Syracuse gets another shot at slowing down a ranked ACC opponent on Saturday, with No. 19 SMU coming to the JMA Wireless Dome for a noon kickoff on October 31.
The Orange enter at 3-4 overall and 1-4 in conference play, while the Mustangs are 6-1 and 4-1. Syracuse will also be the underdog again, listed at +10.5 by Fanduel.
SMU has had the upper hand in this series so far, winning both previous meetings. The first matchup came in 1932 in Syracuse, where the Mustangs pulled out a 16-6 victory. Last season’s first-ever conference meeting between the teams went in SMU’s favor as well, with the Mustangs building a 28-point lead on the way to a 31-18 win in Dallas.
Fran Brown enters the game in his third year leading Syracuse, with a 16-16 record. On the other sideline, Rhett Lashlee is 44-17 at SMU.
Lashlee’s coaching path has been a long one tied closely to Gus Malzahn: the Arkansas native played quarterback for Malzahn in high school, stayed home to play at Arkansas, and then coached under Malzahn for nearly every season from his playing days through 2017, with stops at UConn, SMU and Miami after leaving to become an offensive coordinator. He got his first head coaching job at SMU in 2022 after Sonny Dykes departed for TCU.
SMU is coming off one of its biggest second-half surges of the season. After trailing Cal at the break, the Mustangs flipped the game with a 42-0 second half and rolled to a 59-20 win.
Quarterback Kevin Jennings remains the focal point of the offense. Against Cal, he threw three touchdown passes, and the second of those gave him 73 for his SMU career, setting a new program record.
The Mustangs also look back on last season as a solid but slightly uneven follow-up to their first year in the ACC. They dropped non-conference games to Baylor and TCU, and their unranked league losses came against Wake Forest and Cal, leaving them 8-4.
SMU still closed strong, beating No. 17 Arizona 24-19 in the Holiday Bowl.
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For a roster looking to define its interior identity, Wilson arrives with a skill set that stands out immediately. He is expected to compete for the starting center job, and his defensive profile is already established after leading the Sun Belt in blocks last season. If that edge carries over, Syracuse may have found a player who changes the way opponents attack the paint. [Read more 🡒]
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Kevin Jennings has been the centerpiece of SMUs climb, piling up the kind of production that has made him the most prolific passer in Mustangs history and helped position his team near the top of the ACC standings. SMU is tied for second and chasing a fifth straight win, which makes this a far sturdier measuring stick for Syracuse than the one it just passed, with the Orange trying to prove last week was a turning point rather than a one-off. [Read more 🡒]
Syracuse Found Unexpected Difference Makers In Its Breakthrough ACC Win
Syracuses first ACC win of the season came with a few unexpected names stepping into the spotlight in the 31-30 overtime victory at North Carolina. The Orange finally snapped a conference losing streak that had stretched more than a year, and the performance felt less like a one-off upset than a reminder that help can emerge from all over a roster when a game turns tight late.
Among the players who drew strong PFF grades were freshman offensive lineman Jayden Mann, junior running back Ahmad Miller, true freshman wide receiver Calvin Russell III and junior linebacker Zyian Moultrie-Goddard. Their work fed a balanced offensive effort and gave Syracuse enough defensive resistance to survive a one-point thriller, leaving the bigger question now whether these breakout contributions can become part of something more lasting as the season moves on. [Read more 🡒]