By STEPHEN HAWKINS

DALLAS (AP) — Kevin Jennings threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns, Brashard Smith ran for 120 yards with a score and 14th-seeded SMU moved closer to reaching the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game in its league debut with a 38-28 victory over Boston College on Saturday.

Jennings passed 24 of 35 and his 38-yard TD to Jordan Hudson, who caught the ball ahead behind the secondary in the 5, put the Mustangs (9-1, 6-0 ACC) ahead and held at 8:52 left in the third quarter as they won their seventh straight game. Smith’s run for the 2-point conversion made it 28-21.

SMU is the only one of the 17 ACC teams without a league loss, while No. 12 Miami and No. 17 Clemson each have one. The ACC champion is guaranteed a spot in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.

Boston College (5-5, 2-4) had opened the second half with an eight-play, 83-yard drive, capped by new starting quarterback Grayson James’ 20-yard TD run for a 21-20 lead . The FIU transfer, who completed 18 of 32 passes for 237 yards, also had two 19-yard completions to Reed Harris on that drive.

Smith became the 12th SMU player with a 1,000-yard rushing season. His 4-yard TD run before halftime was a play after he drew a pass interference penalty near the goal line on third down, ending a 92-yard drive.

Collin Rogers made three field goals for SMU after missing wide left on a 24-yard kick on the game’s opening drive. His 41-yarder on the final play of the first half gave SMU a 20-14 lead after an exchange of interceptions.

James had a 13-yard TD pass to Kamari Morales with 1:03 left in the first half, ending a drive when he had a 32-yard completion on third-and-20 and a 19-yarder on fourth down . But two plays after the Eagles got the ball back when Carter Davis had an interception on a 26-yard return plus a 15-yard penalty to the SMU 15, James was picked off in the end zone by Isaiah Nwokobia.

First-year Boston College coach Bill O’Brien’s decision earlier this week to start James prompted second-year starter Thomas Castellanos to leave the team. Castellanos had two TD runs in the fourth quarter last December as the Eagles won 23-14 in the Fenway Bowl, snapping SMU’s nine-game winning streak.

The takeaway

Boston College: O’Brien made the quarterback change after James provided a second-half spark in last week’s win over Syracuse. James had won his only other start, a September 28 comeback win over Western Kentucky when Castellanos was injured. The Eagles racked up 417 total yards, their most since 559 in Week 2 against Duquesne. James was solid and should give them a chance to qualify for bowling.

SMU: No other team advancing to either of the power conferences had ever started 2-0, let alone 6-0. The Mustangs have won 17 of their last 18 regular-season games and have won a school-record 15 straight conference games, including the last nine in the American Athletic Conference winning that league last year.

Survey implications

SMU came off an open date last week when it fell one spot in the AP Top 25 from 13th, which was their highest ranking since third place in 1985. Idle No. 12 Miami is the only ACC team ahead of the Mustangs in the poll.

Next

Boston College closes the regular season with two home games, the first against North Carolina next Saturday.

SMU plays the regular season road finale at Virginia on Saturday.