SMU Returning To Playoff Form Would Be Good For Notre Dame
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One of the most overlooked teams on Notre Dame's schedule nationally are the SMU Mustangs. We're talking about a program that made the 12-team College Football Playoffs before Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, Michigan and USC. I understand, to a degree, why they're overlooked. It's because they play in the ACC and aren't named Miami or Clemson, but don't let the logo on the helmet fool you. Head coach Rhett Lashlee is building something down in Dallas.
In the last two seasons, SMU has gone 20-7 overall and have a 14-2 record in conference. They went 8-0 in conference play and 11-3 overall in 2024 when they played for the conference title and made the playoffs. This past season, they took a two-game step back and finished 9-4. They went 8-4 in the regular season and beat Arizona 24-19 in the Holiday Bowl to pick up their 9th win.
With that being said, my outlook on the Mustangs this season isn't solely based on what they did in previous years. Some of it has to do with the last two seasons, but it's also because of what they bring back for their 2026 campaign.
Starting quarterback Kevin Jennings returns as the signal caller on offense. In the last two years, Jennings has thrown for 6,886 yards, rushed for 408 yards, thrown 49 touchdowns, rushed for nine and thrown a combined 24 interceptions. The 6-0, 192-pound quarterback started to shake off the rough performance he had against Penn State in the playoffs midway through the 2025 season and it started to show.
On the road against Clemson, Jennings threw for 290 yards and two touchdowns. Two weeks later, in an upset win over Miami, the Texas native threw for 365 yards, one touchdown and added another on the ground and didn't turn the ball over. In November when they faced Louisville at home, Jennings threw for 303 yards, completed 78.4% of his passes, threw for three touchdowns and added another score on the ground.
His return brings a lot of confidence back to the SMU offense, but it's not just him. Up front, they return their center, right guard and right tackle. At running back, they brought in Kendrick Raphael from Cal who's coming off a 943-yard, 13-touchdown season with the Golden Bears. Wide receivers Yamir Knight and Jalen Cooper come back to step into much larger roles this season as well. They also brought in a pair of tight ends, Randy Pittman Jr. from Florida State and Theo Melin Ohrstrom from Texas A&M who the Irish faced at home last season.
Defensively, the back end is shored up with linebackers Brandon Booker and Alexander Kilgore returning. Their secondary is also in great shape with Marcellus Barnes and William Nettles coming back. The biggest question for the Mustangs defensively will be the play of their defensive line. They lost all four starters from last season and are inserting four portal players to start in the trenches. If they hold up and play well, their defense should be fine.
The 9-4 season they went through last season has to be the floor under Lashlee. Notre Dame needs SMU to be the 2024 version of themselves rather than the latter. This will, by far, be the toughest opponent the Irish have faced on Senior Day under Marcus Freeman and it could be a resume-building, second ranked win in November, something they didn't have last fall.
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