The Mustangs and Seminoles will do battle as SMU opens its season with a tough game.
Rhett Lashlee's SMU Mustangs are on the national stage to begin their season as they head on the road to face Florida State.
Set to be a game that is going to test every aspect of Lashlee's team, as they haven't played meaningful football yet, while the Seminoles have a win in the back pocket already against New Mexico State.
So, there are a lot of unknowns when it comes to the Mustangs.
They have a host of new players, a few different wrinkles in the game plan, plus we don't know how players will react to a stadium that will see over 60,000 fans, making it incredibly hostile towards the Mustangs.
But this is what football is about.
Big games, on a national stage with the entire football world watching.
And Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell knows that Lashlee's Mustangs are going to give them all they can handle.
“I love this stage, Monday night, only game on. Those are great games to be a part of,” Norvell said via Tomahawk Nation. “This is going to be a championship-caliber game. SMU has shown that these last few years. They’ve competed at a really high level. They’ve been in the playoff two years ago. This is a very talented team.”
“This is going to be a big challenge for us, and we’re excited for it.”
SMU this preseason has been a media darling.
Some see them as the team to beat in the ACC, over Miami, but as Lashlee has said, it all counts for nothing because no one really knows how a Week 1 game will go.
There are so many factors that will play into the result, with perhaps the biggest one being how his players will react to playing proper football again.
Let's not forget, they haven't had any preseason games like the NFL does, plus Florida State has already had a game to knock the rust off and build cohesion. SMU hasn't.
So yes, the Mustangs, in the eyes of many, are favorites heading into this one, but it is anything but a formality.
SMU has the talent to win this "championship-caliber" game, and time will tell if Lashlee's team can start the season with what would be an ideal win on the road.
