The 2024 SMU Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 2024 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Mustangs were led by Rhett Lashlee in his third year as the program's head coach. The Mustangs played their home games at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in University Park, Texas.

The 2024 season was SMU's first in the ACC since moving from the American Athletic Conference (The American). The Mustangs clinched a berth in the 2024 ACC Championship Game with a 33–7 win over Virginia, becoming the first team transitioning to a power conference to reach a conference championship game in the national championship game era (since 1998). The Mustangs lost the conference championship game to Clemson, but still secured a berth in the 12-team College Football Playoff (CFP). In their CFP first-round game, SMU was defeated by Penn State, ending their season with an overall 11–3 record.

Offseason Transfers Incoming Name Pos. Height Weight Hometown Prev. school Tarian Lee Jr. LB 6'2 240 Tallahassee, FL Georgia Southern Brock O'Quinn LS 6'1 210 Southlake, TX Alabama Andrew Chamblee OT 6'6 304 Maumelle, AR Arkansas Paris Patterson Jr. IOL 6'6 352 East Saint Louis, IL Arkansas Billy Walton III EDGE 6'3 229 Dallas, TX Texas Jaden Milliner-Jones S 5'11 198 DeSoto, TX Colorado Jared Harrison-Hunte DL 6'4 285 Middle Village, NY Miami (FL) Qae'Shon Sapp IOL 6'4 318 Leesburg, GA East Carolina Matthew Hibner TE 6'5 254 Burke, VA Michigan Blake Burris DL 6'5 300 Irving, TX Texas Tech Brashard Smith WR 5'10 194 Miami, FL Miami (FL) Anthony Booker Jr. DL 6'4 351 Cincinnati, OH Arkansas Deuce Harmon CB 5'10 191 Denton, TX Texas A&M Ashton Cozart WR 6'3 195 Flower Mound, TX Oregon Justin Medlock LB 6'0 220 Manvel, TX Utah Omari Abor EDGE 6'3 258 Duncanville, TX Ohio State Savion Byrd OT 6'5 296 Duncanville, TX Oklahoma Nate Anderson IOL 6'4 309 Frisco, TX Oklahoma Mike Lockhart DL 6'3 308 Birmingham, AL West Virginia Jahfari Harvey EDGE 6'4 252 Fort Pierce, FL Miami (FL) Jonathan Jefferson DL 6'3 295 Douglasville, GA Georgia

Recruiting

Preseason ACC media poll The Atlantic Coast Conference preseason poll was released on July 31. The Mustangs were predicted to finish seventh in the conference.

Schedule

Rankings

Personnel

Game summaries

At Nevada

Statistics SMUNEV First downs 21 16 Total yards 408 298 Rushing yards 100 148 Passing yards 308 150 Turnovers 1 0 Time of possession 23:43 36:17 Team Category Player StatisticsSMU Passing Preston Stone 17/30, 254 yards, TD, INT Rushing Brashard Smith 11 rushes, 67 yards, TD Receiving R. J. Maryland 8 receptions, 162 yards, TDNevada Passing Brendon Lewis 14/26, 132 yards, 2 TD Rushing Brendon Lewis 18 rushes, 77 yards Receiving Cortez Braham Jr. 4 receptions, 66 yards, TD

Houston Christian

Statistics HCUSMU First downs 10 28 Total yards 157 595 Rushing yards 34 369 Passing yards 123 226 Turnovers 3 1 Time of possession 24:56 35:04 Team Category Player StatisticsHouston Christian Passing Cutter Stewart 10/25, 118 yards, TD, 2 INT Rushing Champ Dozier 7 rushes, 22 yards Receiving Ismael Fuller 2 receptions, 38 yardsSMU Passing Kevin Jennings 10/14, 148 yards, TD Rushing Brashard Smith 9 rushes, 108 yards, 2 TD Receiving Jake Bailey 4 receptions, 59 yards, TD SMU handily defeated HCU, a team in the Football Championship Subdivision, 59–7 in the team's home opener. This was the first game played in Gerald J. Ford Stadium following the completion of the Garry Weber Endzone Complex.

BYU

Statistics BYUSMU First downs 16 18 Total yards 336 261 Rushing yards 134 117 Passing yards 202 144 Turnovers 3 3 Time of possession 30:53 29:07 Team Category Player StatisticsBYU Passing Jake Retzlaff 15/28, 202 yards, TD, 2 INT Rushing Miles Davis 3 rushes, 37 yards Receiving Darius Lassiter 2 receptions, 62 yardsSMU Passing Kevin Jennings 15/32, 140 yards, INT Rushing Brashard Smith 14 rushes, 75 yards Receiving Key'Shawn Smith 4 receptions, 46 yards SMU lost to BYU 18–15 in a defense-heavy game. Preston Stone started as quarterback for SMU, but was replaced by backup Kevin Jennings three drives into the game. Neither quarterback led the team to a touchdown, with placekicker Collin Rogers instead kicking 5 field goals to score all 15 of the team's points, setting a school record for most field goals in a single game in the process.

TCU (rivalry)

Statistics TCUSMU First downs 24 23 Total yards 480 375 Rushing yards 65 238 Passing yards 415 137 Turnovers 5 1 Time of possession 32:20 27:40 Team Category Player StatisticsTCU Passing Josh Hoover 28/43, 396 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT Rushing Cam Cook 14 rushes, 24 yards, TD Receiving Jack Bech 8 receptions, 166 yards, 2 TDSMU Passing Kevin Jennings 14/19, 137 yards, 2 TD Rushing Brashard Smith 18 rushes, 127 yards, 3 TD Receiving Romello Brinson 1 reception, 51 yards

SMU defeated TCU 66–42 to win back the Iron Skillet. Prior to the game, Kevin Jennings took over the role as starting quarterback from Preston Stone. The team capitalized on a strong defense, which forced five turnovers, two of which were immediately returned for touchdowns. The team additionally scored a touchdown on a punt return. At the beginning of the second half, TCU head coach Sonny Dykes, who was SMU's head coach from 2018–2021, was ejected from the stadium after receiving two consecutive penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct. Dykes had been arguing with officials over a holding penalty that resulted in a kickoff return touchdown being called back. Dykes was the first head coach of a team in a power conference to be disqualified from a game for this reason since the rule was established in 2016.

Florida State

Statistics FSUSMU First downs 13 23 Total yards 295 480 Rushing yards 73 226 Passing yards 222 254 Turnovers 3 1 Time of possession 24:19 35:41 Team Category Player StatisticsFlorida State Passing DJ Uiagalelei 12/30, 222 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT Rushing Lawrance Toafili 15 rushes, 67 yards Receiving Jakhi Douglas 2 receptions, 61 yardsSMU Passing Kevin Jennings 16/23, 254 yards, 3 TD Rushing Brashard Smith 17 rushes, 129 yards, TD Receiving Jake Bailey 2 receptions, 65 yards

At No. 22 Louisville

Statistics SMULOU First downs 26 21 Total yards 481 461 Rushing yards 190 132 Passing yards 291 329 Turnovers 0 1 Time of possession 25:37 34:23 Team Category Player StatisticsSMU Passing Kevin Jennings 21/27, 281 yards Rushing Kevin Jennings 10 rushes, 113 yards, TD Receiving R. J. Maryland 6 receptions, 83 yardsLouisville Passing Tyler Shough 22/35, 329 yards, 2 TD, INT Rushing Isaac Brown 10 rushes, 117 yards Receiving Ja'Corey Brooks 3 receptions, 121 yards, 2 TD

SMU defeated Louisville 34–27, their first win against a ranked opponent for the season. Quarterback Kevin Jennings became the first SMU player to pass for over 200 yards and rush for over 100 yards in a game since 2014, including a 59-yard touchdown run. Jennings sustained a minor injury during a drive in the first quarter, forcing backup quarterback Preston Stone to finish the drive, but Jennings returned to the field shortly after. The team took an 11-point lead entering halftime, but Louisville came back to tie the game during the third quarter. SMU's defense prevented Louisville from scoring during the fourth quarter, enabling SMU to take the victory with one final touchdown and an interception by safety Isaiah Nwokobia. Many observers saw SMU's victory as placing them in contention for a spot in the ACC Championship.

At Stanford

Statistics SMUSTAN First downs 22 15 Total yards 501 206 Rushing yards 179 33 Passing yards 322 173 Turnovers 3 2 Time of possession 27:15 32:45 Team Category Player StatisticsSMU Passing Kevin Jennings 17/27, 322 yards, 3 TD, INT Rushing Brashard Smith 8 rushes, 67 yards Receiving Moochie Dixon 1 reception, 87 yards, TDStanford Passing Elijah Brown 16/32, 153 yards, TD, 2 INT Rushing Micah Ford 13 rushes, 31 yards Receiving Sam Roush 6 receptions, 75 yards SMU defeated Stanford 40–10, but star tight end R. J. Maryland was injured after being tackled at the knees during the game. The injury removed Maryland from play for the remainder of the season.

At Duke

Statistics SMUDUKE First downs 23 24 Total yards 469 393 Rushing yards 211 98 Passing yards 258 295 Turnovers 6 0 Time of possession 27:28 32:32 Team Category Player StatisticsSMU Passing Kevin Jennings 13/24, 258 yards, TD, 3 INT Rushing Brashard Smith 26 rushes, 117 yards, 2 TD Receiving Roderick Daniels Jr. 2 receptions, 153 yards, TDDuke Passing Maalik Murphy 27/48, 295 yards, 3 TD Rushing Star Thomas 17 rushes, 65 yards, TD Receiving Eli Pancol 11 receptions, 138 yards, TD

SMU narrowly defeated Duke in overtime after Duke failed a two-point conversion attempt. Quarterback Kevin Jennings threw three interceptions and turned the ball over on two fumbles. Overall, the Mustangs turned the ball over six times, while Duke did not turn the ball over a single time. Despite this, Duke never scored off of any turnover. SMU became one of only two teams in the twenty first century to win despite committing at least six more turnovers than their opponent. Duke kicker Todd Pelino missed an extra point in the third quarter, although the team made up the points with a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter to tie the game. Pelino missed one field goal during the fourth quarter that would have given Duke the lead, while SMU defensive end Jahfari Harvey blocked another field goal as time expired, sending the game to overtime.

No. 18 Pittsburgh

Statistics PITTSMU First downs 30 19 Total yards 453 467 Rushing yards 103 161 Passing yards 350 306 Turnovers 2 0 Time of possession 31:44 28:16 Team Category Player StatisticsPittsburgh Passing Eli Holstein 29/47, 248 yards, INT Rushing Desmond Reid 13 rushes, 49 yards, TD Receiving Kenny Johnson 8 receptions, 81 yards, TDSMU Passing Kevin Jennings 17/25, 306 yards, 2 TD Rushing Brashard Smith 23 rushes, 161 yards, 2 TD Receiving Matthew Hibner 3 receptions, 108 yards, TD SMU handily defeated Pitt 48–25, giving the team their first loss of the season. Following their victory, SMU was ranked number 13 in the country by the Associated Press, the highest such rating the team had received since 1985. A concurrent loss by Clemson left SMU and Miami as the only remaining undefeated teams in ACC conference play, clearing SMU's potential path to the ACC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff. SMU's 5–0 start in conference play made them the best performing former Group of Five team in their first year in a Power conference.

Boston College

Statistics BCSMU First downs 23 25 Total yards 417 438 Rushing yards 180 140 Passing yards 237 298 Turnovers 1 1 Time of possession 35:09 24:51 Team Category Player StatisticsBoston College Passing Grayson James 18/32, 237 yards, TD, INT Rushing Kye Robichaux 21 rushes, 90 yards, 2 TD Receiving Reed Harris 4 receptions, 78 yardsSMU Passing Kevin Jennings 24/35, 298 yards, 3 TD, INT Rushing Brashard Smith 18 rushes, 120 yards, TD Receiving Jordan Hudson 7 receptions, 99 yards, TD SMU defeated Boston College 38–28 in a rematch of the 2023 Fenway Bowl. Though SMU led for most of the game, their defense faltered after the first quarter, allowing Boston College to briefly take the lead at the start of the second half. Though SMU took back the lead on the next drive, Boston College played the game close enough to have a chance to make a comeback late in the fourth quarter. However, SMU's defense had regained its footing by this point, sacking quarterback Grayson James on back to back plays to force a turnover on downs, setting SMU up for a game-sealing touchdown.

At Virginia

Statistics SMUUVA First downs 20 14 Total yards 434 173 Rushing yards 111 65 Passing yards 323 108 Turnovers 2 0 Time of possession 28:25 31:35