Birds of a Feather: SMU

By Derek DeBurger

For this week’s installment of Birds of a Feather, Dean Ralsky, sports writer for SMU’s The Daily Campus, answers questions about Saturday’s game against the Cards.

SMU is a power-conference team for the first time since 1995 when they were a part of the Southwest Conference. Coming off of the second winningest season in program history, how have the Mustangs lived up to your expectations thus far in the season?

The early season was a struggle with disaster averted against Nevada in week zero and a loss to BYU off a nearly useless offensive performance. However, ever since Kevin Jennings has been inserted into the lineup the team seems to be humming again. How much do you think the turnaround has been the result of Jennings and how did you originally feel when Preston Stone was benched?

Although SMU didn’t start the season with a clear #1 quarterback, ever since Kevin Jennings was named the starter (after the BYU game) he has hit the ground running. Because Jennings is a dual-threat quarterback, he makes the Mustang offense more difficult to prepare for and forces defenses to cover all parts of the field. This reason specifically made the decision seem obvious when Coach Lashlee had to pick one quarterback going forward. Jennings can take the bulk of the credit for the offensive improvements in the last few weeks. Earlier on in the season, the offensive line was struggling, and Jennings was able to escape the pocket and extend plays more consistently than Preston Stone. As a result, Jennings is more efficient at moving the ball down the field than Stone, which is why the switch was made at QB.

Rhett Lashlee runs an up-tempo offense that really prioritizes ground-and-pound ball. Brashard Smith is one of the biggest rushing threats in the ACC, and Jennings offers an option on the ground as well. With a major threat in the passing game in RJ Maryland, a stellar defensive line for the Cards and a Louisville secondary that has been very banged up the past couple of weeks, do you expect Lashlee to try to test the Louisville secondary more than usual or do you think we’ll see the normal mix of run and pass plays?

The SMU offense seems to have found its identity in the last couple of games, so I expect Coach Lashlee to stick to their game plan from the last couple of weeks. Even though Lashlee’s offenses in the past have been known for the “air raid” vertical passing game approach, Lashlee’s offense this year is built around the strengths of the personnel, which is running the football and quick passes to the boundary and over the middle. I wouldn’t expect SMU to deviate too far away from their success in the last two games.

The defense has been a little bit up and down this season after a year where the Mustangs were dominant on that side of the ball. Lashlee hit the portal hard to bulk up on the D-line before ACC play, but do you think it was enough to compete with some of the more physical teams or is it still a work in progress?

Despite what some of the scorelines say about this defense, they have been rock solid. The SMU defense loves forcing turnovers (T-most in CFB with 14) and returning them for touchdowns ( 5 defense/special teams touchdowns, which is the most in CFB). Also, the transfer portal additions across the defensive line combined with the returning talent from last year made the defensive line one of the best position groups on this team. Although the defense has stepped up so far this season, there are still some question marks in the secondary, which will have their hands full on Saturday trying to contain Ja’Corey Brooks.

Finally, how do you think this game will go? What’s your score prediction?