No. 16 SMU prepares for encore after smashing ACC debut that included playoff spot

DALLAS (AP) — Kevin Jennings looks back on SMU’s lopsided loss to Penn State in the College Football Playoff last season as a necessary step on a path to go even further than the Mustangs did in their sparkling Atlantic Coast Conference debut.

“I took a lot from that game,” said Jennings, who threw two pick-6s early in a 38-10 first-round loss on a frigid day in Pennsylvania. “I tell myself all the time, honestly, I needed that game. I needed a bad game like that to bounce back and come back in and remind myself that I can play at this level.”

Comparisons figure to come fast and furious after the Mustangs’ undefeated run through their first ACC regular season, the first time in nearly 30 years they were part of a power conference. Coach Rhett Lashlee senses it coming off an 11-3 season, and with SMU ranked in The Associated Press preseason poll for the first time in 40 years at No. 16.

“It’s a brand new team,” Lashlee said when practice started in late July. “It has nothing to do with the past.”

Jennings wasn’t the starting quarterback when the 2024 season began, 29 years after the demise of the Southwest Conference left SMU in league purgatory.

He made his first start in the fourth game, a 66-42 victory over crosstown rival TCU, and didn’t lose until the Mustangs’ stirring comeback fell short in a 34-31 loss to Clemson in the ACC title game. The rally helped SMU get picked over Alabama and Mississippi for the final spot in the first 12-team CFP.

Now, Preston Stone, the starter at the beginning of last season, has moved on and won the job at Northwestern. And Jennings is the established guy trying to build on momentum the Mustangs haven’t seen since the 1980s, before the program was shut down for recruiting violations in the only so-called death penalty the NCAA ever administered.

“We have enough remnants to say, ‘Guys, this is how we do things,’” Lashlee said. “So that’s the foundation you hope carries over and then at the same time, it’s a brand new team. This team’s personality will be different than any we’ve ever had.”

The remnants

Among those remnants are three returning starters in the offensive line in tackles Savion Byrd and PJ Williams and left guard Logan Parr. Tight end RJ Maryland was poised for a big year before a knee injury ended his season after seven games.

The Mustangs have to replace running back Brashard Smith, who ran for 1,332 yards and 14 touchdowns last season. There are several candidates to become the lead back.

Safety Isaiah Nwokobia is the most notable returning player from last season’s No. 1 scoring defense in the ACC. SMU has signed eight defensive linemen since the end of last season.

“I think if this team can reach its potential, then we’ll be competing,” Lashlee said. “How that ends, I don’t know, but we’ll have a chance to compete for something meaningful in November. But boy, we’re a long way from that, and we got a lot of things in front of us before then.”

Here’s the catch

Jennings lost three of his top four receiving threats from last season, not counting Maryland. The Mustangs hope Jordan Hudson and Romello Brinson can fill the void. Hudson scored five TDs last season.

The schedule

The Mustangs missed Clemson and Miami during the regular season in their ACC debut. They have to play both in Year 2, the fourth-ranked Tigers on the road Oct. 18 and the 10th-ranked Hurricanes at home two weeks later. After the opener against East Texas A&M, two of the remaining three nonconference opponents are old rivals Baylor and TCU, a pair of Big 12 teams coming off solid seasons.

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