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Sonny Dykes willingness to be bold on 4th downs may have cost SMU vs. Memphis, but it's brought the Mustangs this far

UNIVERSITY PARK - In his first season at SMU, Sonny Dykes has firmly established one element of his coaching style.

Dykes does not play it safely.

Dykes stayed with his go-for-it approach in a 28-18 loss to Memphis on Friday night at Gerald J. Ford. The defeat eliminated SMU from contention for the American Athletic Conference West title and set up the season-ender at Tulsa on Saturday as a must-win for the Mustangs to be bowl-eligible.

In the first half against Memphis, SMU went for it on fourth down three times and tried a pass out of punt formation.