Get your saddles ready for the Mustangs.
With a new Syracuse Orange football season looming, we’re pleased to say that a fan favorite TNIAAM series is making its return once again to help you get ready for the new year.
At this point in our opponent previews, Syracuse has reached the fall season. Coming off a game versus Duke and #MannyMadness, the Orange now head off to the Lone Star State to play an opponent it hasn’t competed against in almost 100 years.
Entering from stage left are the SMU Mustangs, coming off a College Football Playoff berth in their first season as ACC members. Is this the same Mustangs squad that almost rode off into the sunset in Charlotte as conference champions, or can the Orange pick off a surprise win inside Gerald J. Ford Stadium?
Here’s your breakdown of Syracuse’s matchup versus SMU:
What to know about the SMU Mustangs
School: Southern Methodist University (University Park, TX)
Nickname: Mustangs
Mascots: Peruna (the horse) and Peruna (the mascot)
Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images
#BRAND Slogans: #PonyUp
Alternate #BRAND Slogans: #RideLikeTheWindBullseye, #StampedeIntoSuccess, #AllAboardThePonyExpress
Conference: ACC
History vs. Syracuse: Syracuse has played SMU just one time in its history. That came on October 15, 1932, and it was the Mustangs who emerged victorious with a 16-6 win in Upstate New York.
Coach: Rhett Lashlee, the reigning ACC Coach of the Year, continues to have the outlook for SMU pointing pretty much nowhere but up since taking over three years ago. The former backup quarterback at Arkansas was a graduate assistant there and at Auburn through 2010. Lashlee then become the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Samford. He would stay in those roles with several schools, including Arkansas State, Auburn, UConn, SMU and Miami (FL). Lashlee took over as SMU’s coach starting in the 2022 season. After a 7-6 record in year one, Lashlee led the Mustangs to 11-3 records in his last two years, including SMU’s last in the American and first in the ACC.
Amber Searls-Imagn Images
2024 Record: 11-3 (8-0), College Football Playoff First Round (loss)
What happened last season: SMU’s first year in its new conference turned out as well as it could with a perfect regular season record against the ACC. The start of the 2024 campaign for the Mustangs was pretty shaky, with a win over Houston Baptist sandwiched between a narrow victory over Nevada (29-24) and a sluggish loss to BYU at home (18-15). From there, SMU never looked back. After the BYU game, SMU dropped 66 points against TCU, kicking off a nine-game win streak with victories over Florida State, No. 22 Louisville, Stanford, Duke, No. 18 Pittsburgh, Boston College, Virginia and California. SMU’s first loss since September came on December 7, when Clemson narrowly beat out the Mustangs on a game-winning field goal. The Mustangs still made the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff, but lost by 28 points to Penn State.
Kevin Jennings (Third-Team All-ACC) took over for Preston Stone at quarterback and finished the year with over 3,200 yards in the air and another 350-plus on the ground, 28 total touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Brashard Smith (First-Team All-ACC) was by far SMU’s best running back with over 1,330 yards and 14 TDs. It was a very balanced passing attack for the Mustangs, with eight different players finishing between 275 and 666 yards.
Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
On defense, DT Jared Harrison-Hunte, S Isaiah Nwokobia and LB Kobe Wilson led the way there. EDGEs Elijah Roberts and Jahfari Harvey each recorded over 30 total tackles and 7.5 sacks. Nwokobia was one of three safeties on the team with three INTs.
What happened during the offseason: The latest SP+ rankings from ESPN are feeling very high about SMU, who rank No. 20 overall and third in the ACC (behind Clemson and Miami) in returning production. That includes bringing back the 11th-most production on offense, headlined with the return of Jennings.
SMU’s transfer portal class ranks No. 41, per 247Sports, with 20 players (all rated as three-star) joining the 2025 roster. Among the new faces are former Louisville DL Woo Spencer, former Missouri EDGE Jahkai Lang, former Miami OT Zion Nelson and former Miami RB Chris Johnson Jr.
On the recruiting trail, SMU’s 2025 class is just outside of the top-30, sitting at No. 31 per 247Sports. The Mustangs newbies include five-star OT Dramodd Odoms, four-star QB Ty Hawkins and four-star WRs Jalen Cooper and Daylon Singleton.
2025 season projections: Per FanDuel, SMU has the fourth-best odds to win the ACC at +900, trailing just Clemson, Miami and Louisville. The Mustangs currently have an over-under win total of 8.5 wins, with the over at -128 and the under at +104.
SMU starts its 2025 season against East Texas A&M. The rest of the non-conference schedule includes home against Baylor and away versus Missouri State and TCU. SMU gets ‘Cuse, Stanford, Miami and Louisville at home and Clemson, Wake Forest, Boston College and California on the road.
Game Date: Saturday, October 4
Location: Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Odds of Orange Victory: 18%
Odds of “marquee game” potential: 85%
Very Early Outlook vs. Syracuse: The Orange will certainly face an uphill battle against a Mustangs team that for the past two years has consistently handled business and won. Especially having this game after the slugfest that is playing Duke the previous week also makes the timing for this matchup pretty tough, especially since the Mustangs will have an extra week’s worth of rest with the bye.
For a game like this, the initial expectation is simple: SMU will have continuity at the QB spot, SMU will not be discovering anything new and double-down on what worked last year. This is definitely the the game where the unknown on what Syracuse’s offense looks like in 2025 really makes this feel like a long shot to win, while acknowledging SMU will be bringing in plenty of new pieces.