Smu Just Can't Shake Its Nemesis, And It Threatens To Derail Its Remaining Hopes

UNIVERSITY PARK — When SMU opened the season by losing the turnover battle 4-1 to Florida State with the whole country watching, it was concerning.  

The Mustangs escaped with a narrow road win but vowed to improve. 

But three games later, the Mustangs still have not won the turnover battle against an FBS opponent.  

SMU escaped with a 34-24 win over Missouri State on Saturday night at home, but made the game competitive after two first-half turnovers, a turnover on downs and two missed field goals. 

“We don’t make ourselves hard to beat,” SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee said. “It cost us last week on the road. It’ll cost us again if we don’t fix it.” 

The Mustangs have now turned the ball over nine times through four games — five interceptions by Kevin Jennings and four total fumbles. 

Entering Saturday, the Mustangs tied for the fifth-worst turnover margin in the country and fourth-most turnovers lost — stats that only got worse against a team SMU was favored to beat by 30 points. 

After turning it over on downs on its opening drive, SMU reached the red zone on its next drive, but Yamir Knight fumbled inside the 10-yard line.  

On the drive right after, Jennings threw an interception to Joel Boamah, who returned it 60 yards for the score. Jennings was hit as he threw, but the pass appeared off target regardless.  

Nick Reed also missed a 29-yard field goal, which could’ve tied the game at 10-10. Brendan Baird missed a 42-yarder in the second half. 

SMU lost the turnover battle 2-1, registering one takeaway on a Brandon Booker interception with 4:13 remaining. The Mustangs have just four takeaways in four games. Two came against FCS opponent UC Davis, and the other two came when the games were already effectively over. 

While SMU scored 21 straight points and two fourth-quarter touchdowns to ultimately secure the win, the Mustangs nearly beat themselves and haven’t shown signs of resolving that tendency. 

“They tend to come in bunches,” Lashlee said. “Right now, one thing we’re consistently doing is turning it over two-plus times a game.” 

Jennings had another record-setting performance, setting or tying four program records — career passing yards, consecutive completions, career completions and total touchdowns accounted for. But the quarterback will continue to be held back from being considered one of the nation’s top quarterbacks until he can limit the turnovers. 

The same can be said for SMU as a whole. The Mustangs know they have the talent to contend for an ACC title and a spot in the College Football Playoff once again. Their remaining schedule is on their side where they don’t have a ranked conference opponent left on their schedule. They even have the chance to vie for an at-large playoff bid on the road at Notre Dame if they can take care of business in conference play. 

But that conference schedule may not be so manageable if the Mustangs continue to help out their opponents the way they have so far. 

Jennings said he and the other leaders on the team got together on the sideline during Saturday’s game to devise a plan for how they will address the turnover issues.  

“We sat on the sidelines and said, ‘We’ve got to do some more ball security drills. We’ve got to get together as a team, just the players, and do all that stuff ourselves,’” Jennings said. 

Lashlee said they’ve always run turnover and takeaway drills, but the approach to fixing the problem is more nuanced than that. 

“The challenge is you have to fix it, but there’s this thing called the expectancy theory. That which you think on and feed constantly will expand,” he said. “Don’t turn the ball over is different than we’ve got to value the football.” 

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This article originally published at SMU just can't shake its nemesis, and it threatens to derail its remaining hopes.