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How to watch SMU vs. UCF

On3 imageby: Billy Embody10/05/22BillyEmbody

SMU is set to face UCF in Orlando in its American Athletic Conference opener Wednesday night at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2. The Mustangs want to bounce back from two straight losses while the Knights look to build on a 3-1 start.

The game was pushed back from Saturday to Wednesday due to Hurricane Ian rolling through South Florida. Flooding in the Orlando area as well as destruction along the Southwest Florida coast took priority for officials, law enforcement and cleanup crews. Now, UCF is ready to host the AAC opener.

Last year, SMU beat UCF in Dallas, 55-28. This year, it’s first-year Mustangs coach Rhett Lashlee going against his old boss and high school coach, Gus Malzahn.

“We did speak,” Lashlee said this week. “We texted a few times when the game moved to Sunday, we spoke on the phone Friday just to make sure that everybody was safe. Weren’t really talking much about the game, more about the things that matter. We were just letting him know that we’re thinking about them.”

SMU looking to cut down on turnovers vs. UCF

SMU’s offense ranks in the Top 10 of total offense in 2022, but turnovers have cost SMU two games. Offensive coordinator Casey Woods and the staff are working with the offense, led by quarterback Tanner Mordecai, to cut down on those untimely mistakes.

“I don’t think that anybody has been harder on themself than Tanner (Mordecai) has,” Woods said last week. “I think he’s dissected those plays more than anybody in our building, and fault can be attributed to different people in different situations. We can’t let it happen. Certainly not in the clutch situations. I think there has been great dialogue this week between coach Brewer, coach Lashlee, and myself. We know what he wants, we know what the mistakes were, and we know how to avoid those again, and we want to continue to value the ball.

“We don’t want to cut down on our aggressiveness. That is what’s allowing us to produce some of the yardage and explosives that we have. But we have to make sure that we value the ball enough to not put it in jeopardy.”