SMU Defense Crumbles As Louisville Hands Mustangs 41-31 Loss
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SMU had plenty of offense Saturday. What the Mustangs didn’t have was a defense capable of slowing Louisville … or a clean enough game from quarterback Kevin Jennings to survive it.
No. 16 SMU fell 41-31 to the No. 23 Cardinals at L&M Federal Credit Union Stadium, with the Mustangs surrendering 446 total yards, including a staggering 269 on the ground, while committing three turnovers of their own.
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That combination was fatal.
Jennings threw for 222 yards and a touchdown, but he was intercepted twice and also lost a fumble. Louisville didn’t turn the ball over once.
For a quarterback who entered the afternoon playing some of the best football in the country, Jennings suddenly found himself giving the Cardinals opportunities SMU’s defense was in no position to erase.
And that defense was the bigger problem.
Louisville averaged 7.9 yards per rushing attempt and scored four touchdowns on the ground. Keyjuan Brown absolutely shredded the Mustangs, carrying just 10 times for 163 yards and two touchdowns … an absurd 16.3 yards per carry.
Isaac Brown added 67 yards and a touchdown on 10 attempts, while quarterback Lincoln Kienholz ran for another 42 yards and a score.
SMU’s defense recorded zero sacks.
That’s especially ugly for a program that entered the season expecting its defensive front to create havoc.
Kienholz didn’t have to carry Louisville through the air, completing 14 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns. He simply had to avoid mistakes while watching the Cardinals repeatedly rip through SMU on the ground.
Meanwhile, SMU wasted a monster performance from Kendrick Raphael.
Raphael rushed 24 times for 197 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 8.2 yards per carry. The Mustangs actually finished with 479 total yards, 27 first downs and 257 rushing yards.
Those are numbers that normally produce a win. Not when you turn it over three times.
Not when you allow nearly eight yards per rush. And not when your defense can’t produce a single takeaway.
Receiver Yamir Knight led SMU with seven catches for 70 yards and a touchdown, while Yannick Smith added 50 receiving yards.
But the afternoon ultimately came down to two glaring failures: Jennings didn’t protect the football, and SMU’s defense couldn’t protect anything.
Louisville scored 41 points despite possessing the ball for less time and producing fewer total yards than SMU.
That should make this one particularly frustrating for Rhett Lashlee.
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The Mustangs had enough offense to win.
They simply gave Louisville too many possessions … and then couldn’t stop the Cardinals when they got them.
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