SMU Report Card: Grading every Major Position Group from SMU's 25-16 Win over Boston College

DALLAS, Texas — The No. 24 SMU Mustangs (4-1, 2-1 ACC) head into their bye week with a home conference win under their belts. The Mustangs bested Boston College (2-3, 0-2 ACC) 25-16 on a rainy day at Gerald J. Ford Stadium Saturday morning. Even in an off week and following the Mustangs' first home conference win of the season. The gradebook is closed, and report cards are out for all major position groups from this weekend's win.

QUARTERBACK: A

Oct 3, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; SMU Mustangs quarterback Kevin Jennings (7) takes the field with his teammates before the game between the SMU Mustangs and the Boston College Eagles at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Senior quarterback Kevin Jennings accounted for three touchdowns in the Mustangs' win over Boston College Saturday. Jennings was 20/30, throwing for 160 passing yards with two touchdowns through the air and one rushing score on the ground. Statistically, it was the lowest passing-yard game of the season for the fifth-year senior, but that can be attributed to the weather, a combination of the opposition's defense, and, as SMU Head Football Coach Rhett Lashlee put it, he as a play caller didn’t get “into rhythm” on the day. Nevertheless, the Mustangs were able to move the ball downfield when needed and capitalized in the red zone with four scoring drives with Jennings at the helm of it all.

RUNNING BACKS: C

The low offensive numbers didn’t just affect the SMU passing game in its rainy win Saturday. The ground attack also struggled to put up numbers in the weather conditions in the Mustangs' win. Senior running back Kendrick Raphael led the team with 45 yards on the ground on 15 carries with SMU’s opening score of the game. Raphael was banged up at some point in the win with an undisclosed injury. Junior running back Derrick McFall spelled in with five carries for 23 yards. McFall was also the second-leading receiver in yards with 33 receiving yards and a touchdown which was SMU’s go ahead score in the fourth quarter. As a unit, the Mustangs only eclipsed 58 yards on the ground 1.8 yards per carry the lowest of the season in each category for SMU. The weather and overall conditions could have played a factor in this, along with some shuffling of the interior of the offensive line.

WIDE RECEIVERS & TIGHT ENDS: B-

Six different receivers caught passes in the Mustangs' win Saturday. For the second straight week in a row, sophomore wide receiver Jalen Cooper led the Mustangs in receiving yards with 45, with a team-high five receptions. Junior wide receiver Yannick Smith returned to the lineup after missing a week with an undisclosed injury. Smith recorded five catches on his return for 30 yards. Senior tight end Randy Pittman Jr. also caught three passes for 27 yards and the Mustangs' third touchdown of the game coming out of the locker room after halftime. In a low offensive performance based on the numbers, the passing attack still held its value in spurts. SMU was still able to move the ball downfield, and the passing game played a big factor in the Mustangs being able to get out of the back-and-forth in this game toward the middle portion of the game. Nonetheless, a solid day, but low based on the past numbers from previous games this season.

OFFENSIVE LINE: B

The SMU offensive line saw the return of senior left tackle PJ Williams to the front five after missing the previous game with an injury. However, the recent shuffling trend continued when another key piece went down. Senior center Josh Bates was injured in the win with an ankle injury. Lashlee confirmed after the game that Bates had been dealing with an ankle injury since the first game of the season at Florida State and that his injury this weekend was a re- aggravation of it. Freshman phenom Drew Evers stepped into the unit once again, this time at center, and filled in for Bates for the rest of the game. The unit only allowed two sacks on the day in pass protection, even with the low yards per carry numbers in the run game. Other factors can be attributed to that number dropping compared to previous weeks.

DEFENSE: A+

The Mustang defensive unit came in with the meat and potatoes of this win. SMU racked up 58 total tackles, with five sacks, and a whopping 13 tackles for loss with one turnover. Coming into this game, SMU would be without junior edge rusher Ira Singleton, who suffered a season-ending injury in the win over Missouri State a week prior. Nonetheless, it was next man up for SMU, and senior edge rusher Marques White answered the call. White had a season-high three sacks with three tackles for loss. He previously only had a sack and a half from the Missouri State game on the season. White was one of three different edge rushers to get home, including senior edge rusher Aakil Washington, who was able to force the football out when he sacked Boston College quarterback Mason McKenzie. The SMU defense fueled the win by being able to get the Eagles off the field while continuing to pressure McKenzie's dual-threat ability and creating pressure on the opposing quarterback.

OVERALL: A

It's hard to win in college football. It's hard to win in college football when the weather isn’t in your favor, and based on previous metrics this season, it was a low-octane offensive day overall. Nonetheless, the Mustangs were able to make themselves “hard to beat” a note Lashlee has pushed all season. SMU didn’t have any turnovers, made it hard for the opposing offense to be explosive, and they were able to put points on the board.

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