SMU's Rhett Lashlee Left Lamenting Self-Inflicted Wounds In Syracuse Loss

The SMU Mustangs lost just their second game of the season, going down 30-27 to Syracuse at JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday.

We have seen the Mustangs, over the past month, play mistake-free, fundamentally sound football, and that was been a big reason why SMU had gone on a winning streak.

But we knew that eventually things would turn, and against Syracuse, they did.

The Mustangs lost two fumbles and nine penalties across offense and special teams that crippled them at times, and it all adds up to a game SMU should have won but didn't.

They left the door open for a Syracuse comeback, and the home side took full advantage as they scored a touchdown with just 17 seconds left to break SMU hearts.

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And for head coach Rhett Lashlee, he was left lamenting the self-inflicted wounds that cost his team the win.

"We had the fumble, we had the turnover, they didn't," Lashlee said. "We had the penalties that were all pretty critical, particularly on special teams and a couple holds on offense and then we took more sacks we've taken all year. So, just combination of things that don't make yourself hard to beat. We gave them a chance late to win the game and they did."

All in all, it was just a disjointed performance as the Mustangs were playing catch-up in the first half.

A Kevin Jennings touchdown in the third quarter cut the deficit to three, before a safety and then a Kendrick Raphael touchdown put the Mustangs 27-20 up, and many thought the unit would continue to roll.

But they kept the door ajar.

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A Syracuse field goal with a little over five minutes left cut the margin to four, and SMU had a chance, if it was good enough, to end the game, but they couldn't.

And Steve Angeli hit Noah Myers for the game-winner with just 17 seconds left.

In truth, this wasn't SMU's finest performance, but they still did enough to win the game; it was just the self-inflicted wounds that made this so much harder than it needed to be and, in the process, kept the game close.

Silly penalties and turnovers plagued SMU early in the season, and it managed to stem the tide for a handful of games, but it came back with a vengeance against Syracuse, and it paid the ultimate price for it.