The 2026 SMU Mustangs football team represents Southern Methodist University (SMU) as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 2026 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Rhett Lashlee, the Mustangs play home games at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in University Park, Texas.
Transfers Incoming Name Pos. Height Weight Hometown Previous School Christian Davis DL 6'3" 328 lbs Ruston, LA Louisiana Tech Yannick Smith WR 6'3" 190 lbs Summerville, SC East Carolina Caden Marshall LB 6'2" 200 lbs Paris, TN Bowling Green Ira Singleton EDGE 6'4" 220 Lilburn, GA South Florida Jarvis Lee CB 5'11" 165 Green Cove Springs, FL South Florida Jimmy Wyrick S 5'10" 160 Dallas, TX UTSA Malcolm Alcorn-Crowder DL 6'6" 305 Whitman, MA Kansas State Theo Melin Öhrström TE 6'6" 243 Stockholm, Sweden Texas A&M Nick Reed K 5'7" 181 Harrison, NY New Hampshire Randy Pittman TE 6'2" 230 Panama City, FL Florida State Trey Jackson TE 6'4.5" 210 Dallas, TX Texas Tech Jalen Hale WR 6'0.5" 185 Longview, TX Alabama Kendrick Raphael RB 5'10" 187 Naples, FL California Marques White EDGE 6'2" 250 Glendale, AZ UMass Jamal Anderson LB 6'2" 215 Hoschton, GA Clemson Jayvon Thomas CB 5'10.5" 170 Dallas, TX Texas A&M
Outgoing Name Pos. Height Weight Hometown New School King Large IOL 6'5" 300 Bellflower, CA Missouri State Kyle Ferm LB 6'3" 225 Glendora, CA Liberty DJ Warner EDGE 6'4" 215 Goodyear, AZ Washington State Nolan Akins LS 6'1" 200 Flower Mound, TX Oklahoma State Omari Abor DL 6'4" 240 Duncanville, TX Unknown Collin Rogers K 6'4" 185 Prattville, AL Florida Atlantic Braeden Flowers EDGE 6'3" 260 San Antonio, TX Unknown Elijah Pratt S 5'11" 165 Arlington, TX UAB Zakye Barker LB 5'11" 220 Norcross, GA North Texas Blake Burris DL 6'4" 262 Irving, TX Florida Atlantic Paris Patterson Jr. IOL 6'4" 355 East St. Louis, IL Texas Billy Walton EDGE 6'2.5" 215 Dallas, TX Oklahoma State Jaxson Lavender WR 5'10" 174 Dallas, TX Tarleton State Lance Beeghley WR 6'2" 194 New Braunfels, TX Iowa Kyron Chambers CB 6'1" 195 Dallas, TX UNLV Zach Hernandez RB 5'6" 188 Dallas, TX Unknown Christopher Johnson RB 5'11" 184 Fort Lauderdale, FL Clemson Adam Moore TE 6'2" 220 Miami, FL Unknown Justin Medlock LB 6'0" 207 Manvel, TX Boston College Damarjhe Lewis DL 6'3" 301 Griffin, GA Washington State Mark Iheanachor LB 6'1.5" 220 Harbor City, CA UNLV Sam Keltner K 5'10" 180 Keller, TX Oklahoma State Devon Martin TE 6'5" 240 Mesquite, TX Unknown James Larson TE 6'4" 235 St. Charles, IL LSU Cameron McCullouch LS 6'4" 210 Houston, TX Sam Houston
Schedule In January 2026, SMU Athletics announced football season ticket pricing for the 2026 season. The pricing structure reflected attendance trends and program growth, with seating options including general admission and premium experiences.
Rankings
Personnel Quarterback Kevin Jennings returned to the team for his final year of eligibility. It is his third consecutive year as the starter and fifth as a member of the team, uncommon in the era of the transfer portal. Safety Ahmaad Moses, who graduated and declared for the 2025 NFL Draft, is seeking an additional year of eligibility after a court ruling did so for other players who started college in 2022.
Game summaries at Florida State
Statistics SMUFSU First downs 23 16 Plays–yards 67–585 68–324 Rushes–yards 31–155 45–199 Passing yards 430 125 Passing: –– 26–36–2 12–23–0 Turnovers 4 1 Time of possession 27:44 32:16 Team Category Player StatisticsSMU Passing Kevin Jennings 26/36, 430 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT Rushing Kendrick Raphael 12 carries, 75 yards Receiving Yannick Smith 5 receptions, 107 yards, TDFlorida State Passing Ashton Daniels 12/23, 125 yards, TD Rushing Ousmane Kromah 22 carries, 116 yards, TD Receiving Samuel Singleton Jr. 2 receptions, 40 yards, TD
SMU defeated Florida State 27–24 on Labor Day. Shortly before the start of the game, Doak Campbell Stadium suffered a major power outage. The outage was unrelated to any inclement weather, creating uncertainty as to if it would be restored quickly enough to play the game that night. Administrators from both schools and the ACC met throughout the outage to discuss contingency plans for a possible postponement, as well as for how to operate the game if the stadium were to have power properly restored. An hour and 40 minutes after the game's scheduled kick time, the game began with no scoreboard, no coach-to-player headset communication, and no video review. Midway through the second quarter, most of the stadium's remaining electrical systems came online, and the game proceeded as any other for the rest of its duration.
SMU's victory came despite several miscues throughout the game. The team trailed the turnover margin 4–0, with two interceptions, a muffed punt, and a lost fumble. The team's defense largely prevented Florida State from capitalizing on these errors, keeping the game close, although an offside penalty on a field goal try allowed Florida State to score a touchdown to tie the game 17–17 in the third quarter. Florida State only managed to convert two out fifteen third down plays. SMU's offense, led by veteran quarterback Kevin Jennings, was explosive throughout the game, totaling nearly 600 yards, including several long touchdown passes. This continued entering the fourth quarter, with SMU quickly scoring to retake their lead, but Florida State quickly answered with their own touchdown to tie the game once again 24–24. SMU's subsequent drive was cut short by Jennings' second interception of the night. After regaining the ball once again with the game still tied, SMU approached field goal range and began running out the clock before kicking a go-ahead field goal with 25 seconds on the clock. Florida State failed to advance at all on their final drive, and the game ended after SMU intercepted a desperation lateral pass, their only turnover of the night.
No. 7 (FCS) UC Davis
Statistics UCDSMU First downs 12 20 Plays–yards 60–233 56–547 Rushes–yards 24–62 24–93 Passing yards 171 454 Passing: comp–att–int 19–36–1 27–32–0 Turnovers 2 0 Time of possession 32:40 27:20 Team Category Player StatisticsUC Davis Passing Jackson Kollock 8/10, 88 yards, TD Rushing Jordan Fisher 8 carries, 19 yards Receiving Samuel Gbatu Jr. 5 receptions, 60 yardsSMU Passing Kevin Jennings 14/16, 337 yards, 5 TD Rushing Derrick McFall 6 carries, 46 yards Receiving Yamir Knight 3 receptions, 62 yards
SMU routed UC Davis, taking a 42–0 halftime lead. During the game, Kevin Jennings surpassed Ben Hicks' record of 8,977 total yards, becoming SMU's all-time leader on offense. Due to extreme heat, both teams agreed to shorten the second half by six minutes. Backup quarterback Ty Hawkins came in during the second half and threw two touchdowns of his own, finishing out a 56–10 victory.
at No. 23 Louisville
Statistics SMULOU First downs 27 22 Total yards 479 442 Rushes–yards 45–257 37–265 Passing yards 222 177 Passing: comp–att–int 24–35–2 14–23–0 Turnovers 3 0 Time of possession 31:56 28:04 Team Category Player Statistics SMU Passing Kevin Jennings 24/35, 222 yards, TD, 2 INT Rushing Kendrick Raphael 24 carries, 197 yards, 3 TD Receiving Yamir Knight 7 receptions, 70 yards, TD Louisville Passing Lincoln Kienholz 14/23, 177 yards, 2 TD Rushing Keyjuan Brown 10 carries, 162 yards, 2 TD Receiving Lawayne McCoy 4 receptions, 62 yards, TD SMU lost to Louisville in a 41–31 shootout, dealing a significant blow to the team's chances of making the ACC championship game. Often tied during the first half, the teams traded the lead five times throughout the second half of the game until Louisville pulled away in the fourth quarter with a ten-point lead. Both teams leaned significantly on their running game, with Cal transfer Kentrick Raphael recording career highs in both rushing yards and touchdowns. Defensively, SMU allowed Louisville to make several breakaway running plays, contributing to their defeat.
In addition to committing three turnovers, the team also failed two fourth down conversions. For the first, early in the game, SMU opted against punting on Louisville's side of the field. Louisville capitalized on the mistake, taking the lead soon after. The other took place as SMU attempted to make a comeback during the fourth quarter, where Kevin Jennings ran with the ball and failed to make the conversion, allowing Louisville to take a two-score lead soon after. Jennings committed two further turnovers while attempting to mount a comeback, a consistent issue throughout his career. While running the ball himself for a touchdown, Louisville forced a fumble at the one yard line, and the ball fell out of the endzone for a touchback, and on the team's final possession, Jennings threw an interception, sealing SMU's defeat.
Missouri State
Statistics MOSTSMU First downs 14 28 Total yards 239 592 Rushes–yards 28–68 40–128 Passing yards 171 464 Passing: comp–att–int 22–34–1 33–39–1 Turnovers 1 2 Time of possession 25:46 34:14
Team Category Player StatisticsMissouri State Passing Skyler Locklear 15/19, 102 yards, TD Rushing Breezy Dubar 7 carries, 76 yards Receiving Isaiah Myers 5 receptions, 46 yards, TD SMU Passing Kevin Jennings 33/39, 464 yards, 3 TD, INT Rushing Kendrick Raphael 23 carries, 98 yards, TD Receiving Yamir Knight 11 receptions, 164 yards, TD
SMU defeated Missouri State 34–24 in a game highly reminiscent of the team's first meeting in 2025. Like in 2025, Missouri State, now led by former SMU offensive coordinator Casey Woods, took a 10–0 lead in the first quarter before SMU took control of the game and won. Unlike in 2025, however, after SMU took the lead, Missouri State kept the game close in an attempted fourth quarter comeback, but they fell short and lost by 10 points. SMU continued its struggles with turnovers that had haunted them all season, with a pick-six thrown by Jennings and a red zone fumble by Yamir Knight contributing to Missouri State's early lead. SMU already had one of the worst turnover margins of any FBS team entering the game and had yet to win the turnover margin against any FBS opponent. Kicking proved another point of struggle for SMU, as it had in 2025 where they lost three games by three points or less. SMU missed both of its field goal attempts, each from a different placekicker, and they missed an extra point due to a bad snap and hold.
During the game, Kevin Jennings broke four more school records. He broke two records previously held by Ben Hicks, surpassing 9,081 career passing yards and beating his career completions record. He also broke Tanner Mordecai's record of 78 total career touchdowns and Josh McCown's record of 19 consecutive completions, throwing 21 straight.
Boston College
Statistics BCSMU First downs Total yards Rushing yards Passing yards Turnovers Time of possession
Team Category Player StatisticsBoston College Passing Rushing Receiving SMU Passing Rushing Receiving
SMU defeated Boston College 25–16, severely underperforming pregame expectations. SMU's offense struggled in the rain, gaining less than half of their average yardage during the course of the game. The team's rushing and passing games both struggled, although this was their first FBS opponent against whom SMU committed no turnovers. Special teams struggles continued to plague the team, failing two extra point conversions off of bad holds. To compensate for these struggles, SMU's defense stifled Boston College through most of the game, sacking quarterback Mason McKenzie five times and forcing three fumbles.
Virginia
Statistics UVASMU First downs Total yards Rushing yards Passing yards Turnovers Time of possession
Team Category Player StatisticsVirginia Passing Rushing Receiving SMU Passing Rushing Receiving
California
Statistics CALSMU First downs Total yards Rushing yards Passing yards Turnovers Time of possession
Team Category Player StatisticsCalifornia Passing Rushing Receiving SMU Passing Rushing Receiving
at Syracuse