Getting to Know SMU Ahead of Stanford's Morning Matchup

On Saturday morning, the Stanford Cardinal will go on the road to play the SMU Mustangs. This game has potential to be an interesting one.

Stanford football has had a decent start to the season, considering the expectations for the program coming in. They began poorly, losing back-to-back games against Hawaii and BYU, but followed up with a victory against Boston College in their home opener.

After a tough loss the following week at Virginia, they came home to win once again, this time against arch rival San José State. Last week, the Cardinal were on their second bye week, hoping to fix things up before they take on SMU, but the Mustangs are going to be a tough team to try and take down.

SMU began their season with an easy victory over FCS East Texas A&M, but followed with a brutal loss at home against in-state rival Baylor, in double overtime. They bounced back against Missouri State, but then lost to TCU on the road in their rivalry game.

A win last week against Syracuse put the Mustangs back on track, but beating a poor Orange team with a backup quarterback by just 13 points at home shows that SMU isn't necessarily operating on all cylinders.

Coming off of a College Football Playoff appearance in 2024, the Mustangs kept their quarterback, but lost a lot of surrounding talent. With a lot of weight on Kevin Jennings’ shoulders this season, he would have to carry the team to each and every victory, which is a lot of work for any player.

Jennings has been solid on the year, throwing for 1,411 yards, 13 touchdowns, and six interceptions. His 71.4% completion percentage shows true consistency throughout a tough non-conference schedule.

His top receiver is Romello Brinson, who has truly broken out this season. He has 436 yards and three touchdowns, almost double the second receiver, Jalen Cooper, who has 271 yards and two touchdowns.

TJ Harden is the star running back, going for 376 yards and five touchdowns this season. The UCLA transfer has been huge in keeping the Mustangs alive this season.

Defensively, the Mustangs’ top players are both safeties. Isaiah Nwokobia has 37 tackles and an interception, while Ahmaad Moses has 33 tackles and two interceptions. One of Moses’ picks went back for a touchdown.

The special teams have been struggling heavily all season. Kickers Sam Keltner and Collin Rogers have combined for just 3/8 on field goals, going 1/8 on 30 yard+ kicks.

Stanford needs to do a few things to win this game. Offensively, they need to throw short, and get Gulbranson hot early. Essentially, they need to do the same things they had success doing against San José State. Defensively, they need to contain Jennings, pressuring him as much as possible.

If they put Collin Wright on Romello Brinson, and Wright has a bounce back game, the Cardinal have a chance in this one. If they can keep SMU out of the red zone as well, their chances will increase heavily with the Mustangs struggling field goal unit. If Stanford keeps SMU to under 30, we could have an upset on our hands.