Tag: SMU Mustangs
ACC championship game capsule: SMU vs. Clemson
Atlantic Coast Conference championship game
SMU (11-1) vs. Clemson (9-3)
Saturday, December 7, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET
Charlotte, N.C., Bank of America Stadium
TV: ABC
Early line: SMU -1.5 (FanDuel)
What’s at stake:
SMU should be part of the playoffs even with a loss but just know the Mustangs badly want to win the title game in their first season in the ACC. The Mustangs didn’t play Clemson in the regular season and this matchup will be their first-ever clash.
The Tigers landed a spot in the title game when Miami lost to Syracuse and now can play their way into the playoffs with a win. Clemson undoubtedly will be passed over if it sustains a fourth loss.
How they got here:
SMU didn’t seem like much of a playoff threat when it had to score 18 unanswered points in the final eight-plus minutes of the season opener to beat Nevada and then lost to BYU on Sept. 6. But then the Mustangs rolled up 66 points against TCU to start a stretch of nine straight games topping 30. SMU’s defense allowed a total of 13 points in wins over Virginia and Cal to end the regular season.
Clemson got whipped by 31 points by Georgia in its season opener and lost to South Carolina in Saturday’s finale to go 0-2 against ranked foes. The Tigers rolled up several easy victories along the way but never looked as ferocious as some of their other teams during the Dabo Swinney era. The loss to the in-state Gamecocks was a fitting end to the regular season.
Names to know:
–SMU
QB Kevin Jennings
Strong overall season with 2,746 yards and 19 TDs in the air and four scores on the ground.
RB Brashard Smith
Stellar runner averaging 6.0 yards per carry to go with 1,157 yards and 14 TDs on the ground.
LB Kobe Wilson
Stands out against both the run and the pass, leading the team with 95 tackles and also compiling three sacks and two interceptions.
–Clemson
QB Cade Klubnik
Has thrown for 3,041 yards and 29 touchdowns and has been intercepted just five times.
RB Phil Mafah
Tough runner has 1,078 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground, topping 100 six times.
DE T.J. Parker
Has put together a stellar campaign with 15.5 tackles for loss, including 10 sacks, to lead the defense.
Xs and Os:
The Mustangs are a little overlooked on defense but have 21 takeaways (15 interceptions, six fumbles) and three players have picked off three passes. The opportunistic nature complements an offense that has scored 40 or more points five times this season.
Clemson also has done a great job creating turnovers (14 interceptions, nine fumbles) with safety Khalil Barnes being the lone player to nab three picks. Parker has forced five fumbles and he can be a game-changer if SMU has trouble blocking him.
Prediction:
SMU 31, Clemson 21
–Field Level Media
Kevin Jennings, No. 13 SMU blow out Virginia
Kevin Jennings passed for 323 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score as No. 13 SMU added to its case to be a part of the College Football Playoff with a 33-7 win over Virginia on Saturday afternoon in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup in Charlottesville, Va.
The Mustangs (10-1, 7-0 ACC) have won eight straight games and clinched a berth in the ACC championship game against either Miami or Clemson in their first year in the league. The winner of the ACC championship earns an automatic berth in the 12-team CFP.
Jennings hit on 25 of his 33 passed as SMU outgained the Cavaliers 434-173 and averaged 6.4 yards per snap.
Anthony Colandrea passed for 108 yards and a score for Virginia (5-6, 3-4 ACC), which has lost five of its past six games. The Cavaliers need to win at Virginia Tech on Nov. 30 to play in their first bowl game since the 2019 season.
The Mustangs struck first as Brashard Smith scored on a 4-yard run. It came seven minutes into the game at the end of a 78-yard, seven-play march.
Both teams missed field goals in the second quarter, with Collin Rogers pulling a 48-yard attempt for SMU on the opening play of the period, and the Cavaliers’ Will Bettridge missing from 41 yards at the 9:19 mark.
SMU added to its advantage when Jennings hit Jordan Hudson on a 17-yard catch and run with 5:52 to play before halftime. That was more than enough time for Rogers to make amends for his earlier miss when hit a 35-yard field goal with 1:25 left in the second quarter.
Rogers converted again, this time from 39 yards, on the Mustangs’ opening possession of the third quarter to extend the lead to 20-0. Jennings then made it 26-0 with a 1-yard touchdown plunge with 12:21 left in the game. It capped a 14-play, 74-yard drive that chewed up more than seven minutes.
Virginia finally lit the scoreboard on Colandrea’s scrambling 4-yard scoring pass to Malachi Fields on fourth-and-goal with 4:16 left. Jennings capped the scoring with a 16-yard touchdown throw to Matthew Hibner with 1:42 to play.
–Field Level Media
No. 14 SMU keeps rolling, knocks off Boston College
Kevin Jennings went 24-for-35 passing for 298 yards and three touchdowns as No. 14 SMU held off visiting Boston College 38-28 in Atlantic Coast Conference action Saturday in Dallas.
Jennings found three different receivers for touchdowns as the Mustangs (9-1, 6-0) remained unbeaten in their first ACC season. Jordan Hudson had seven catches for 99 yards and a score.
Brashard Smith rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.
In his first start since Thomas Castellanos was benched and entered the transfer portal, Grayson James completed 18 of 32 passes for 237 yards and a touchdown for Boston College (5-5, 2-4).
Kye Robichaux rushed for two touchdowns and 90 yards on 21 carries.
Boston College got back within 31-28 after Robichaux capped a 10-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown with 5:52 remaining in regulation. On its ensuing drive, though, James was sacked twice after a Jordan McDonald fourth-and-one conversion.
After the turnover on downs, Jennings found Key’Shawn Smith for a 5-yard score on fourth down to ice the game for SMU.
After Collin Rogers missed a 24-yard field goal at the end of an 11-play opening drive to the red zone, SMU forced a three-and-out and proceeded to score the first touchdown when Jennings completed a 15-yard pass to Roderick Daniels Jr. along the left side.
Boston College turned the ball over on downs on the ensuing drive before the teams combined to trade scores on each of the next four possessions, beginning with a Rogers 35-yard field goal late in the first.
James began to find his rhythm from there, as a 23-yard strike to Lewis Bond over the middle set up Robuchaux’s 2-yard touchdown run — capping a 13-play, 75-yard drive — with 9:49 left in the second.
Aided by a pass interference penalty on third down, the Mustangs responded with a 4-yard run by Brashard Smith to take a 17-7 lead.
James’ 13-yard strike to Kamari Morales with 1:03 left before halftime brought the Eagles within 17-14, but after both quarterbacks traded interceptions within a span of three plays, Rogers booted a 41-yard field goal as time expired.
The Eagles scored on an eight-play, 83-yard drive out of halftime as James reached the end zone on a 20-yard run, giving them their first lead at 21-20.
Halfway through the third, Jennings reversed the score again when he hit Hudson for a 38-yard touchdown and Brashard Smith added a 2-point conversion, completing a 1:53 drive.
After forcing another three-and-out, the Mustangs added Rogers’ 37-yard field goal with 4:02 left in the quarter to make it 31-21.
–Field Level Media
Week 10 College Football Picks
No. 22 SMU takes high-powered offense on road vs. Duke
If No. 22 SMU is going to contend for the Atlantic Coast Conference championship, there obviously are going to be big games along the way.
Count Saturday night against host Duke at Durham, N.C., among those.
SMU (6-1, 3-0) is riding a four-game winning streak and is trying to stay unblemished in league play along with Clemson, Miami and Pitt.
Duke (6-1, 2-1) is in the mix as well, but the Blue Devils need to take care of business Saturday in their penultimate home game of the season.
SMU has 34 or more points in four consecutive games. The Mustangs are 22-1 under coach Rhett Lashlee when racking up 30 or more points.
Despite the production, there wasn’t a sense from the Mustangs that all of it has been smooth.
“A lot of things to clean up as we get ready to go play a big-time defense,” Lashlee said.
Much of SMU’s firepower comes from dual-threat quarterback Kevin Jennings, a sophomore who posted a career-high 322 passing yards in SMU’s 40-10 victory over Stanford last Saturday.
So disrupting what Jennings is able to do is among the priorities for Duke’s defense.
“To put pressure on somebody where they had to throw to win,” Blue Devils coach Manny Diaz said.
Part of the plan for Duke will come with using a steady diet of fresh linemen on defense.
“You got to get subs in all the time, especially with the tempo they play,” Diaz said. “They’ve got a lot of weapons on offense, but football always starts with the big guys up front.”
SMU has lost tight end RJ Maryland for the season with a knee injury, Lashlee said Tuesday.
Duke defensive back Chandler Rivers and linebacker Ozzie Nicholas were picked as ACC Players of the Week at their respective positions based on performances in a 23-16 win over Florida State last week.
On offense, there were snags for the Blue Devils, particularly with the passing attack. After reviewing the footage, Diaz said it was nothing “to hang in the passing game Hall of Fame.”
Duke is trying to figure out the tight end position after it was revealed that Nicky Dalmolin is out for the season with a lower leg injury. Jake Taylor played 55 snaps in the Florida State game as his replacement.
The Blue Devils could have receiver Jordan Moore available for a heavier workload considering he was limited to special situations against Florida State.
The Blue Devils notched a piece of history by defeating Florida State. That was the first time in 23 all-time meetings that Duke beat the Seminoles.
SMU has won eight straight road games, matching Texas for the longest streak in the country. Saturday’s game will be the Mustangs’ third straight road assignment.
Duke is 15-2 at home across three seasons.
“Wallace Wade (Stadium) is just a difficult place for folks to come and play,” Diaz said. “That’s what the facts say. … The more you win at home, the more special home games you get.”
Duke and SMU haven’t met since 1956. The Mustangs are 2-0 all-time in the series.
SMU, a first-year ACC member after being in the American Athletic Conference, is going for its 13th consecutive victory in conference play dating to November 2022. The 12-game string for league games already is a program record.
–Field Level Media
LJ Johnson scores go-ahead TD to lift SMU past No. 22 Louisville
LJ Johnson’s 1-yard touchdown run with 6:39 remaining in the fourth quarter lifted visiting SMU to a 34-27 win over No. 22 LSU on Saturday in an Atlantic Coast Conference game.
The Mustangs (5-1, 2-0 ACC) drove 89 yards in 11 plays for the winning score. Quarterback Kevin Jennings, who accounted for 394 total yards, converted a key third down with a 6-yard run.
The Cardinals’ last possession ended when Isaiah Nwokobia intercepted Tyler Shough’s pass in the end zone with 2:29 remaining.
Jennings hit 21 of 27 passes for 281 yards and added 113 yards on the ground.
Shough completed 22 of 35 for 329 yards with two touchdowns and the late pick.
Ja’Corey Brooks had three catches for 121 yards and Ahmari Huggins-Bruce had five grabs for 82 yards for the Cardinals.
Isaac Brown rushed for 117 yards for Louisville, which fell to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the ACC. The Cards are likely to fall out of the Top 25 when the new poll is released Sunday afternoon.
In a game many expected to be high-scoring, SMU controlled the first half as Jennings played almost flawlessly while its defense kept Louisville under wraps for the most part.
Each team scored on its first two possessions. The Mustangs got a 5-yard touchdown run from Roderick Daniels and a 10-yard scoring strike from backup quarterback Preston Stone to Key’Shawn Smith.
The Cardinals countered with Shough’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Brooks and Brock Travelstead’s 46-yard field goal.
SMU made it 21-10 when Jennings, who completed 12 straight passes to open the game, ripped off a 59-yard scoring jaunt with 6:56 left in the half.
After Travelstead’s 41-yard field goal nudged Louisville within eight points, Collin Rogers drilled a 55-yarder 23 seconds before halftime for a 24-13 Mustangs lead at the break.
–Field Level Media
Florida St. looking to take down another ACC newbie at SMU
Fresh off beating one conference newcomer, Florida State will now be the opponent for another Atlantic Coast Conference newbie’s debut when it travels to Dallas to take on SMU on Saturday night.
The Mustangs (3-1, 0-0 ACC) will face the Seminoles (1-3, 1-2) for the first time. SMU enters the game with one of the most potent offenses in the country under coach Rhett Lashlee and coming off a 66-42 shootout win over rival TCU.
SMU is 16th in the nation in scoring offense, led by Miami transfer Brashard Smith with 380 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
Both teams have dealt with struggling quarterbacks differently in recent weeks.
SMU entered the season with Preston Stone as the starter. Stone was benched after the Mustangs’ 18-15 loss to BYU on Sept. 6 and replaced by Kevin Jennings, who shined in the win over TCU. Jennings completed 14 of 19 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 41 yards on 10 carries.
Jennings complemented Smith effectively as the latter finished with 127 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
“We felt like to win, from the first play to the last play we needed to just leave no doubt that we’re the most physical team on the field,” Lashlee said.
Meanwhile, Florida State has stuck with starter DJ Uiagalelei despite his subpar play most of the season. Uiagalelei has completed 72 of 126 passes for 843 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Last week, he passed for 177 yards and an interception against Cal but also had the game-winning, 36-yard TD pass to Ja’Khi Douglas.
“Obviously, we all get to have the opportunity to go out and get better, and that’s going to be the push throughout the course of this week,” FSU coach Mike Norvell said. “There were some good things that DJ did in some very critical moments, and there are things where he has to be better.”
Norvell said the Seminoles will be without running back Roydell Williams for an extended period of time due to an undisclosed injury.
–Field Level Media
Rivals TCU, SMU square off for Iron Skillet
Longtime rivals and neighbors TCU and SMU will look to get back on the winning track when they meet Saturday afternoon in Dallas in the Battle for the Iron Skillet.
The schools, separated by 40 miles in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, will play for the 103rd time. TCU owns a 53-42-7 edge and has captured 13 of the past 16 contests, including the last two.
Both teams come into the game after home losses, with the Mustangs falling to BYU 18-15 on Sept. 7 and the Horned Frogs succumbing to UCF, 35-34, on Sept. 14 in their Big 12 Conference opener.
SMU (2-1) won its first two games before stumbling against BYU. The Mustangs managed just 261 yards of total offense in the loss and never reached the end zone, relying on Collin Rogers’ five field goals for all their points.
Kevin Jennings passed for 140 yards with an interception for the Mustangs. Starting quarterback Preston Stone played just three series and passed for 4 yards while being sacked three times. Jennings will start on Saturday.
“This game is important to a lot of people but when it kicks off, it’s another game,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said. “Fortunately, it’s our fourth game and it’s an opportunity for us go and play good football. We’re gonna go out compete and try to play our best game of the year.”
The Horned Frogs (2-1) led 28-7 over UCF early in the third quarter but could not stem a rousing comeback from the visiting Knights. UCF took the lead for good on a TD pass with 36 seconds to play, allowing TCU a final chance. But Kyle Lemmerman’s 58-yard field-goal attempt drifted wide right.
Josh Hoover passed for 402 yards and four TDs against UCF, with Jack Beck catching nine passes for a career-high 200 yards and a touchdown.
TCU coach Sonny Dykes said the first half of the loss was the best his team has played all year.
“We didn’t finish the game out, and I’m disappointed, but we will learn from that,” Dykes said. “That game doesn’t define who we are and who we are going to be. We have to look ahead and be at our best against SMU.”
–Field Level Media
Will Ferrin’s late field goal gives BYU 18-15 win over SMU
Will Ferrin kicked a 26-yard field goal with 1:58 left Friday night to give BYU an 18-15 non-conference win over SMU in Dallas.
The Mustangs’ last gasp ended with 1:25 remaining when Kevin Jennings’ 4th-and-10 pass from their 40, intended for Jordan Hudson, fell incomplete at the
Cougars’ 20. The result enabled BYU to improve to 2-0 and dropped SMU to 2-1.
Jake Retzlaff completed 15 of 28 passes for the Cougars for 202 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, while Jennings was 15 of 32 for 140 yards with an interception. Mustangs starter Preston Stone played just three series and was 2 of 4 for 4 yards, absorbing three sacks.
SMU led 12-7 in the third quarter after Collin Rogers’ fourth field goal of the game when BYU answered with a 61-yard touchdown march. Enoch Nawahine scored on a 9-yard run at the 1:15 mark, followed by a two-point conversion pass.
Rogers’ fifth field goal, a 45-yarder with 6:17 remaining in the game, evened the score at 15. The Cougars responded with a 67-yard drive, getting a 37-yard run from Miles Davis on 4th-and-1 from their 48 to tee up Ferrin.
BYU initiated scoring on its second drive, marching 75 yards and finishing it with Retzlaff’s 16-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mata’ava Ta’ase, the second time the duo hooked up for a score in as many games.
That was it for the Cougars’ attack until their last drive of the half. They had four straight 3-and-outs, then were stoned on a 4th-down run at the 26 by an SMU defense that kept them from scoring points after BYU recovered a fumbled punt at the Mustangs’ 35.
SMU took a 9-7 lead at halftime thanks to Rogers’ three second quarter field goals. He boomed a career-long 53-yarder at the 13:06 mark, connected from 52 about seven minutes later and nailed a 38-yarder in the last minute.
The Cougars had a chance to take the lead at halftime but Ferrin misfired from 55 as time expired.
–Field Level Media