Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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34 NOV. 14, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: SMU downs against 5 interceptions. Jennings' Pro Football Focus passing grade of 88.9 put him in a tie for seventh among FBS quarterbacks with at least 200 dropbacks. That's despite him be- ing the only quarterback in the top 10 with more than nine turnover-worthy plays, per PFF. Jennings had 11. "They just let me be me, honestly," Jennings said of SMU's coaching staff. "Mistakes are gonna happen, but when those mistakes happen, they get on me. But at the same time, they know nine times out of ten, those plays are gonna be made no matter what it is. So, they just let me be free out there and not try to control me and make me be a robot and all that stuff." The finish of SMU's season will likely be dictated by how well Jennings plays. The Mustangs have to let him put on his cape and hope the marvelous plays outnumber the mistakes. He wouldn't have it any other way. "Everybody says pressure, but I look at it as a privilege, honestly," Jennings said. "To have pressure, you gotta be doing something right. That's how I look at it. "At the end of the day, I keep men- tioning that I've played this game for- ever, since we were just little kids, and there's no pressure. It's the same thing. Go out there, throw the ball, make the right reads, and just have fun out there and lead." ✦ 1. The Irish Fan Base Got To See What Life After Death Looked Like SMU's Nov. 21 matchup with the Irish will be the eighth time the Mustangs have visited Notre Dame Stadium, with SMU having been the first- ever opponent in the facility, back in 1930. On the most recent trip — in 1989 — SMU was still recovering from the death penalty. In the two years prior to Notre Dame's 59-6 annihilation, SMU did not field a football team. The NCAA imposed the death penalty after repeated NCAA violations. That wiped out the 1987 season, and SMU opted out of the 1988 season to start rebuilding behind the scenes. In 1986, SMU was on proba- tion for the seventh time — under a three-year probation imposed in August 1985 for recruiting violations — when it got caught up in another scandal, and the death penalty was imposed. Emerging from that penalty, SMU fielded a team in 1989 that consisted of 73 freshmen on its 89-man roster. Fifteen of them were in the opening-day lineup. The Mustangs did end up winning a couple of games that season — 31-30 over Connecticut and 35-9 over North Texas. Houston beat SMU 95-21 Oct. 21, three weeks before the Mustangs faced the No. 1 Irish, who held down the score. That included deep reserve running back Rusty Setzer being ordered by Irish head coach Lou Holtz to run out of bounds dur- ing a breakaway run that would have ended in a touchdown otherwise. SMU would not have a winning season again until 1997. 2. SMU Finds New Life In The ACC The step up from a Group of Five league to a power conference was, well, fairly seamless for the Mustangs. SMU went 8-0 in during ACC regular-season play 2024 season after moving from the AAC and made the College Football Playoff field as an at- large team. The Mustangs became the first Group of Five team to go unbeaten in its first Power Four season. TCU, Utah, UCF, Cincinnati, BYU and Houston — the past six teams to move up from a non-power league — were a combined 16-38 in conference play in their first seasons in a power conference, and none had a winning record. And that success has largely continued for SMU. Heading into a Nov. 6 home game with Vir- ginia Tech, the Mustangs were 18-4 in ACC play. That's the most league wins by any ACC team in that time span. 3. SMU At Home, On The Road And In November Games Under fifth-year head coach Rhett Lashlee, the Mustangs entered the month of November with a 14-2 November record. That matched Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman's November record heading into the Irish's Nov. 7 game with Miami as the third-most November wins by an FBS program since the start of the 2022 season. The Mustangs have also been strong on the road in recent years. Coming into the Notre Dame game Nov. 21, they're 13-5 in their last 18 regular-season road matchups. But SMU has lost three out of its last four, including a 30-27 Halloween defeat at Syracuse, led by former Irish quarterback Steve Angeli. — Eric Hansen Rhett Lashlee guided SMU to the College Football Playoff in its ACC debut in 2024, and his Mustangs entered November with an 18-4 conference record since joining the league. PHOTO COURTESY SMU ATHLETICS Three Things To Know About SMU