The rare misstep during an otherwise nearly-perfect transition into a power conference has SMU seeking redemption this coming fall.
Last November, the Mustangs fell, 38-35, in the final minute at California on the last Saturday of the regular season. That heartbreaking loss prevented them from returning to the ACC championship game for the second time in two years, as well as from a repeat appearance in the College Football Playoff.
“It motivated us with everything. I’ll keep it real. I cried after that game,” SMU linebacker Brandon Booker told The Daily Progress.
Said quarterback Kevin Jennings: “I think we all have that in the back of our minds, and we won’t let that happen again this year.”
Failing to take advantage of a meaningful opportunity hasn’t occurred often for SMU and fifth-year coach Rhett Lashlee, who has undeniably guided a successful jump for the program from the American Athletic Conference to the ACC. Since SMU’s move into the league, the Mustangs have won more ACC games (14) than any other school in the conference. They are also an unbeaten 8-0 in ACC home contests.
In their first ACC go-around, they went undefeated in league play, but got beat by Clemson in the conference title bout on a game-winning field goal as time expired. Still, SMU earned an at-large berth into the CFP field in 2024.
The Mustangs are aiming for a return to the CFP this year, and are undoubtedly the toughest foe on Virginia’s 2026 slate. UVa plays at SMU on Oct. 17 in a meeting of the last two runner-ups in the ACC.
“We’re not a blue blood, but we are a new blood,” Lashlee said. “When you start thinking about it along those lines, new blood is what we’re currently doing. We’re present. Blue blood means it’s what you’ve done in the past. We’re not resting on what we’ve done in the past. We’re living in what we’re doing now.”
Lashlee — with significant support from SMU’s donors and administration — has geared the Mustangs to have staying power, too, and they want to show that this fall.
His players believe that as well, especially after this past offseason when multiple SEC schools, including his alma mater Arkansas, targeted Lashlee for their coaching vacancies.
“We paid attention to it, but it wasn’t like, ‘Oh God, he might leave us,’” Booker said. “It was, ‘If he decides that, then he decides it,’ but we had a feeling he wasn’t going to leave because he already had something built. So, why go try to build something else and start over when you already have something built well by you and have it well-established?”
The plan now at SMU is to benefit from all that’s in place.
Jennings, a fifth-year senior, is going into his third year as the starter and has had the same coach and play-caller — Lashlee — throughout his career. In any down-and-distance situation, Jennings said, he has a good feel for the plays Lashlee will call and the throws Lashlee wants him to make.
“And he knows what I like, so it helps us a lot,” Jennings said.
Jennings has passed for 7,709 yards and 55 touchdowns during his time at SMU, and Lashlee has seen all of Jennings’ 961 passing attempts. Jennings said the pair is aiming for an even higher level of consistency this coming fall.
The school has already launched a Heisman campaign to promote Jennings, who is surrounded by superb skill players like returning speedy slot receiver Yamir Knight, Alabama transfer wide receiver Jalen Hale and former Cal running back Kendrick Raphael, who coincidentally scored the game-winning touchdown in the last minute of that meeting between the Golden Bears and Mustangs in Berkeley to keep SMU out of the 2025 ACC championship game.
Projected first-round draft pick PJ Williams anchors SMU’s offensive line, which returns three starters.
Booker and fellow linebacker Alexander Kilgore were two of the Mustangs’ four leading tacklers last season, and they’re both back. But on the D-Line and in the secondary, SMU will rely on transfers to turn what was an up-and-down defense a season ago into a steadier unit. Notably, the Mustangs acquired cornerback Jayvon Thomas, a former high school teammate of Jennings, from Texas A&M to improve the secondary.
Booker said he senses the revamped defense will play with strong unity and help keep SMU on the rise.
“I never had a doubt that we wouldn’t be a good team in the ACC,” Booker said. “Now, [to have] as many wins as we’ve had, I was a little skeptical because it was something new for us and something we were acclimating to. But when the first [ACC] season came, it showed we could adjust and now being in this league, it’s steadily shown me that SMU is making a name for itself and that we have the talent to compete with the top schools like Miami and Clemson.”
Jennings said: “It’s going to be a historical season for us. We’re going for it all and it’s going to be a great season.”
