1 tackles as a freshman. Viloria, a sophomore, concentrated on school work last year and did not play. Keep an eye on ... McCown, whose older brother was Texas A&M's starting quarterback two years ago and whose younger brother is a quarterback at Louisiana Tech. It's a good season if... The Mustangs, opening Gerald J. Ford Stadium against Kansas Sept. 2, do not slump early. The Mustangs opened 1999 with five consecutive losses.		AROUND THE WAC Fresno St. Hawaii Nevada Rice San Jose St. SMU TCU Tulsa UTEP ALSO SEE WAC Preview: Ever-changing landscape full of potential