Greg McElroy debates how SMU will respond to tougher schedule in 2025

SMU made the most of their first season as a power conference program in going 11-3, playing for the ACC Championship, and making the College Football Playoff. However, for anyone who had complaints about their strength of schedule en route to that record, the Mustangs, if they’re to follow that up, will do so against a more difficult schedule than a year ago.

Greg McElroy previewed his tiers in the Atlantic Coast Conference last week on ‘Always College Football’. That included Southern Methodist as one of four teams in tier two, making them a contender for a playoff spot again, along with Louisville, Georgia Tech, and Florida State.

“A team that made the playoff last year that I think has a chance to be back in the mix? The SMU Mustangs,” stated McElroy.

As for his evaluation, McElroy had SMU in contention for the CFP to start because of the return of QB Kevin Jennings. Jennings (65% completion, 3,599 overall yards, 28 total touchdowns, 10 turnovers), who ended up as their full-time starting quarterback last fall, is back for another season not just as their unquestioned starter this time but with another year of development done.

“They bring back a veteran quarterback in Kevin Jennings,” said McElroy. “I’m very optimistic about his growth. He made a ton of plays last year. But, sometimes, the fundamentals where he was maybe too deep in the pocket, maybe tried to do a little too much, maybe left the pocket a little too early? Maybe some of those things can be cleaned up, but the playmaking ability has been on display since he took over as the starter there at the midway point last year.”

Now, Jennings will lead an offense that, while looking for new weapons at running back and receiver, has been one of the better scoring units in the country over the past several seasons. That will then pair with a defense, dealing with turnover of its own, which McElroy felt was a bit underrated in last year’s success.

“I love Coach Rhett Lashlee. I love their offense. I think they can make it very difficult on the opposing defense,” McElroy said. “I love their tight end, RJ Maryland, who got hurt at the midway point last year but he’s got a chance to, I think, accelerate to a potential All-American type season…And then you look at the offensive line? Their offensive line should return mostly intact. And they did a pretty good job making strategic use of the transfer portal to reinforce some spots that they need to improve…They also have to replace Brashard Smith at running back, which will be very difficult. They have some new receivers that will be difficult to kind of figure out exactly where they’re going to be.”

“The defense last year, what was lost, is how good they were across the board,” added McElroy. “They were really strong against the run. They were the best in the ACC last year in rushing yards allowed. They bring back a few pieces from that group but there is a little bit of turnover on that side of the ball.”

As per the headline, though, SMU will be taking a step up in competition in year two for them in the ACC. They played the 41st toughest schedule a season ago per ESPN’s FPI, which was second-worst among playoff teams behind only Boise State out of the Mountain West as the highest-rated Group of Five Champion, with their most-difficult games being a loss to BYU and wins against TCU, Louisville, and Duke, which all came before the end of October. That said, in 2025, the Mustangs have much tougher opponents on the schedule with games against Baylor and at TCU out of the Big 12 before playing Syracuse, at Clemson, Miami, and Louisville in conference play.

“Last year’s schedule was, for the most part, gettable. This year’s going to be a little bit different animal,” said McElroy.

“SMU should be back in the mix. It’s possible, very possible, for them to get back to the ACC Championship. But, this year would be an even bigger accomplishment because of who they have to navigate through in order to get back to the ACC title game,” McElroy said. “They’re at Clemson, they have Miami at home, they have Louisville at home. They also play Baylor and at TCU in the non-conference. So, that’ll be very tricky. They get Stanford at home, at Wake Forest, at Boston College. So, you look at their schedule? It is much more challenging than what they were last year.”

SMU has progressed as a program over the past half-decade or so with some of their better seasons in school history. They’ll now have a chance at another one based on who all is back in Dallas, even if the Mustangs have become a team to beat on other schedules coming off their playoff berth.

“I still think the personnel is going to have a great understanding of what Rhett Lashlee wants from them, and now they have a little better understanding of what it’s like to navigate through a Power Five schedule,” said McElroy. “I think the learning curve was experienced last year. Now it gets even more difficult and, guess what? They go from hunter to hunted. You know everybody’s got SMU circled, but I think they’re ready to handle the challenge that the ACC will likely present.”