SMU delivers most complete performance of season in 51-28 rout of Virginia Tech

DALLAS, TX - NOVEMBER 06: SMU Mustangs wide receiver Yamir Knight (8) celebrates his touchdown with SMU Mustangs running back Dramekco Green (4) and SMU Mustangs wide receiver Jalen Hale (2) during the Atlantic Coast Conference college football game between the SMU Mustangs and the Virginia Tech Hokies on November 6, 2026, at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas, TX. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The ACC title race is still open for business.That was the message SMU intended to deliver, even after suffering a heartbreaking loss at Syracuse in Week 9. The Mustangs were presented with an ideal opportunity to bounce back Friday night in Dallas against Virginia Tech, doing so in front of an energetic crowd decked in black.The conference opponents, meeting for the first time since 1974, entered with identical 6-2 records. But SMU made sure there was nothing identical about the teams by the night’s end. The Mustangs dismantled the visiting Hokies, 51-28, delivering their most complete performance across four quarters this season.“Awesome to get back home and get a win,” SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee said. “Really proud of the way our guys responded. That’s what we talked about last week in the locker room. That’s what we talked about all week. Your mistakes, your failures, your setbacks in life is not what defines you. It’s how you respond that defines you.”SMU had been plagued by sluggish starts since September, having gone over a month without points on its opening drive. In their previous seven games against FBS opponents, the Mustangs never scored more than 17 first half points or held a halftime lead larger than seven.A different energy was evident Friday night against Virginia Tech, and it materialized from the opening kickoff. SMU came out swinging with an 8-play, 75-yard opening drive to establish a 7-0 advantage, and the offense never relinquished that momentum. Kevin Jennings and the Mustangs scored on all five of their first half possessions, rolling into the break with a 23-14 advantage. The 23 first half points and 9-point halftime lead were both season-highs against FBS competition.“For years, everybody was about you defer, you defer, you defer,” Lashlee said. “Even now when I tell officials we’re gonna take the ball, they kind of look at me like, ‘Really?’ I’m like, ‘Well yeah, we think for ourselves around here.’ So we had five possessions in the first half and they had four, and we had the lead at half. The number one data point is, the person who scores first has the best chance to win. And then our defense has gotten used to coming out and starting the second half for us, so it’s just been the combo that works for us.”The Mustangs took that momentum into the second half, and by the third quarter, the game completely slipped away from Virginia Tech.“Offensively, for whatever reason, people play us a little different,” Lashlee said. “And so sometimes it takes us a quarter or a couple drives to settle in and go, ‘Oh, they’re a man team and they’re playing all zone,’ or ‘Oh, they’re a zone team and they’re playing all man’ or ‘They’re blitzing’ or ‘They don’t ever blitz,’ and then we setttle in and play a little better.”Marques White set the tone for the second half with a third down sack on Virginia Tech’s opening possession. It was one of several game-defining plays created by the eighth-year senior defensive end. Earlier in the second quarter, White fought through a holding penalty, dislodged the ball from Virginia Tech quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, and recovered the ensuing fumble. One play later, Jennings connected with Yamir Knight on a 47-yard touchdown strike .“When you’re in the moment, you don’t necessarily blackout, but you kind of go into this mode where you’re like ‘get the ball, get the ball,’” White recalled of the strip-sack. “So I knew if I was able to beat my guy — which I did beat the guard — rip through, finish the play… I just saw the ball out there, hit it out, and luckily it fell right into my lap, and I was able to pick it up for the team. Big transition and big swing for the team.”The defense delivered another pivotal moment in the third quarter. Facing a 4th-and-1 from the SMU 24-yard line while trailing by two scores, Virginia Tech attempted to cut into deficit. But inside linebacker Brandon Miyazono flew into the backfield and tripped Marcellous Hawkins Jr. from behind, forcing a turnover on downs. SMU consistently capitalized on its defense’s momentum-shifting plays, and freshman running back Christian Rhodes immediately delivered another blow. On the first snap following Miyazono’s stop, Rhodes broke loose for a 59-yard run, putting the Mustangs fully in control.The Mustangs scored on each of their first eight offensive possessions, ranging from the opening kickoff through the 9:15 mark of the fourth quarter. Jennings orchestrated the attack, completing 24-of-32 passes for 350 yards and four touchdowns.“I’ve run out of ways to tell everybody that he’s literally one of the best quarterbacks in America,” Lashlee said of Jennings. “He was almost flawless.”Knight was on the receiving end of three of Jennings’ touchdown passes, leading all receivers with 103 yards. However, it was much more than a one-man effort. Strong performances were abundant throughout the receiving corps as Yannick Smith hauled in six receptions for 84 yards, while Jalen Cooper added 98 yards and a touchdown on five catches.“Rhett calls a great game,” Knight said. “The way he schemed it up, I guess it was just lucky for me to get three of them tonight.”Even when the Mustangs couldn’t finish their first half drives in the end zone, they built cushion through the reliable toe of Brendan Baird. The former walk-on kicker converted all three of his first half field goal attempts, resetting the team’s season-long twice. He connected from 47 yards in the first quarter before drilling a 50-yarder in the waning seconds of the second quarter.“How about Brendan?” Lashlee said. “That kick he made before half — the turnaround over the last month in our kicking game has been huge.”Virginia Tech (6-3, 3-3 ACC) entered Friday having yet to lose a game by more than five points all season, but that streak ended emphatically as the Hokies suffered their first lopsided defeat of the James Franklin era. Still, Virginia Tech can still secure its winningest regular season since 2019 with one victory across its remaining slate of Stanford, Miami (FL), and Virginia.“We got outcoached, we got out-executed, and did not play well,” Franklin said. “Give SMU a ton of credit, because they created those opportunities in that situation, but we did not play well. It is not acceptable. It is not anywhere near the standard. And ultimately, I’m responsible.”SMU (7-2, 5-2 ACC) remains in the ACC Championship Game conversation after pulverizing one of the top teams in the conference standings. The Mustangs improved to 12-0 in ACC games at Gerald J. Ford Stadium and will remain in Dallas next week for an even more consequential matchup. AP No. 14 and CFP No. 16 Wake Forest visits in what should be the ACC’s most pivotal game for the remainder of the regular season.“We know what’s in front of us,” Lashlee said. “All we’re worried about is one at a time in November, and we get a chance to write our story. This game was fantastic. It was an awesome response. I’m so proud of our guys, our staff, but candidly, I’m already over it. We’ve got a big game next Saturday against somebody who is really good. They’re a really good football team and candidly, they embarrassed us last year.”