SMU Run Defense Has Gone From Strength To Serious 2026 Concern
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SMU’s defense has changed dramatically in 2026, and nowhere is that more obvious than against the run.
A year ago, the Mustangs were one of the better rushing defenses in the country. SMU allowed only 111.9 rushing yards per game, 3.2 yards per carry and just five rushing touchdowns across 13 games.
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Three games into 2026, that strength has suddenly become the defense’s most glaring weakness.
Opponents are averaging 175.3 rushing yards per game, and Louisville turned that troubling trend into a full-blown problem Saturday by piling up 265 yards on the ground in a 41-31 win over SMU.
Head coach Rhett Lashlee didn’t dance around it afterward.
“We have to be able to tackle on defense against the run,” Lashlee said. “We can’t let somebody run for 265 yards on us.”
Louisville didn’t simply grind out those yards, either. The Cardinals hit SMU with explosive runs that completely changed the game.
Keyjuan Brown ran for a career-high 163 yards on only 10 carries, averaging 16.3 yards per attempt.
His 58-yard touchdown early in the third quarter erased SMU’s halftime lead, and his 53-yard score in the fourth put Louisville back in front for good.
Isaac Brown added 67 yards and a 27-yard touchdown as Louisville finished with four rushing scores.
That’s a massive departure from what SMU looked like in 2025.
The Mustangs finished last season ranked 19th nationally in rushing defense. Isaiah Smith, Terry Webb, Jeffrey M’ba and Cameron Robertson helped create a defensive front that consistently disrupted plays before running backs could reach the second level.
That group is largely gone.
Smith produced 18 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks last season. Webb added 5.5 sacks, M’ba had five, and Robertson finished with 10 tackles for loss and five sacks.
SMU has attempted to rebuild that front with newcomers including Malcolm Alcorn-Crowder, Ira Singleton IV, Marques White and Aakil Washington, but the results against the run haven’t yet matched last year’s standard.
Florida State ran for 199 yards in the opener, including 116 from Ousmane Kromah. UC Davis managed just 62, offering hope that the early issues had been corrected.
Louisville erased that optimism.
The strange part is that SMU’s pass defense has actually improved significantly. The Mustangs are allowing fewer than 160 passing yards per game and have been excellent on third down.
But none of that matters much if an opponent can skip third down entirely with 50-yard runs.
Three games don’t define a season.
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They’re enough, however, to establish a trend.
And right now, stopping the run has gone from one of SMU’s biggest defensive strengths to the issue Maurice Crum Jr.’s unit has to fix first.
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