SMU rises to No. 17 in the Week 2 Coaches Poll after Kevin Jennings throws for 430 yards in a 27-24 road win over Florida State.
SMU football didn’t just leave Tallahassee with a win. The Mustangs also earned a bump in the national rankings.
After beating Florida State 27-24 on Monday night, SMU climbed to No. 17 in the Week 2 Coaches Poll, moving up three spots from its preseason position at No. 20.
The Mustangs are now 1-0 after surviving a chaotic opener that included a lengthy power outage, four turnovers and a career night from quarterback Kevin Jennings.
Jennings was the biggest reason SMU escaped Doak Campbell Stadium with an ACC road victory.
The junior quarterback completed 26 of 36 passes for a career-high 430 yards and three touchdowns, helping SMU roll up 585 total yards against the Seminoles.
Jennings also threw two interceptions, and the Mustangs turned the ball over four times overall, keeping Florida State within striking distance until the final seconds.
SMU finally put the game away when Nick Reed hit a 20-yard field goal with 21 seconds remaining.
The result gave coach Rhett Lashlee another significant conference win and reinforced SMU’s place among the ACC’s top contenders.
The Mustangs are now 2-0 all-time against Florida State, including a 42-16 victory in Dallas in 2024.
Their ranking jump also came during a week of major movement across college football.
Ohio State remained No. 1 in the Coaches Poll, followed by Georgia, Texas, Notre Dame and Indiana. Oregon fell to No. 6 after narrowly beating Boise State 34-27, while LSU surged to No. 8 after crushing Clemson 51-10.
Miami checked in at No. 7, giving the ACC two teams ahead of SMU in the poll. Clemson, meanwhile, dropped completely out of the Top 25 after its lopsided loss at LSU.
For SMU, the ranking is validation, but there’s still plenty to fix.
The Mustangs proved they can move the ball against a talented opponent in a hostile environment, but four turnovers are the kind of mistakes that can derail a playoff-caliber season.
That’s the next challenge for Lashlee’s team.
SMU has the quarterback, the offensive firepower and now a ranked road win. If the Mustangs clean up the giveaways, No. 17 may be only the beginning.
