Avoiding false-start penalties has been a point of emphasis during practice this week as SMU prepares for a home game against Cincinnati on Saturday.
The Mustangs had to overcome of four false-start penalties in a win at Tulane last Saturday. The specific penalties were unusual for this season. The Mustangs had a total of five false-start calls in the previous six games.
According to SMU coach Sonny Dykes, players said Tulane defenders were tried to induce the false starts by duplicating the hand-claps the quarterbacks use for the snap count.
"We tried to convey that to the officials,'' Dykes said.