Playoff or Bust: Healthy Kevin Jennings and a Loaded Line Have SMU Chasing the ACC
A year removed from an ACC Championship Game appearance and a College Football Playoff berth, SMU went 9-4 (6-2 ACC) in 2025 and closed by beating Arizona in the Holiday Bowl for the program's first bowl victory in more than a decade. Coach Rhett Lashlee has gone 38-16 in four seasons and built one of the steadiest operations in the country, and with quarterback Kevin Jennings back healthy behind another aggressive portal haul, expectations in Dallas have never been higher. The stated mission inside the building is blunt: College Football Playoff or bust.
Offense
Kevin Jennings returns for a senior season after a 2025 that showed real growth as a passer. He played much of the year on a bad ankle that neutralized his trademark running, and his rushing output fell to just 54 yards, yet he still threw for 3,641 yards with 26 touchdowns against 13 interceptions at 66 percent accuracy, ranking among the top 10 nationally in passing yardage. Jennings, who quarterbacked the 2024 league title run, is a genuine all-conference candidate, and in the best-case projection his name belongs in the national awards conversation now that he is healthy again. True freshman Ty Hawkins is the strong-armed, mobile quarterback of the future, but there is a clear drop after the top of the room.
The pass-catching group has been almost entirely rebuilt, with only slot man Yamir Knight, a true inside receiver who piled up 637 yards a year ago, back as a proven producer. Alabama transfer Jalen Hale headlines the newcomers, healthy for the first time in three years and flashing rare big-play juice; he averaged nearly 30 yards a catch in a limited 2023 sample. East Carolina transfer Yannick Smith arrives off a two-year run of better than 1,000 receiving yards and steps in as a starter, while Jalen Cooper and Isaiah Robertson aim to build on promising second seasons. At tight end, Texas A&M transfer Theo Melin Ohrstrom and Florida State transfer Randy Pittman Jr. add starting experience to a room replacing nearly all of its 2025 production.
With the top two backs gone, Cal transfer Kendrick Raphael takes over the lead role after rushing for 943 yards last season and chipping in as a receiver; he scored against the Mustangs in that head-to-head meeting. He is a big, complete back paired with second-year runner Dramekco Green, with true freshman Christian Rhodes adding depth. The backfield should provide plenty of production even amid the turnover.
The offensive line is the strength of the team, anchored by left tackle PJ Williams, a two-time All-ACC selection who figures to be a high NFL draft pick. Three starters return in all, including center Joshua Bates and right guard Addison Nichols, a well-traveled interior blocker with starting time at Tennessee and Arkansas before he landed at SMU. Right tackle Andrew Chamblee and guard Alex Woods fill out a deep, physical front that surrendered just 19 sacks last season and should post even better numbers. Lashlee believes he has eight to 10 linemen capable of winning their matchups.
Defense
SMU has ranked among the national leaders in sacks over the past three seasons, and the front was reworked once more through the portal. Louisiana Tech transfer Christian Davis steps in inside next to Kansas State transfer Malcolm Alcorn-Crowder, and 2024 standout Jonathan Jefferson returns after missing all of last year with injury. Off the edge, the pass rush must be replaced by committee, with Aakil Washington, USF transfer Ira Singleton IV, Tavion Atkinson, UMass transfer Marques White and Jahkai Lang headlining a rotation Lashlee believes runs 10 deep. Finding a consistent rush from that group is the unit's defining question.
Linebacker is the defense's most stable spot, returning an experienced trio in Alexander Kilgore, Brandon Booker and Brandon Miyazono. Kilgore is the leader and tackle-machine after a 60-stop, two-interception campaign, Booker profiles as a legitimate NFL prospect in the middle, and Miyazono adds pass-rush pop off the edge. The group is deeper, longer and more athletic than a year ago.
The secondary was largely made over with transfers. Cornerbacks Marcellus Barnes Jr. and William "Speedy" Nettles return, and both Barnes and Texas A&M transfer Jayvon Thomas are viewed as all-conference caliber on the outside. Safety Tyren Polley Jr. is back after an interception-heavy debut season, joined by UTSA transfer safety Jimmy Wyrick and USF transfer nickel Jarvis Lee, who brings production against both the run and the pass. The unit is longer and more athletic, but it must prove it can erase the game-changing lapses that made the 2025 defense a boom-or-bust group.
Placekicking was an adventure last season, so the Mustangs signed FCS New Hampshire All-American Nick Reed, who connected on 25 of 32 attempts with six makes from beyond 50 yards. Australian-groomed punter Wade McSparron returns after averaging better than 42 yards per kick, and long snapper Morgan Tribett is back. Knight is locked in as the punt returner, while kickoff duties are up for grabs between Link Rhodes and Daylon Singleton.
Overview and Prediction
The schedule opens with a brutal two-week road swing at Florida State and Louisville that could define the season, before softening with home dates against UC Davis and Missouri State. Cal, Wake Forest and a November trip to Notre Dame stand out later. The preseason consensus pegs SMU as a top-25 team and a projected ACC runner-up, with the majority of power ratings calling for another double-digit-win campaign. With Jennings healthy, an offense that averaged better than 32 points per game largely intact at the skill of the line, and a defense long on athleticism if short on a proven pass rush, the Mustangs have the pieces to get back to Charlotte.
The make-or-break is that early road double. Split or better against the Seminoles and Cardinals, and Lashlee's most talented roster yet will be squarely in the Playoff conversation deep into the fall. Anything less, and the margin in a loaded ACC gets thin in a hurry. This is a team built to contend now, and it will be judged by that standard.