BOSTON, Mass. — SMU took care of business on another road trip out east.
The Mustangs (7-3, 5-1) defeated Boston College (1-9, 0-6) 45-13 at Alumni Stadium on Saturday afternoon in a convincing ACC win.
The SMU defense forced four turnovers and made three fourth-down stops, while the offense dominated in both the run and pass game.
Yamir Knight, Jordan Hudson and TJ Harden each finished with more than 100 yards, while Derrick McFall rushed for three touchdowns.
Here are five thoughts from the win.
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Mustangs overcome BC team that’s given them trouble recently
On paper, Boston College is the easiest opponent on SMU’s ACC schedule, as the Eagles haven’t won a conference game.
But SMU has faced BC more than any other ACC team over the past three seasons, and the Eagles haven’t been an easy opponent.
SMU lost to Boston College in the Fenway Bowl in the 2023 season. Boston College played SMU closer than any ACC team did at Ford Stadium last year, as the Mustangs won by just 10 points.
After an emotional win over No. 10 Miami, Saturday’s matchup could’ve been a trap game similar to Wake Forest.
But SMU came away with a decisive win to keep its ACC title game hopes alive. The Mustangs still need to beat Louisville and Cal — and get a little help from another ACC team to reach Charlotte, N.C.
Ahmaad Moses continues to lead nation’s best takeaway defense
Entering this week, SMU’s defense led the nation in turnovers gained with 22 on the year and added to that total against Boston College Saturday.
SMU safety Ahmaad Moses, who had two interceptions against Miami last week, recovered two fumbles in the first quarter to lead SMU in a stellar defensive start.
Moses led the team and nation in interceptions after last week’s performance but showed his versatility Saturday.
DJ Warner hit Boston College quarterback Grayson James as he threw on third down, and Moses recovered the fumble, setting up an SMU field goal. On Boston College’s next drive, Moses had a quick response time to a fumbled snap.
True freshmen defensive backs Tyren Polley and Sael Reyes each had their first career interceptions in the second half.
SMU now has 26 takeaways on the year.
Isaiah Smith closes in on program sack record
A career day for SMU defensive end Isaiah Smith put him within reach of the program’s sack record.
Smith, who had four sacks on the year entering Saturday’s game, finished with four sacks against BC quarterbacks James and Dylan Lonergan and Shaker Reisig. That tied a program record for most sacks in a single game.
Two of his sacks were on third down, forcing the Eagles to punt. Another two he was in on were on fourth-down attempts by Boston College in SMU territory.
Smith moved into second place in program history with 22.5. He trails only Luke Johnson, who had 23.5 career sacks during his career from 1997-99.
Defense shines on third and fourth down
It happens weekly at this point that SMU comes up with a big stop on fourth and short forcing a turnover on downs in its own territory.
It happened three times against Boston College.
On back-to-back drives in the second quarter, Boston College elected to try to convert on fourth down instead of kicking a field goal. The first was on the SMU 4-yard line and the second was on the SMU 25.
Lonergan threw an incompletion on the 4th-and-goal scenario. Smith sacked Lonergan on the other attempt.
Late in the third quarter, Smith combined with Warner for another fourth-down sack on 4th-and-4 from the SMU 23.
SMU held Boston College to just 2 of 15 on third down and 4 of 7 on fourth down all day.
SMU offense dominates in explosive day
Once SMU’s offense got going against BC, it was explosive.
SMU had 10 passing plays of 15 yards or more and four of over 35 yards. All three of Kevin Jennings’ touchdown passes went for over 25 yards. The first was a 25-yard pass to Hudson before halftime. The second was a 61-yard pass to Knight in the third quarter. The final came later in the third — a 37-yard pass over top to tight end Matthew Hibner.
Jennings finished with 326 yards passing, three touchdowns and one interception on 16-of-32 passing. SMU subbed in quarterback Charlie Fiser with under eight minutes remaining to give Jennings the rest of the day off.
Knight made seven catches on nine targets for a career-high 162 yards and a touchdown. His season high before Saturday was 69 yards against TCU.
Hudson finished with 104 yards on five catches and a touchdown, eclipsing 100 yards for the third time in four weeks.
SMU’s run game was also quite effective after being neutralized the last two weeks. Harden rushed for 130 yards on 16 carries, and McFall scored three times, including a 48-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
SMU finished with 574 total yards and would have had an even better day if it weren’t for nine offensive penalties for 95 yards.
