Brashard Smith rushed for 161 yards, including a 71-yard run for his first of two rushing touchdowns, and made a great catch for another score as No. 20 SMU defeated the previously undefeated No. 18 Pittsburgh 48-25 on Saturday night. This victory keeps the Mustangs tied for the conference lead in their first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“We’re just going fast like we normally do, and they couldn’t keep up,” Smith said.
The Mustangs (8-1, 5-0 ACC), who were last year’s champions in The American, are the first team to go 5-0 in their first season in a power conference after moving up from a Group of Five league.
“It just shows when you worry about taking care of your own business, what can happen,” coach Rhett Lashlee said.
Kevin Jennings completed 17 of 25 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns. He connected with tight end Matthew Hibner for an 80-yard touchdown on his last pass, giving SMU a 48-11 lead right after Jonathan McGill’s interception in the end zone in the fourth quarter.
Pitt (7-1, 3-1) was aiming to start the season 8-0 for the first time since 1981, when Dan Marino was the quarterback. Redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein, who left late in their previous game with an injury, completed 29 of 47 passes for 248 yards but did not play the final 9.5 minutes due to the score.
“The message is it’s one game,” said Panthers coach Pat Narduzzi to his team. “It’s hard to win every week. It’s hard to be on top every week. And maybe as a team and staff we didn’t handle success well. Our guys will handle adversity. This is adversity, and our guys will bounce back. You can see in that locker room, they’re not discouraged.”
The losses on Saturday night by Pitt and No. 11 Clemson left the Mustangs tied with No. 5 Miami (9-0, 5-0) for the top spot in the expanded 17-team ACC. SMU will not face the Hurricanes during the regular season.
SMU took the lead for good with LJ Johnson’s 2-yard touchdown run, which completed the opening drive of the game. Roderick Daniels Jr. added a 3-yard touchdown on a reverse play, skillfully avoiding a defender in the backfield and leaping over another to reach the end zone.
Smith’s long touchdown run happened right after Ben Sauls, who had already made a 44-yard field goal, missed a 47-yarder, marking his first miss in 16 attempts since last season.
The Mustangs went up 28-3 after Jennings rolled to the right on third-and-goal from the 3-yard line and threw to Smith, who managed to keep his feet inbounds while reaching out to catch the ball at the far side of the end zone.
During the next kickoff, SMU cornerback AJ Davis was seen face down on the field. Video showed his head making contact with the returner as he lunged to make a tackle. Davis was carefully placed on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to a hospital.
However, he was back on the sideline with his teammates before the game ended.
“When it happened, they felt like he was OK. He was moving. He was coherent. He just had some pain in his neck, and any time that happens they’re going to be really cautious,” Lashlee said. “From what I was told briefly, all the scans and everything were good, and he should be OK. So that’s a big blessing.”
