Through Aug. 22, Sports Illustrated will count down its preseason college football Top 25 with overviews of each team. Here are the full rankings so far.
Not even in their wildest imagination did SMU fans think they could have had the kind of season the Mustangs went through in 2024. Even the most optimistic might have hoped to make a top-tier bowl game, but honestly it was all pretty much gravy for the program after finally making it into a power conference and plastering the ACC logo all over Dallas.
What transpired was unfathomable even if the final two games did not go anywhere close to how SMU had hoped for in the moment. The program once hit by the famed death penalty put together what might be the most successful conference affiliation change ever in modern college football. The Ponies reached the ACC title game where they came ever so close to winning it. Even better: a berth in the College Football Playoff ahead of all their old Southwest Conference rivals save for two.
“It’s a big step to take because it’s hard enough to get there,” coach Rhett Lashlee said. “I never once thought the moment was too big for our guys. Especially in a championship game scenario, we’ve been there but we hadn’t been on that stage against an opponent like that. And then you go to the playoffs … We got in a hole 21–7 and you can’t do that in those stages. You gotta hang in the fight early because the second through the fourth quarter, I think that we proved in that day that we were arguably the better team.”
Some might take umbrage with that thinking, but it nevertheless puts a lot of pressure on the Mustangs to now start asking, what’s next? They lose a few key pieces from last year and the schedule is much, much more difficult in 2025 both in the ACC and in the nonconference.
Getting back to reaching last season’s heights will be difficult. Surpassing them seems like an even taller task. The good thing for the Mustangs is they have a recent history of exceeding expectations by a country mile and then some.
Fast Facts
2024 record: 11–3, 8–0 ACC
Offense: 36.5 ppg (seventh in FBS), 6.15 yards per play (38th)
Defense: 22.1 ppg (32nd in FBS), 4.67 yards per play (sixth)
On the Headset
Rhett Lashlee, entering Year 4 in Dallas, 29–12 overall record
When Sonny Dykes spurned SMU to go across town to TCU, many within the program were hurt by the thought of what it said about the Mustangs and the opening he left behind. Such concerns are now no longer a thing, it’s safe to say, after Lashlee has pushed just about every right button since getting the gig.
He’s had a vision for what the team could accomplish and quickly built it into one that can win the American one season and then instantly compete in the ACC the next. There’s an aggressive mentality that permeates the hilltop nowadays and it all flows directly from their head coach.
Now is the time where we get to find out if Lashlee is just a hotshot young head coach or one of the really elite ones who could have plenty more shots at making it to Charlotte and beyond. Most are expecting a step back in 2025 given their personnel losses and the way they lost to Clemson and Penn State to end the season, but their head coach will have none of that as he looks to continue the winning ways.
“We actually came out of those two games feeling more confident—no, we belong,” he said. “We just know the margin of error in those games is a lot slimmer in those moments. We’ve got to make sure we put our best foot forward in those moments.”
Key Returning Starter
QB Kevin Jennings, RS Jr.
Jennings was the spark that lit the Mustangs last season and got them on their way to roll through ACC play with his dual-threat ability and impressive knack for knowing when to live to fight another day. He started 11 games after being handed the job following the team’s loss to BYU and never looked back.
Even Nick Saban noticed. How could you not when you’re throwing for 3,245 yards and finding time to score on the ground, too?
But the outside perception of Jennings, however flowing it was before the month of December, definitely began to cool after he was ineffective for stretches against Clemson and had a nightmare game in Happy Valley that included a pair of pick-sixes and just three points from four trips inside the Nittany Lions’ 10-yard line.
“I watched it a lot. The month after, probably every day,” says Jennings of the CFP game. “Just trying to get it out of my mind and trying to function through it. Penn State was a really good team and they got the best of us.”
Now it’s time for Jennings to get back to being the QB he was in a number of incredible wins last season. More will be asked of him as both a veteran leader and with a number of fresh faces on the team, but he’s capable of helping SMU exorcise some demons by playing to his potential.
Key Transfer
RB T.J. Harden, from UCLA
The Ponies will miss Brashard Smith as such a key part of the offense and will basically be bringing in an entirely new running back room. They’ll have to hope Harden is equipped to handle the bulk of the work out of the backfield after leading the Bruins in rushing last season.
Key Departure
DL Elijah Roberts, fifth-round NFL draft pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Mustangs defense was an overlooked part of their run last season. For as much as they return on that side of the ball, they’ll miss Roberts’s flexibility and timely playmaking. He recorded 17.5 sacks during his two years in Dallas and always seemed to impact the game with a big play.
Circle the Dates
- Sept. 20, at TCU
- Oct. 18, at Clemson
- Nov. 1, vs. Miami
- Nov. 22, vs. Louisville
Bottom Line
A thud of an ending colored outside perception of SMU last season, but it was an unequivocal success that shows the program is on the rise as a regular contender on the national stage. They have a good head coach, lots of staff continuity, a stellar returning quarterback and a lot to like even if the schedule could make getting back to the CFP much more difficult.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sports Illustrated’s College Football Preseason Top 25: No. 13 SMU.