SMU's Rhett Lashlee Highlights Key Takeaway After Boston College Win

Sometimes, you just have to win, and it doesn't matter what it looks like or by how much; get that win, and for the SMU Mustangs, that applies in their 25-16 victory over Boston College.

With the Mustangs now on their bye at 4-1, they can regroup and take stock of the first portion of the season.

And what they will see is a team that might have discovered the secret sauce to winning football games.

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Often riddled with turnovers and self-inflicted wounds, both sides of the ball were good enough to overcome them, but one big difference stood out against Boston College.

SMU didn't beat themselves.

And that is what pleases head coach Rhett Lashlee the most.

"Yeah, you got to win in a lot of different ways,” Lashlee said. “What we didn't do in this game, we didn't get going. We never really got in a rhythm other than those two drives. They did a nice job. We were in a lot of second-and-10s, second-and-11s all day. And it's just hard. We've been really elite at not doing that the first four weeks.

“It's like a pitcher on the mound, when he sometimes can't spot his fastball and he's got to go to his off-speed and he finds a way to win. That's what our guys did because we made ourselves hard to beat. We didn't give them gifts. They gave us gifts. We didn't other than the one drive that is like historic, with the holds.

"We didn't beat ourselves with a bunch of dumb penalties either. And they were getting real chippy. We did a nice job of not responding.”

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The Mustangs didn't light up the scoreboard. No player lit up the stat sheet, but they won the only stat that truly matters -- the score.

So, while we are used to Kevin Jennings throwing it all over the yard for 300 yards and a couple of touchdowns, and the defense lighting up the opposing quarterback, none really came to fruition against Boston College.

But the Mustangs, while not playing at their best, still found a way to win. That is what good teams do.

Now, are they going to play like that every week? Likely not, but the more they do, the better spot they will put themselves in later in the season.

And for now, the Mustangs might have just discovered that winning ugly might just be the way to further enhance their payoff credentials.