CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Kevin Jennings threw for a career-high 323 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another, and No. 13 SMU clinched a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game by routing Virginia 33-7 on Saturday.
Isaiah Smith and Jared Harrison-Hunte each had two sacks to help the Mustangs (10-1, 7-0, No. 13 CFP) extend their winning streak to eight. They would earn an automatic bid into the expanded College Football Playoff by beating 11th-ranked Miami or 17th-ranked Clemson in the ACC title game on Dec. 7 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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"One of our first goals of the summer is done to make it there, but the job’s not finished at all," Smith said. “Not even close, so we still got a lot more work to do."
Jennings led the way to get there, bouncing back from an interception and a fumble to complete 25 of 33 passes to six different receivers, including TD tosses to Jordan Hudson and Matthew Hibner. Brashard Smith provided a little balance on offense, running for 63 yards and his 13th touchdown of the season.
"We got an unlimited amount of guys that can make plays," Jennings said. “I feel like just week by week, the game is getting slower for me.”
SMU's defense overwhelmed UVa's offensive line, sacking Anthony Colandrea nine times and allowing the Cavaliers (5-6, 3-4) just 173 yards.
“Against a guy who’s hard to tackle,” said SMU coach Rhett Lashlee, whose contract extension was announced Friday. “Probably against like me back there, it’s 16 sacks — at least the older me.”
Special teams contributed, too, with Roderick Daniels Jr. returning a punt 48 yards and Collin Rogers making two field goals. SMU is reveling in the underdog role after being picked to finish seventh in the ACC in their first season since joining from the American Athletic Conference
“We came out, we play good and we just prove people wrong every week,” Daniels said. “As the season start going, they start seeing we were a threat and now they see what’s going on.”
UVa's defeat made Notre Dame's opponents 2-7 in their next game after facing the Fighting Irish this season. SMU is responsible for three of those losses.
The takeaway
SMU: Given their schedule and the ACC's lack of strength, blowing out a mediocre opponent is not likely to strengthen the Mustangs' at-large case for the playoff. But they can only beat who they play, and this was a dominant performance that showed this team isn't collapsing under pressure.
Virginia: Coach Tony Elliott's decision to stick will Colandrea instead of starting Tony Muskett did not pay off, though it would have been difficult for most quarterbacks to get anything done under with so little time to operate. Faint chants of “We want Muskett!” from the senior day announced crowd of 36,305 came early in the fourth quarter — before Collandrea ended a streak of 20 consecutive drives without scoring by finding Malachi Fields in the end zone with 4:16 left.
Poll implications
SMU should remain at No. 13 and could even move up if No. 5 Indiana drops significantly following its blowout loss at No. 2 Ohio State.
Up next
SMU hosts California next Saturday to wrap up its first regular season of ACC play.
Virginia visits rival Virginia Tech next Saturday night, needing to win to become bowl eligible.
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