After making the 2024-2025 College Football Playoffs, SMU has not gotten off to the best start to the 2025 season. Rhett Lashlee and Kevin Jennings are doing their best to change that against Stanford in Week 7 by opening up their offensive arsenal.
SMU entered Week 7 with a 3-2 record after alternating wins and losses through its first five games. The Mustangs entered the game against Stanford as 18.5-point favorites, favoring them to embark on their first win streak of the year to gain momentum into the heart of ACC play.
Lashlee used the opportunity to ignite his offense by drawing up a trick reverse play early in the game. Jennings added his own flavor to the play by flipping the ball behind his back to tight end RJ Maryland after faking an end-around.
Kevin Jennings with the SMOOTH behind the back pass 😳pic.twitter.com/9tIPZ8DMU3
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 11, 2025
The play only resulted in an eight-yard gain, but it might be the most electric eight-yard play of the season. Jennings' toss was almost too smooth, as it seemed to develop too quickly to fool the Stanford defense.
The play call evidently worked, as it sparked SMU's first successful drive of the afternoon. After the Mustangs stalled out in their first two drives, Jennings led them to the end zone on their third possession.
The touchdown would open the floodgates, as SMU embarked on three consecutive scoring drives to end the first half. Jennings hit running back Derrick McFall for the team's first score before Chris Johnson Jr. took off for an 87-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give the Mustangs a 17-7 halftime lead.
SMU looking to build momentum into ACC play
Despite closing as nearly three-touchdown favorites, SMU nearly finds itself in a must-win position against Stanford. After dropping early-season matchups against a pair of in-state opponents, Baylor and TCU, the Mustangs assuredly need to generate positive momentum heading into conference play.
SMU ended the 2024 season as the ACC runner-up and earned a College Football Playoff bid. But with the success that Miami, Florida State and Georgia Tech are having early, Lashlee's team is still getting overlooked. The two early losses hurt their current resume, but beating Stanford would give the Mustangs a 2-0 conference record ahead of a marquee Week 8 matchup with Clemson.
Should SMU take care of business against Stanford, it would likely enter Week 8 as the favorite to beat Clemson in an ACC title game rematch. The Tigers have been a mere shell of themselves thus far, owning a miserable 2-3 record through five games.
