SMU Surges To No. 16 In Coaches Poll After Crushing Cal In Second Half

DALLAS - SMU spent the second half Saturday making California miserable. On Sunday, the Mustangs collected their reward from the coaches.

SMU climbed four positions to No. 16 in the updated US LBM Coaches Poll, earning 690 voting points after a 59-20 victory over Cal. The Mustangs improved to 6-1 overall and 4-1 in ACC play, strengthening their national standing as the season heads toward November.

MORE: SMU Defense Wakes Up, Shuts Down Cal In Dominant Second-Half Rout

They sit directly behind No. 15 Wake Forest, which received 749 points, and ahead of No. 17 Tennessee with 650.

That puts SMU third among ranked ACC teams, behind top-ranked Miami and Wake Forest. It also places a potentially significant showdown on the horizon: The Demon Deacons visit Dallas on Nov. 14.

First, though, consider how emphatically SMU earned this week’s climb.

Trailing Cal 20-17 at halftime, the Mustangs responded with 42 unanswered points. They scored touchdowns on their first six second-half possessions while holding the Bears to 50 yards after the break.

That wasn’t merely escaping an upset. It was taking a competitive game and ripping it apart.

Kevin Jennings completed 16 of 23 passes for 223 yards and three touchdowns, finishing the afternoon with a school-record 74 career touchdown passes. Kendrick Raphael added 104 rushing yards and three total touchdowns against his former team.

“He just continues to do what he does best, which is win,” coach Rhett Lashlee said of Jennings.

The defense deserves equal billing. Cal went scoreless over the final two quarters, managed only two second-half first downs and couldn’t convert any of its seven third-down attempts after halftime.

For SMU, the next step is producing that level of control before intermission, too. Falling behind didn’t prove costly Saturday, but stronger opponents can make those early struggles harder to erase.

The schedule will provide opportunities to measure that progress.

SMU visits Syracuse on Oct. 31 for an 11 a.m. CT kickoff on ESPN2, then returns home for Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. A Nov. 21 trip to No. 6 Notre Dame adds another major test before the regular-season finale at Stanford.

MORE: SMU Overwhelms Cal With 42-Point Second Half in 59-20 Rout

The Coaches Poll doesn’t determine College Football Playoff selection, but climbing toward the top 15 keeps SMU prominent in the national discussion.

The Mustangs have earned that attention. Now they need to turn a dominant half against Cal into the standard for their stretch run.