New Mexico State’s aerial success exposed cracks in the Seminoles' secondary, providing Kevin Jennings and the Mustangs a strategic blueprint to challenge Florida State's reshaped defense.
SMU didn't need Florida State to lose its season opener to learn something useful about its Week 1 opponent ... because New Mexico State provided the Mustangs with something almost as valuable: a first look at where the Seminoles might be vulnerable.
Florida State walked away from Saturday's opener with a 34-17 win, and there was plenty for Mike Norvell to like. The Seminoles ran for 217 yards, scored on all six of their trips to the red zone and held New Mexico State to just 47 yards on the ground.
Through the air, though ... New Mexico State found much more success.
Quarterback Trey Hedden completed 26 of 42 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns, while Brodie Malone-Bradford led the Aggies with 96 receiving yards.
Both New Mexico State touchdowns came on chunk plays through the air. Hedden connected with Malone-Bradford for a 33-yard score in the second quarter before finding TK King for a 34-yard touchdown in the fourth.
New Mexico State also converted 10 of its 17 third-down opportunities.
That doesn't mean Florida State's pass defense is suddenly a glaring weakness. The Seminoles still allowed only 319 total yards, intercepted Hedden once and sacked him three times while holding the Aggies to 47 rushing yards on 23 attempts.
But that's what makes the passing numbers worth watching for SMU.
Kevin Jennings presents a different challenge.
The Mustangs return an established quarterback who threw for 3,641 yards and 26 touchdowns last season, finishing third in the ACC and seventh nationally in passing yards.
And if Rhett Lashlee was looking for something to test when SMU finally gets its first crack at Florida State ... Saturday gave him a pretty obvious place to start.
That doesn't necessarily mean asking Jennings to throw the ball 40-plus times. It means finding out whether the success New Mexico State had through the air was a product of Florida State playing its first game with a reshaped roster or something SMU can exploit itself.
Florida State has time to answer that question, too.
The Seminoles don't play again until SMU arrives in Tallahassee on Sept. 7, giving Norvell and his staff nine days to address the mistakes from their opener. SMU, meanwhile, gets its first game film of a team it won't have to face until its own season begins.
One Week 0 performance isn't enough to declare Florida State vulnerable through the air — especially after the Seminoles still won by 17.
But New Mexico State showed SMU something.
Now Jennings and the Mustangs get the chance to find out whether they can take advantage of it.
