SMU beats Cal; Mustangs into ACC title game in 1st season in conference

DALLAS (AP) — Kevin Jennings threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns as ninth-ranked SMU completed a sweep of its first Atlantic Coast Conference schedule with a penalty-plagued 38-6 win over California on Saturday.

The Mustangs (11-1, 8-0, No. 9 CFP) were already locked into next week’s championship game in their ACC debut before closing the regular season with their 17th consecutive win in a league game. They won their last nine American Athletic Conference games, dating back to 2022, before moving this year into the power conference.

“Just to come in our first year in the ACC and do it, it’s really crazy for us, and it’s amazing,” said Jennings, who is 9-0 as the starter this season.

“Just pretty cool, you know, these guys back-to-back 11 wins, didn’t lose a conference game, and going to be playing championship weekend two years in a row,” third-year SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said. “I’m kind of in awe of these guys.”

Brashard Smith, a transfer from Miami, had 68 yards rushing on 16 carries, 66 yards on three receptions and scored twice while SMU overcame a season-high 17 penalties for 137 yards.

SMU will play No. 12 Clemson next Saturday night for the ACC title and a spot in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. No. 8 Miami would have been in the ACC championship game with a win, but the Hurricanes lost 42-38 at Syracuse and cleared the way for Clemson.

The Mustangs took control with touchdowns on three consecutive drives early. They were up 21-0 on Derrick McFall’s 8-yard TD run with 13:02 left in the first half, when they had 234 total yards — and only 34 more from then until the start of the fourth quarter. They finished with 415.

Cal (6-6, 2-6), also in its first ACC season, played without sophomore quarterback Fernando Mendoza, a 3,000-yard passer this season who was out because of illness.

The Golden Bears’ first five losses were by an average margin of 3.4 points. They started 0-4 in ACC play, losing those games by a combined nine points.

“That was a difficult loss,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. “We just didn’t give ourselves a chance to win.”

Jennings scrambled away from trouble, spun, rolled left and threw on the run to hit tight end Matthew Hibner in the front left corner of the end zone for an 11-yard TD. Smith, whose 32-yard catch helped set that first touchdown, then ran 5 yards for a score. Smith added a 23-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter.

Chandler Rogers started in place of Mendoza and was 8-of-15 passing for 84 yards before exiting with an unspecified injury in the third quarter and getting replaced by C.J. Harris. Rogers threw for 3,389 yards and 29 TDs last season at North Texas, after two seasons starting at Louisiana-Monroe, but before Saturday had thrown only 10 passes for Cal.

“On offense, not good enough at any position to put points on the board,” Wilcox said. “It was an offensive issue today, not just quarterback.”

The takeaway

California: The Bears offense was certainly out of synch with Mendoza, leading rusher Jaivian Thomas (upper-body injury) and starting left tackle Nick Morrow all not playing. They had 254 total yards. They trailed 21-0 and had 0 total yards before Rogers had a 37-yard completion. That was the same drive they had first-and-goal from the 3 before two plays losing yards and two penalties — and then missed two field-goal attempts, one nullified by a penalty.

SMU: An incredible first season in the ACC for the Mustangs, the ninth team since 2011 to make the move from a Group of Five to a power conference. None of the previous eight started better than 1-1 in its conference debut, and only Louisville had finished with a winning record, going 5-3 in the ACC in 2014 after moving from the AAC.

Poll implications

The Mustangs entered the game with their first top-10 AP ranking since reaching No. 3 in 1985. They were also ninth in the College Football Playoff rankings, their highest since the CFP started in 2014. They should move up in both polls after Miami’s loss.

Up next

Cal, among 13 bowl-eligible ACC teams, has to wait for the bowl selections that are revealed Dec. 8.

SMU plays in the ACC championship game Dec. 7 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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