Head Coach: Rhett Lashlee is entering his 3rd year with the Mustangs program. He has a 18-9 record. A challenging year 1 was followed by a quick rise in year 2 where the Mustangs won the AAC championship. Now they move on to bigger ventures in the ACC.
Program Outlook: It’s a new era for SMU as they begin their time as a ACC member. Does it make any sense at all, nope! But they’re here now and they enter the league at a good time because their program has a lot of momentum following the conference championship season last year.
How does the 2024 Roster look?: SMU is one of the leading teams in the entire nation in returning production. There’s not many teams with more experience back. They’re led by QB Preston Stone who was great all season, but particularly hit his stride shortly before an injury ended his season late last year. Fortunately he already was back practicing in the spring and there seems to be little doubt he will be ready in time. That’s good news because basically every key piece to the passing game is back, Jake Bentley is a good go-to target, TE RJ Maryland (who is somehow here and not Maryland) is one of the best in the nation and watch for former 5-star Jordan Hudson who was a stud in the spring. Helping this attack go will be the offensive line, they too got better as the year went on they block very well and clear lanes for the Mustangs trio of RBs. So the offense is and will be a lot of fun to watch, but why did the Mustangs jump from 7-6 to winning the conference? It was because their defense was really good. They are led by a menacing pass rush and while Elijah Roberts is their most of productive, it can really come from anywhere and thanks to the portal they will have even more options this year. Their linebackers are good but the secondary could be vulnerable against tougher passing attacks. They really need to work on stopping the run, TCU, Oklahoma and Boston College all utilized that to beat the Mustangs last year.
Screenshot from fbschedules.com1
2024 Schedule Thoughts: SMU wasn’t afraid to challenge themselves with a game against BYU to go along with their previously annual rivalry with TCU. The ACC schedule is front loaded with challenges against Louisville and Florida State off the bat but it becomes pretty favorable after that as the Mustangs play a lot of teams who are expected to finish toward the bottom of the conference. Definitely not the worst slate for their first year in the conference.
Vegas Projection: SMU’s win total is set at 8.5 with the odds geared toward the under. For entering a new conference this is quite the optimistic win total, but not a great payoff if you think the Mustangs will struggle to adjust to ACC life.
2024 Best Case: SMU is ready for this, the pieces and depth are in place for them to contend immediately. They roll into their battle with BYU undefeated and handle the Cougars easily. SMU then gets revenge on rival TCU and takes the Iron Skillet, while their fans get a good laugh at Sonny Dykes who suddenly isn’t enjoying his time there. SMU then hosts Florida State in one of their biggest home games in a long time. They aren’t afraid however. They battle back and forth, but Stone drives them down the field late to pick up a massive win. SMU isn’t able to avoid a slip up against Louisville the next week but it’s still all in front of them. They roll past the rest of their schedule to reach the ACC championship where they of course face Clemson. SMU doesn’t win that one but has an argument for making the playoff, unfortunately they’re passed up but they win their bowl game for a great top 15 finish. The future is bright.
2024 Worst Case: Maybe SMU isn’t ready for this. The Mustangs start 2-0 but things quickly go wrong in losses to BYU and TCU. 2-2 is not where you want to be with FSU and Louisville next. Quickly SMU is down to 2-4 and hitting the road again. They don’t recover against Stanford and their newly found foe Boston College kicks them out of bowl eligibility. It’s a disappointing 3-9 season, making it apparent they won’t be contending for the ACC any time soon.
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