UNIVERSITY PARK — While SMU has moved past the most challenging part of its schedule on paper, Boston College showed up to play spoiler at Ford Stadium on Saturday.

The Mustangs (9-1, 6-0) fell behind early in the second half, but strong performances from quarterback Kevin Jennings and running back Brashard Smith, as well as a key defensive stop, lifted SMU to a 38-28 win over the second half. Eagles (5-5, 2-4).

The win keeps SMU ahead of Clemson and Miami in the ACC standings and remains in control of its own destiny entering the final two games of the season.

Here are five thoughts on victory.

Mustangs survive uncharted territory

In SMU’s first five ACC games, the Mustangs never trailed in the second half.

Even in nail-biting finishes against Louisville and Duke, the Mustangs were tied at most in the third or fourth quarter before winning both.

But just over four minutes into the third quarter on Saturday, Boston College took its first lead of the game.

SMU sacrificed a 10-point lead and allowed the Eagles to take a 21-20 on a 20-yard keeper from quarterback Grayson James. But the Mustangs managed to respond with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Jennings to Jordan Hudson and a successful two-point conversion attempt by Smith to regain a 28–21 lead.

Boston College cut the lead to three points with under six minutes remaining, but the SMU front seven took over the Eagles’ final drive to force one final turnover on downs.

BC’s game plan challenges SMU’s defense

If Boston College’s goal was to play spoiler, it had a good plan for doing so.

The Eagles didn’t play to SMU’s strengths early like many other teams have done this year. Instead of running the ball to SMU’s dominant front seven — which leads the ACC in rushing yards allowed per game — they relied more heavily on the passing game in the first half and moved the ball effectively.

That opened up the field so they could challenge SMU on the ground in the second half, finishing the game with 180 yards and three scores on the ground, well above the average 90 rushing yards that SMU gives up each week.

Additionally, as a team that has made just two field goals on the year, they have worn down the Mustang defense with long drives that they frequently extended, going 9-of-21 on third and fourth down attempts.

SMU’s defense didn’t help itself either, throwing at least five interceptions. Jonathan Jefferson, Isaiah Nwokobia and Deuce Harmon were some of the culprits who did this.

The Mustangs could have ended the game much earlier if they had capitalized on those opportunities, but Boston College kept it close.

Nevertheless, the defense continued to make timely action, including a successful interception by Nwokobia late in the first half and back-to-back sacks by Kobe Wilson and Jahfari Harvey on Boston College’s final drive of the game.

Brashard Smith and Kevin Jennings lead the charge to victory

Smith had a milestone day in the win, recording his sixth 100-yard rushing performance of the season, passing 1,000 rushing yards on the year. He became the 12th SMU player in program history to do so and the first since Xavier Jones in 2019.

Smith recorded 18 carries for 120 yards, a touchdown and a two-point conversion attempt. He also had four catches for 13 yards.

Jennings led the passing game with another strong performance. He completed 24 of 35 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns. His only mistake came late in the first half when he threw an interception, but his defense got the ball back on a takeaway not long after.

The SMU offense outscored Boston College 438 to 417.

Jordan Hudson leads receivers on career day

After leading SMU in receiving touchdowns last season, Hudson had a quiet start to ACC play.

After four straight games without a touchdown, Hudson found the end zone for a crucial score in the second half to put the Mustangs back in front after falling behind.

He recorded a career-high with seven catches and 99 yards on eight targets, including 45 yards after the catch.

His touchdown came on a perfectly thrown ball from Jennings, who hit him with a pass along the sideline.

His fellow wide receivers Roderick Daniels Jr. and Key’Shawn Smith also found the end zone. Daniels had 79 yards on four catches, including 66 after the catch. Smith scored with eight seconds left and added five catches for 61 yards.

Mustangs have a chance to clinch the ACC title game next week

The win over Boston College positions SMU for a trip to Charlotte and a spot in the ACC title game against the University of Virginia next week.

SMU’s final road game of the year is now proving to be its most important, as the Mustangs hope to enter their final home game with some certainty about their position in the postseason.

SMU will also look to bring back several key players next week, including defenseman Elijah Roberts, who missed Saturday’s game with a broken hand, and wide receiver Jake Bailey, who was out for two games due to injury.

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