No.16 SMU falls to No. 23 Louisville in Offensive Thriller on the Road

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The No.16 SMU Mustangs (2-1, 1-1 ACC) fell to the No.23 Louisville Cardinals (2-1, 1-0 ACC) 41-31 at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium Saturday afternoon. After another 400+ yard offensive performance and a conference-record seven different lead changes, the Mustangs fell for the first time to the Cardinals since joining the ACC. SMU Head Football Coach Rhett Lashlee gave his thoughts on his team's performance after the loss.

“Obviously we are disappointed to come up on the short end of this. Congrats to Jeff (Brohm) and Louisville. They are a really good football team, and that's what ACC football is all about,” said Lashlee during the post-match press conference. “You know, you look at the stat sheet we won everything but the score and the turnover battle. That's kind of the story today. If we wanna be what we wanna be, we have to be able to tackle on defense against the run. We can’t let somebody run for 265 yards on us, and we can't turn the ball over. It doesn't matter if one was late in the game and one was a great effort play at the goal line. Until we want the narrative to stop we got to stop turning the football over. We ran the ball very well, and we controlled the game offensively in terms of time of possession and third downs. We threw it and ran it well. We were really balanced. We did everything we needed to do except I called two awful fourth-and-short calls and we turned the ball over.”

Heading into Saturday's matchup, the offensive firepower of both sides was expected to be on full display, with the stakes fairly high in the early calendar meetings between both teams. Lashlee commented during the week that keeping the pocket clean and having a balanced offense, which included running the football well, would be a big key for SMU, among other aspects, during the game.

The Mustangs established the run early. Senior running back Kendrick Raphael ripped off a 40-yard run on the first play of the game that helped SMU drive downfield quickly. Raphael would eventually punch in the Mustangs' first touchdown from two yards out to give SMU the lead three minutes into the game.

With the fast start, Louisville responded with its scoring drive with five minutes left in the first quarter. The Cardinals drove downfield 75 yards in six minutes. SMU was able to get the Louisville offense into a third-and-long situation, but the Cardinals were able to convert, keeping the drive alive. A facemask penalty put Louisville deep into the SMU red zone, where Louisville eventually punched in its first score from a yard out when junior quarterback Lincoln Kienholz got into the end zone via a quarterback sneak to tie the game 7-7.

The Mustangs would attempt to continue moving downfield quickly after the Cardinals' first scoring drive, but they failed to pick up a first down on fourth down. Louisville started its second drive of the game on the SMU 45-yard line. After the SMU defense forced Louisville to go for it on fourth and long, Keinholz connected with junior wide receiver Lawayne McCoy for a 33-yard strike, giving the Cardinals their first lead up 14-7 at the end of the quarter.

However, to start the second quarter, the Mustangs regained momentum as senior quarterback Kevin Jennings connected with senior wide receiver Yamir Knight on a 19-yard strike, capping off SMU's 75-yard drive downfield in three minutes to tie the score at 14 apiece at the start of the quarter.

A series of defensive stops followed for both teams. Jennings was picked off after SMU forced Louisville to punt for the first time. The Mustangs' defense held strong after the interception, forcing another stop shortly after. The defensive stalemate continued until the final seconds of the quarter. With time running down in the first half, SMU regained the lead when senior kicker Nick Reed made a 46-yard field goal, putting the Mustangs ahead 17-14 as they headed into the locker room at halftime.

At the start of the second half, Louisville regained the lead just two plays into the third quarter. Senior running back Keyjuan Brown ripped off a 59-yard run to give the Cardinals the lead 21-17 in the opening second of the quarter. After a series of defensive stops, the Mustangs would once again regain the lead midway through the quarter. With six minutes left in the third quarter, Raphael punched in his second touchdown from 11 yards out of the day to put SMU up 24-21 as the offensive scorefest continued for both teams.

The Cardinals regained the lead for the third time just before the end of the third quarter. When Kienholz tossed his second touchdown of the game to senior tight end Jaleel Skinner, the Cardinals went ahead by four points, 28-24. Louisville would stay ahead heading into the final quarter.

At the start of the fourth quarter, SMU would once again snatch back the lead to start the final quarter of action. The Mustangs drove downfield, where Raphael completed his hat trick, getting into the endzone for a third rushing touchdown of the day from 12 yards out to put the Mustangs up 31-28. Raphael finished his night with 24 carries for 197 yards, averaging 8.2 yards per carry. His final total was a career best and his best performance in three games of his SMU career.

The Mustangs' lead would not last long, but the career day for the running backs on both sides continued. Brown ripped off a 53-yard rushing touchdown for his second score of the game as he finished his night with 165 yards on the ground with ten carries. Louisville retook the lead, 35-31, with 10 minutes left in the ballgame.

The Mustangs stayed aggressive on offense, but on the next drive the Louisville defense forced a turnover on downs. Kineholz found senior wide receiver Tre Richardson for a 44-yard gain downfield that set up for the Cardinals to take a 10-point lead after junior running back Isaac Brown rushed into the endzone from 27 yards out to extend the lead to 41-31 with five minutes and change left in the fourth quarter.

Even with the largest deficit of the game, SMU continued to stay aggressive on offense. After driving downfield in less than three minutes, they went 75 yards on the drive. The Mustangs turned the football over after Jennings lost it when Louisville junior defensive back Brycen Scott punched it out while Jennings was attempting to rush into the end zone.

SMU would have a chance to cut into the large deficit in the final minutes of the game. After a defensive stop on the Cardinals' extra possession following the goal line fumble. The Mustangs drove downfield, where ultimately another turnover sealed the victory for Louisville. Beasley intercepted Jennings for a second time while he tried to take a deep shot downfield. The turnover was ultimately the dagger for SMU as Louisville held on to defeat the Mustangs 41-31, handing SMU its first loss of the season.

Jennings spoke after the game, expressing that preventing turnovers as the biggest area that needed to change after the loss.

“I got to stop turning the ball over. I have to stop putting the ball in the defense's hands,” said Jennings after the loss.”I think we played a great game, but with those three turnovers I didn’t give us no chance. Just fixing the mistakes, not putting the ball in the defense's hands, and executing better.”

The Mustangs will return home to face Missouri State at Gerald J. Ford Stadium next Saturday at 8:00 PM CT. Jennings expressed that how the team responds heading into next week will be crucial, but this situation is not unfamiliar.

“We expect to win every game,” said Jennings. “It didn’t happen today, but it's about how we respond. We have been in this situation plenty of times. It's about how we respond and head into next week and see how we fix the little mistakes.”

No.16 SMU falls to No. 23 Louisville in Offensive Thriller on the Road

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