AAC Football: Defense Leads SMU to D-1 Best 8th Win

When talking about SMU football and their historic start, Shane Buechele and the Mustangs offense gets a lot of the credit. On Thursday night, however, the defense stepped up big when all the chips were on the table and made impact plays throughout the game.

In a game where the offense struggled, gaining 136 fewer yards than their season average, the SMU defense made big plays when they counted. Up three with two minutes remaining, the SMU defense stopped consecutive drives by Houston to wrap up a 34-31 win. The unit bent at times, allowing 510 total yards to the Cougars but a crucial pass breakup by Rodney Clemons on a 4th-and-4 with 1:28 remaining and a game-ending sack proved the group is truly ready for the big time.

The yardage gained by Houston isn’t something the SMU defense will want to make a habit of but a lot of it came on two chunk plays, both touchdowns; Houston scored on passes of 75 and 96 yards against the Mustangs defense. Outside of yardage, however, the unit was opportunistic all game, making several impact plays. SMU registered three turnovers in the game, as well as seven sacks and 13 tackles for loss.

The Mustangs also held Houston to a 33-percent third-down conversion rate (5-for-15).

On the other side of the ball, SMU’s offense, which is arguably the best in AAC football, averaged just 5.3 yards per completion and converted on five of 15 third-down opportunities. Xavier Jones was the standout offensively, putting together his sixth 100-yard rushing game of the season. Jones also had two rushing touchdowns.

SMU, now 8-0, will have 10 days to prepare for a difficult AAC showdown at Memphis. Projecting that the Tigers beat Tulsa, they’ll be 7-1 when they face the Mustangs.

With the win, the Mustangs beat every other Division-1 football program to eight wins. In the state of Texas, they are joined by Baylor as the only two undefeated teams in Division 1.