SMU's Lashlee hopes Mustangs' mistake-filled performance won't affect future playoff consideration

Updated Dec. 21, 2024 6:13 p.m. ET

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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Rhett Lashlee knows deep down that this SMU team deserved a spot in the College Football Playoff, even if the Mustangs didn’t show it Saturday.

SMU's coach also knows his team’s mistake-filled performance in Happy Valley, where it fell 38-10 to No. 6 Penn State in the playoff's opening round, could make it tougher for non-blue blood programs to make their cases for the playoffs in seasons to come.

“Maybe in the future, if we’re on the edge, we may not get the nod because of how we performed today,” Lashlee said. “So it’s our job to do what we should’ve done a week ago and win the championship and get a bye and be sitting in Arizona right now. We didn’t do that.”

No. 12 SMU (11-3), the ACC runner-up and last at-large team chosen for the expanded 12-team playoff field, never threatened Penn State (12-2) inside frigid Beaver Stadium, where Nittany Lions scored 21 points off turnovers, forced seven combined punts or turnovers on downs and needed just 325 yards of offense.

“It’s unfortunate that a bad game is gonna make it maybe feel like that’s not the case,” Lashlee said. “I can’t control the debate. I can’t control what people are going to say. We got in. Today we got beat. We got beat soundly by a very good team.”

It had been a while since the Mustangs were pushed around.

SMU entered the game having won 10 straight road games, FBS’s second-longest streak behind only No. 4 Texas. The Mustangs, who moved over from the American Athletic Conference, also became the first team to go unbeaten — 8-0 — in a major conference after moving to the ACC from the Group of Five.

They hoped they could convince any remaining doubters that they belonged among the best 12 teams in the nation.

Many SMU players warmed up shirtless as stadium workers used backpack blowers to rid the frozen surface of overnight flurries. They continued to play hard despite going down 28-0 at halftime after quarterback Kevin Jennings tossed a pair of pick-sixes to Penn State linebackers.

But, they kept erring, too.

After driving inside Penn State’s 10 on their opening second-half possession, the Mustangs had to settle for a field goal. Their second drive of the third quarter looked good — until they reached the red zone again. Following a false start and a pair of incompletions, Jennings was sacked and SMU kicker Collin Rogers came up short on the ensuing field goal try.

The Mustangs didn’t score a touchdown until Jennings hit Roderick Daniels for 28 yards with 7:31 to play.

Jennings sat quietly after the game, his eye black smeared and streaming down his cheeks.

“Coming in, with teams not expecting us to do anything throughout the year, we showcased what we can do,” Jennings said. “We set the bar for ourselves for next year.”

Lashlee said he hopes that will bury the program’s old narrative.

SMU was at its peak in the 1980s, finishing 11-0-1 in 1982 and No. 2 behind undefeated Penn State. The NCAA gave the program the death penalty in the wake of a pay-for-play scheme, however, and the Mustangs didn’t play in a bowl game from 1984 to 2009.

Meanwhile, they went more than 30 years between appearances in the AP's Top 25.

“I hope it gives you guys something else to write about. Nothing disrespectful to anybody here, you should’ve been writing about it,” Lashlee said. “We’ve been revived. That’s over. That chapter is closed, we’ve moved on. It’s a part of our past and history just like everybody’s got parts of their past and history, but that’s what I mean by this team raised the standard and expectations for SMU football.”

Defensive end Elijah Roberts, who’ll move on after his final season of eligibility, agreed.

“Our program’s really going to be in a good place for the next few years, for sure,” Roberts said. “It’s hard not to love SMU now. From the outside looking in, I know today didn’t go as planned, but if you’re a recruit, you’re a transfer or something like that and you really want to have a special place to come play, why not here?”

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