BYU beats SMU 18-15 to end high-scoring ACC newcomer Mustangs’ 9-game win streak at home
AP Sports Writer
DALLAS (AP) — Will Ferrin kicked a 26-yard field goal with 1:58 left after BYU had two big fourth-down runs as the Cougars beat SMU 18-15 on Friday night, ending the Mustangs’ nine-game home winning streak.
The game-winning kick came on the same drive when Miles Davis took a quick pitch on a fourth-and-1 near midfield and ran 37 yards to the Mustangs’ 15.
“Just felt good about it. I didn’t look at analytics and things like that. I just felt good and looked at our guys,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said of the fourth-down play. “I liked the look in the eyes of our guys.”
Enoch Nawahine ran for a 9-yard touchdown on fourth down before a 2-point conversion late in the third quarter for a 15-12 lead, though the Big 12 Cougars (2-0) failed to capitalize on two SMU turnovers in the fourth quarter.
The Mustangs (2-1) hadn’t lost at home since Oct. 22, 2022, against Cincinnati. They averaged 53.9 points in their longest home winning streak since 1948, twice scoring 69 points and putting up 77 in another one. Their lowest-scoring game in that streak was 34.
Collin Rogers set a single-game school record with five field goals for all of the SMU scoring, including a 45-yarder with 6:17 left that tied the game. He also had kicks of 53, 52, 38 and 28 yards as he pushed his career total to 44, tying for the most in Mustangs history.
“Just allow them to settle for field goals, I think it helped us win this game,” Sitake said.
Jake Retzlaff threw for 202 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for BYU. Tight end Mata’ava Ta’ase had a 16-yard TD catch in the first quarter.
SMU starting quarterback Preston Stone played only three drives, all three-and-outs before halftime that lost a combined 24 yards with him sacked once on each of those possessions. Kevin Jennings was 15-of-32 passing for 140 yards and ran nine times for 38 yards as the Mustangs had only 261 total yards.
Mustangs coach Rhett Lashlee said his team didn’t do a good job of adjusting to odd fronts and different coverages that they hadn’t seen when preparing for BYU’s defense.
“We put Kevin in and we moved the football,” Lashlee said. “We just didn’t score.”
Early in the fourth quarter, Jennings was first picked off at the BYU 17 by Marque Collins, though the Mustangs got it back three plays later when Retzlaff made a sidearm throw right into the chest of 294-pound defensive tackle Jared Harrison-Hunte, who returned the interception to the 3.
The Mustangs then had a penalty before Brashard Smith took a direct snap and lost the ball while being tackled at the end of a 5-yard run with 11 1/2 minutes left.
“That was critical. At the 3, we’re hopefully about to punch it and take the lead,,” Lashlee said, “That was the story of our night offensively. We couldn’t punch it in the end zone.”
BYU’s sixth three-and-out of the night came before SMU’s final field goal, then the Cougars had their go-ahead drive.
THE TAKEAWAY
BYU: The Cougars are now 7-7 since joining the Big 12 after playing 13 seasons as an independent. They have a 5-0 series record against SMU.
SMU: The more mobile Jennings certainly provided some sparks with his ability to avoid defenders and make some short completions, but didn’t finish any drives in the end zone. SMU went 72 yards in 11 plays on its third series after he came in for the first time, but had an incompletion in the end zone on fourth-and-1 from the 6. … Stone had 3,197 yards and 27 TDs passing last season. He has 336 yards and three TDs in three games this year.
UP NEXT
BYU: Plays at Wyoming on Sept. 14.
SMU: Has an open date before its Sept. 21 game at home against TCU, the Big 12 rival located only 40 miles away on the other side of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
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