Rhett Lashlee didn’t need a podium to frame the moment. After Southern Methodist University toppled the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes 26-20 in overtime, the SMU football head coach went straight to his people, then to the mic, and put it as plainly as it gets: “I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
SMU won with grit more than style. Quarterback Kevin Jennings threw for 365 yards on 29-of-44 passing with a touchdown and no interceptions, leaning on wideout Jordan Hudson’s 11 grabs for 136 yards. The run game? Basically a rumor until overtime, when T.J. Harden hammered in the 1-yard winner, his lone score on eight carries.
Safety Ahmaad Moses authored the turning point with two interceptions, including the OT pick that set up the walk-off. Miami’s Carson Beck countered with 274 yards and two touchdowns, but those two picks loomed large. Team rushing told the story, too, as the Mustangs finished with just 23 yards on 25 attempts before that final drive, a testament to how hard they had to scrap.
Lashlee’s postgame messaging tracked with a week that started with the school locking him up on a two-year extension. He doubled down on his commitment and his program’s identity, calling SMU a “destination job” via Dallas News, and the locker room clearly heard it. “SMU chose us first,” he said, a line he’s been emphasizing as he sells continuity to players and recruits.
On the field, this was classic survive-and-advance stuff. The Mustangs needed a late break, a roughing-the-passer flag on fourth-and-9, to extend a drive that produced Sam Keltner’s 38-yard game-tying field goal with 25 seconds left. Then came Moses’ OT theft, Harden’s finish, and a home crowd that rattled Miami into 12 penalties for 96 yards, per local reporting. It was SMU’s first win over a top-10 team since 1983, according to Dallas News, and it arrived seven days after a gut-punch loss at Wake Forest.
