SMU's Rhett Lashlee Outlines Mustangs Plan For Playoff Push

The SMU Mustangs are fresh off their bye week and are looking ahead to Virginia as Rhett Lashlee's team looks to move to 5-1.

After a good opening five weeks, the Mustangs have positioned themselves nicely for a playoff run, but as we know, football rarely goes to plan.

Which is why the Mustangs have to develop consistency in a conference where few teams do. Win the games you are supposed to, and everything else will take care of itself.

Granted, that is easier said than done, but we have seen that when a team isn't on their game, they can get beat, and in college football, sometimes that loss is the difference between playing in the playoffs and not.

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And for Lashlee, he wants one thing from his team, as the ACC is a swirling vortex of up-and-down results.

"The biggest thing is you can't get too high and too low week to week," Lashlee said. "Consistency is going to win today, so you just got to keep winning. Find a way to win each week, sometimes it's pretty, sometimes it's not.

"But did you win? And the team that can just keep finding ways to win- when you get to November, a lot of that dust will settle. There'll be only a few teams left. Are you in that group, and you got a chance to go compete for something?"

Consistency is the name of the game, and the Mustangs have been, for the most part, but, of course, they can be better.

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And this stretch of games could make or break their season, so it is no wonder fans are a little tense about what their team has in store.

But Lashlee knows the chance that is in front of his team.

"All we really can do is try to go beat Virginia," he added. "We're trying to get some momentum, get on a streak. That would be three in a row for us, that would be another big conference win. We got four of our next five at home.

"I like that. If we can just do what we have to do, all that other stuff will take care of itself."

So, the plan is clear for the remainder of the season for the Mustangs, and it is one fans hope they can stick to.

Play winning football, stack wins, and then, towards the end of the year, let the dust settle, and you can see where you are in the pecking order.

Many had the Mustangs as one of the teams to beat in the ACC during preseason, and through five weeks, little has changed.