No.25 SMU Drilled 49-7 against No.11 Wake Forrest on Senior Night

DALLAS, Texas — The No. 25 SMU Mustangs (7-3, 5-3 ACC) fell to the No.11 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (9-1, 6-1 ACC) 49-7 Saturday afternoon at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in University Park. In what was SMU’s second ACC top-25 matchup of this season, the Mustangs lost for the first time in a conference game at home since the program joined the ACC in 2024.

After the game, SMU Head Football Coach Rhett Lashlee spoke after the loss and reflected on the long-standing conference win streak at home that was broken at the hands of Wake Forest.

“I think it means we've won a lot and have been pretty consistent. We were not today,” said Lashlee when asked to reflect on the long-standing streak after the loss. “We are in pursuit of being the best we can possibly be. We do want to win at the highest level. That’s what we expect to do; it hurts when you have been here five years and the last time we lost a conference game was our first year in the conference. So I think that means we have created a consistent winner here and an expectation to win. Because of those expectations, that is why today hurts more. This isn’t what happens to us; we don’t lay an egg, and we did today with a great opportunity in front of us.”

“So that's why it hurts the most because we have created those expectations of ourselves and our fans,” continued Lashlee. “Thankfully for our fans, we had a great crowd today, and we didn’t deliver for them. I appreciate the city of Dallas and appreciate our fans coming out.”

SMU found itself in a crater through the opening two quarters of the game, down by the largest lead for an AP Top 25 team in 20 years. The Mustangs allowed six first-half touchdowns to the Demon Deacons, while turning over the football three times. Two of which came from fumbles that were lost, and the third was an interception from senior quarterback Kevin Jennings.

In his final home start of the season, Jennings threw for 209 yards, going 22/35 with a touchdown. The Demon Deacons put up close to 300 yards of total offense, averaging 6.8 yards per carry on the ground, and over 110 yards through the air all in the opening half.

Five different running backs rushed into the end zone for scores on the Mustangs' defense while senior quarterback Gio Lopez connected with senior wide receiver Carlos Hernandez on a 44-yard score for the visitors' only passing touchdown of the half. SMU went to the locker room with a 42-0 mountain to climb going into halftime.

Coming out of the locker room, the Mustangs were able to get two defensive stops in back-to-back series. SMU forced its first turnover on defense after senior linebacker Brandon Booker recovered the football after freshman wide receiver Jack Foley fumbled on a catch-and-run. The takeaway from the defense allowed the Mustangs to get on the scoreboard. Jennings connected with junior wide receiver Yannick Smith on a 19-yard catch to cap off an eight-play, 50-yard drive toward the tail end of the third quarter. Lashlee’s team would hold Wake Forest to just one score in the entire second half.

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The visitors' final score came early in the fourth quarter when freshman backup quarterback Steele Pizzella rushed into the end zone from 25 yards out to extend the lead for Wake Forest. In what was the first of a tough stretch of games to end the season for SMU, the Mustangs would fall 49-7 after a Wake Forest offensive avalanche in the first half.

The Demon Deacons would end the afternoon with over 530 yards of total offense while holding SMU to just 275 yards of total offense and a staggering 2.6 yards per carry. As mentioned previously, the schedule doesn’t get any easier for SMU.

With only so many games left, the door on a potential trip back to the ACC Championship and College Football Playoff looks ajar rather than wide open. Lashlee spoke about grappling with the reality that the premier postseason path for his team is close to shut with today's result.

“We have created an expectation that we are not going to back down from competing for championships and the playoffs,” said Lashlee. “When we don’t, we are going to be disappointed, but you have to find a way to respond. We have two more games. We go to Notre Dame next week and Stanford after that, and there will be another game after that. If you're a competitor and you're in the arena, you have to be able to handle the success and the failures.”

The Mustangs will travel to South Bend to face No.3 Notre Dame on the road before ending the season at Stanford. Kickoff will be at 7:30 on Nov. 21, with coverage on NBC.

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