SMU has made the jump to the Atlantic Coast Conference look easy in its first two seasons.
Moving up from the American Conference, the Mustangs reached the top 10 of the AP poll and made the Atlantic Coast Conference title game and College Football Playoff in 2024. Then they won nine games last fall to bring their win total through two ACC seasons to 20.
Pollsters expect the good times to keep rolling for No. 19 SMU, which enters this season as the second-highest-ranked ACC team. The Mustangs kick off their third campaign in the conference against Florida State on Monday night in Tallahassee, Fla.
“A great opportunity on Labor Day Monday night,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said in an appearance this week on Sportsradio 96.7. “Only game going on in the country, Monday Night Football at Tallahassee, a great venue against an iconic program.”
The Mustangs launched a Heisman campaign this summer centered around fifth-year quarterback Kevin Jennings. After serving as a backup his first two years at SMU, he won a position battle in 2024 and led the Mustangs to the CFP. He enters his third year as a starter with 7,709 passing yards, 559 rushing yards and 65 touchdowns (55 passing, 10 rushing) for his career.
In today’s age of fewer and fewer players staying at a single school their entire career, Lashlee sees Jennings as a beacon of light.
“He’s everything that’s right about college football,” Lashlee said. “He’s a phenomenal young man. He’s a great ambassador for Dallas and for SMU and, at the same time, he’s really good at football. So a lot of confidence in him and excited just to watch him play.”
Florida State (1-0) has not had the same success the last two seasons, winning a combined seven games in 2024-25 after a 13-1 campaign in 2023. But the Seminoles do have the advantage of a game under their belts as they beat visiting New Mexico State 34-17 on Saturday.
Considering the Seminoles were favored by 30-plus points, it wasn’t ideal for them that they led just 17-10 late in the third quarter before finally creating separation.
But there were a few bright spots, notably among the running backs. Sophomore Ousmane Kromah amassed 115 yards and a score, averaging 8.2 yards per carry, while senior Samuel Singleton Jr. had 168 all-purpose yards (54 receiving, 42 rushing, 68 kick return), a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown to earn the ACC’s Receiver of the Week award for Week 0.
“I was proud of him to see his impact in all three phases of it,” said Florida State coach Mike Norvell. “The return game had a big kickoff return. Obviously, you had some good runs, but then you’re also catching the ball out of the backfield — that was great to see and to see his confidence growing in what we do.”
Norvell knows there’s an inherent advantage to having played a game while SMU will be making its season debut. However, he is also aware Lashlee and the Mustangs got to scout things they could exploit — like Florida State’s defense allowing New Mexico State to convert 10 of 17 third-down attempts — if the mistakes aren’t corrected.
“SMU is gonna see some of the issues that were there and Rhett does a great job of trying to exploit your issues that he sees on film,” Norvell said. “We got to make sure that we’re 11 playing as one and just go out there and trust our technique.”
SMU and Florida State faced off for the first time two years ago, when the Mustangs ran away with a 42-16 home win.
