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Kickoff time, TV coverage for SMU at Cal revealed

On3 imageby: Billy Embody22 hours agoBillyEmbody
kickoff-time-tv-coverage-for-smu-at-cal-revealed
SMU TE Matt Hibner. (Matt Visinsky)

The SMU Mustangs will take on the Cal Golden Bears Saturday at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN2, the ACC revealed after Week 13. With a win over Cal, Rhett Lashlee & Co. will play for the ACC Championship for the second straight season.

SMU started off 2-2 and had a rough loss to Wake Forest that all could’ve hurt the belief of the team, but instead, the Mustangs have stayed the course. When Lashlee spoke with the media Saturday, it was before Cal fell to Stanford in its rivalry game and before Pitt beat Georgia Tech, but SMU still needs to punch its ticket with a win next weekend.

“I’m proud of this team, because this team is a new team, right? I think this is three straight years we’ll play the final game of the regular season, either already in a conference championship game or playing to get into one. Now, it’s the first time we haven’t been in control of our own destiny. Maybe that changes today, maybe it doesn’t. We were 2-2 going into the first bye week after we let two non-conference games get away from us and we were young and we were inexperienced, particularly on defense. We were hurt on offense. We were very, very, very average. If the coaching staff and the players in this building didn’t have the culture and the belief that they have, I don’t know what it would look like.

“But they just kept believing and going to work. And now, here we are playing with a lot of confidence when it matters. That’s a big deal. Playing with confidence helps. Now, we’re gonna play a team next week that’s got a lot of confidence too. Really proud of them. No matter what happens, the things we can’t control, what we can’t control is how we finish. So far, we’re doing a good job. We gotta finish it off next week.”

SMU is 8-3 this season and improved to 14-1 in November under Lashlee. His perfect record over the last three seasons will be put to the test next weekend when the upset-minded Bears welcome his Mustangs.

Saturday at home on Senior Day, SMU trucked Louisville start to finish, winning 38-6. The Mustangs are receiving votes in the polls, but things are moving in the right direction for a potential move into the Top 25 this week.

“It’s great to send 30 seniors out the right way,” Lashlee said. “I think the guys that have been here all four years are 21-4 Ford Stadium, that’s a big deal. They’ve not lost a conference game in the first two years in the ACC at home. That’s wild. They’ve all contributed to what we’re building and just It’s always great as a coach for them to go out on a high note, right? Doesn’t always work out that way.”

Now, SMU looks to send the seniors and the rest of the program back to Charlotte with a win over Cal.

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