No. 17 SMU welcomes UC Davis on a short week in 2026 home opener preview

After a big win on the road on Labor Day, the No. 17 SMU Mustangs (1-0, 1-0 ACC) will host the UC Davis Aggies (2-0, 1-0 Big Sky) Saturday afternoon at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in University Park in the team's home opener of the 2026 season.

The Mustangs return home after a 27-24 win against the Florida State Seminoles Monday night. SMU returned to Dallas in the early hours of Tuesday morning after beating the Seminoles on the road and will have to overcome a short turnaround against a UC Davis team that has opened the season with two big wins.

SMU Head Football Coach Rhett Lashlee praised UC Davis Head Coach Tim Plough for his winning record in his four seasons with the Aggies. Lashlee also stressed the importance of this matchup not being an example of a lock-in win vs an FCS opponent after practice Thursday.

"A lot of areas for us to improve, and we get to do it against a top 10 FCS school that is used to winning,” said Lashlee during media availability after Thursday morning's practice. “I really respect Tim and what he has done there. He's got a great pedigree at Boise and Cal, among others. He was a really good player. They won 75% of their games they know what they do. You can tell that's a culture of winning. Quarterfinals of the playoff last year, really sound, they give you problems on offense and defense with their multiplicity, and they just play really hard.”

“They just win,” Lashlee continued. “There is something to be said about a winning culture. We got our work cut out for us.”

The Aggies come to Dallas to cap off a three-game road trip to start the season. UC Davis bested Portland State 31-24 in Week 0 before beating San Diego 49-17 last week. Plough’s team has averaged north of 450 yards of total offense in both wins. They have averaged well above 30 points per game and 11 touchdowns across both contests.

The UC Davis offense has been fueled by its passing attack in the early part of the season. The Aggies are second in the Big Sky in a majority of passing statistics. Aggies’ sophomore quarterback Treynor Cleeland has thrown for 581 total yards, completing 62% of his passes with 7 touchdowns to just two interceptions. The sophomore quarterback was a backup last season and took over the reins this summer. Cleeland has averaged north of 150 yards per game at the helm of the UC Davis passing attack.

His leading pass catcher is senior wide receiver Samuel Gbatu Jr. The 5’10 wideout has eclipsed well over 100 yards in both of the Aggies' wins. Gbatu caught nine passes for just a yard short of 130 yards with two touchdowns for UC Davis in its win over San Diego last week. Gbatu Jr. was just one of seven Aggies in the program's history last season to finish with over 1,000 receiving yards last season as he was named first team Big Sky All-Conference.

The Mustangs are coming off a win where their revamped secondary held Florida State to just 125 yards through the air and 2025 first-team All-ACC wide receiver Duce Robinson to just two catches for 25 yards. Nevertheless, the Aggies have put up solid passing numbers over their first two games.

In the run game, UC Davis returns senior running back Jordan Fisher, who returns after rushing for over 1,000 yards last season, anchoring the backfield. Fisher just had his best game rushing for over 100 yards against San Diego. The emergence of fifth-year senior Matteo Perez has given the Aggies a strong backfield, with both backs averaging over 5.0 yards per carry and over 100 yards on the year thus far. UC Davis did run the ball in its first game against Portland State, averaging just 3.3 yards per carry before getting it up to 6.8 against San Diego.

In SMU’s win, the Mustangs held Florida State to 4.4 yards per carry but did allow the Seminoles to rush for just a yard short of 200 yards along with a 54-yard run for an FSU score. Head Coach Lashlee expressed that he was pleased with being able to hold Florida State to just 4.4 yards per carry, and outgaining them on the ground is his opening statement after practice Thursday. Lashlee continued to mention that better tackling would have helped prevent some of the Seminoles' long rushing plays and was an area to clean up.

Defensively, UC Davis has had three sacks through its first two games and totaled over 130 tackles, with eight passes defended. On the ground, the Aggies have allowed just three yards per carry to opposing rushers while allowing over 130 yards through the air and 20 points a game through its first two games.

SMU put up over 585 yards of total offense in Monday night's win over FSU. Senior quarterback Kevin Jennings accounted for nearly 70% of that yardage as he threw for over 430 yards with three touchdowns to two interceptions in a career game for the South Oak Cliff native. The Mustang’s offense showed against the Seminoles its explosiveness in the passing game, with three different players finishing with over 75 yards. While junior wide receiver Yannick Smith finished with over 100 yards, the Mustang offense also showed its explosiveness in the passing game. The SMU run game averaged 5 yards per carry, an area that Lashlee mentioned after the game they could have used more.

Nevertheless, SMU has had to operate in a rare short week as the Mustangs prepare to welcome an explosive FCS opponent who has won many games in recent memory.

SMU will face UC Davis Saturday afternoon at Gerald J. Ford Stadium with kickoff at 3:00 PM CST.

Great SMU Mustang content found here

• A Deep Dive Break Down SMU Footballs First Four Opponents

•SMU Mustang Report Card: Grading each Major Position Group in Mustangs win 27-24 over Florida State

•Reasons why SMU Football wins the ACC and goes to the CFP in 2026

• No. 19 SMU rallies through a technical delay and turnovers to beat Florida State 27-24 on the road

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