SMU Football 2025 Preview
- Lewis Huston
- Aug 20
- 7 min read
What an opening act 2024 was for SMU, as they took advantage of a soft conference schedule on their way to a CFP playoff berth. The schedule certainly helped them and has to be pointed out, but they consistently took care of business against lesser teams ranking 15th nationally in average scoring margin. Kevin Jennings is back to lead a potent offense, but the defense was ravaged by graduation only returning two full-time starters in the secondary. The good news is Rhett Lashlee has solidified himself as a top tier coach and has been bringing in talent at a rate SMU hasn’t seen in a long time. Is it enough for them to contend again?
Offense
Kevin Jennings took over for a struggling Preston Stone during their week 3 loss to BYU and never looked back. A true dual threat, Jennings posted an 85.0 Pass grade totaling 3,267 yds (65.1 cmp%) with 23 TD and 11 INT while running for 433 non-sack yards. He’s one of the best in the ACC and could be considered one of the best nationally if he can avoid the catastrophic turnover games (8 combined against Duke and Penn State). The clear leader of this locker room, he’s one of the most reliable QBs around that can also be a game-changer. Tyler Van Dyke is somehow still in college and transfers in to provide a security blanket behind him. Van Dyke missed the final nine games last year with a torn ACL but reunites with Lashlee, who was his OC at Miami during his breakout ’21 season.
Do-it-all RB Brashard Smith is a massive loss after being one of the best backs in the country. TJ Harden (UCLA) and Chris Johnson Jr. (Miami) were brought in to help solidify this room. Harden started every game last year but regressed from ’23; he totaled 324 car, 1,659 yds (5.1) and 12 TD in 3 seasons. Johnson is a former 4-star that couldn’t find a role at his previous stop. The answer here might’ve already been on the roster though. Another former 4-star, Derrick McFall only appeared in five games as a true freshman but has loads of potential and is receiving a ton of buzz both from Lashlee and some media members. ACC Network analyst Eric MacLain raved about McFall after watching a recent practice, even comparing him in likeness to Smith. Safe to say he’ll be on breakout watch this fall and is an X-factor for SMU.
Three of the top four receivers are gone, but you could argue they actually get their best pass catcher back in stud TE RJ Maryland. He had 24 rec for 359 yds (15.0) and 4 TD before missing the last half of the year with a torn ACL. It sounds like his rehab has progressed well and he could even be ready by Week 1. With him out it allowed fellow TE Matthew Hibner to burst on to the scene as one of their go-to targets down the stretch. SMU will run a lot of two TE sets with those pass catching weapons at their disposal.
The WR room isn’t completely bare though. Jordan Hudson has been a reliable target the last two seasons (69 rec, 845 yds, 12 TD in ’23-24) and will be asked to step into a more primary role. Romello Brinson started their first four games last year before missing every game until the postseason. He had 28 rec, 431 yds (15.4) and 2 TD in ’23 so the two of them still offer positivity despite the losses. A couple transfers will work out of the slot when both TEs aren’t on the field. Dylan Goffney transfers back to SMU after two years at Colorado State. His best year was in ’22 with the Mustangs when he had 354 yds on 20.8 yds/rec. Shifty 5’8” Yamir Knight (JMU) had 53 rec, 605 yds and 4 TD with zero drops on 63 targets.
The offensive line was a quality group ranking 24th in sacks allowed, although their advanced rushing metrics leave something to be desired (90th in line yards, 72nd rush EPA and rush success rate). Three starters return led by 3rd team All-ACC LG Logan Parr, a 2-year starter that’s one of the best in the conference. Both Tackles, PJ Williams and Savion Byrd, are back but Byrd had one of the worst pass block grades for Tackles at 37.7 and has to be better. They lose 3,771 career snaps from C Jakai Clark but Addison Nichols should fill in seamlessly after a really good year starting every game at Arkansas last year. Joshua Bates (Oklahoma) is another option here after starting 2 games before missing the rest of the season with an injury. RG is the only position with a big void in terms of starting experience. Nate Anderson started the opener at RT but was moved to LG after a horrible performance. I’d expect him to win the job at RG.
Defense
The Mustang’s defensive line group was exceptional and a big reason why they pummeled through their ACC schedule, but it was a senior heavy group and so with that they are having to replace a majority of the contributors. Cam Robertson is coming off two very productive years as a rotational guy (32 tkl, 7 TFL, 4 sk in ’24) and should have a big year as a starter. Him and Isaiah Smith, who is slightly more of a hybrid OLB/EDGE, tied for 4th on the team with 35 pressures each. Smith got all the way home at a higher rate though tallying 6.5 sk on the year. He also has been incredibly productive on a per snap basis for two straight years and it’s now their turn, with the main question being if they can be every down players that hold up in run support. Transfers from Mizzou, Baylor and Kansas will look to factor in at DE as well.
They have the potential to be massive in the middle with Purdue transfer Jeffrey M’Ba (6’6” 302lbs) and Texas State transfer Terry Webb (6’4” 314lbs). Both were starters last year but M’Ba was just ok with 30 tkl and only 1 TFL. Webb graded out much better with a 79.7 DEF grade, 26 tkl, 4 TFL and 1 sk. Third year DC Scott Symons likes to rotate his DTs though and there are several other transfers who will see time as well. Keveion’ta Spears (Memphis) is the only one with starting experience but saw his role decrease heavily in ’24. Jonathan Jefferson figured to push for a starting role after playing well for SMU last year but will now miss the entire season due to a spring camp injury. That could end up being a significant loss.
SMU also loses it’s top two linebackers that combined for that 209 tackles so a ton of production and leadership needs to be replaced here as well. Zakye Barker (ECU) was 2nd Tm All-AAC and his 86 tkls should plug in immediately. The top returner is junior Alex Kilgore (56 tkl, 3 TFL) who has played a significant reserve role his first two seasons. Brandon Booker and Brandon Miyazono are both back as well after playing sparingly last year. Both were Dallas area recruits that Lashlee has spoken highly of. Aakil Washington (39 tkl) could be the X-factor transferring in from South Alabama after playing his first four seasons at Liberty, where he played for Symons.
The secondary will go into 2025 as the most reliable unit of this defense. 1st Tm All-ACC safety Isaiah Nwokobia (61 tkl, 3 PBU, 4 INT) spurned the NFL to return and is one of the best in country. He’ll be joined by Ahmaad Moses, the 3rd highest graded defender for SMU last year, to form a borderline elite safety duo. Starting CB Deuce Harmon returns with 8 PBU and a 44.2 cmp% allowed. Marcellus Barnes is a talented youngster that transfers in from Syracuse and could start opposite of Harmon. He was limited to just five games and two starts as a true freshman. Jaelyn Davis-Robinson is another option that has played nearly 700 snaps over two years here, but he struggled in coverage last year. Nickel is the one true question mark; Kyron Chambers appeared in all 14 games last year and Jaden Milliner-Jones had 25 tkl as a true freshman at Colorado before appearing in 6 games exclusively on special teams here last year.
Special Teams
There’s nothing to worry about at placekicker with 1st Tm All-American Collin Rogers back for his 4th season. He passed the likes of Eric Dickerson and Doak Walker as the school’s all-time leading scorer and is 75% for his career. Australian punter Wade McSparron is the likely candidate to take over at punter after redshirting as a true freshman, but Ryan Collins was brought in to provide competition as a 2-year starter at Cal Poly. The return game is a big question mark after losing Smith and WR Roderick Daniels who were pretty good here. It could be McFall or one of the young receivers that take over.
Schedule
After avoiding a lot of the top teams in their inaugural ACC year, the Mustangs get Clemson, Miami and Louisville on the schedule this year. Non-conference games against in-state Big 12 contenders Baylor and TCU make for a ton of tough matchups ahead. On the flip side, they also play East Texas A&M and AT Missouri State(???) plus the bottom feeders in the ACC in Stanford, Wake Forest and Cal. So while there are plenty of penciled in wins, there’s still a wide range of outcomes due to the top heavy portion of the schedule.
Overall Outlook
For those that think last season’s CFP appearance was a fluke, I’d argue those folks don’t know ball. If you watched SMU it was obvious this was a good team that had a stellar defense, a growing star at QB and talent at the skill positions. That being said, 2025 will be a true test of where Rhett Lashlee has this program. There are major losses on both sides of the ball, but the staff seems high on a bunch of the replacements and still has Kevin Jennings to keep them in ball games as the new look defense gets their feet wet against Baylor and TCU. As long as the defense avoids a major drop off, this is still a team that will compete to make it back to Charlotte for a second straight year. If they can even come close to accomplishing that it will make a statement that the Ponies are here to stay.
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