Virginia Cavaliers @ SMU Mustangs
Kevin Jennings and kicking game help No. 24 SMU beat Virginia 23-13
DALLAS -- — Kevin Jennings threw two touchdown passes, former SMU soccer player Brendan Baird boosted the struggling special teams with three field goals and the No. 24 Mustangs beat Virginia 23-13 on Saturday.
Kendrick Raphael ran for 124 yards as SMU (5-1, 3-1 Atlantic Coast) improved to 10-0 at home in ACC games since rejoining a power conference in 2024. The Mustangs are 17-3 overall in the ACC.
The Cavaliers (4-3, 2-2) were held to fewer than 300 total yards for a third consecutive game by an SMU defense that led a win over Boston College two weeks ago despite Jennings' offense gaining just 218 yards. Virginia finished with 258 yards.
“I think offensively it was a unique, kind of frustrating deal because we didn’t finish enough drives,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said. “We moved the ball a lot better this week. We ran it well. We had good balance.”
Jennings was 23 of 36 for 246 yards with a 6-yard TD pass to Randy Pittman Jr. on fourth-and-1 in the second quarter and a 37-yard catch-and-run score by Jalen Halen early in the fourth.
Baird had missed his only previous kick for a unit that was just 3 of 7 on field goals this season before making kicks of 23, 45 and 26 yards.
The 45-yarder gave SMU a 13-10 halftime lead on an untimed down after Billy Koudelka was called for roughing the passer when Jennings was throwing the ball away after time had expired.
“I don’t know if that was momentum-changing,” Virginia coach Tony Elliott said. “It was three points that we ended up having to chase in the second half, but the guys were fine. My message to Billy was, ‘Man, I love you. I know you weren’t intentionally trying to make a mistake.’”
Before Pittman's fourth down scoring catch, SMU converted a fourth-and-3 when Jennings was hit as he threw by Nnanna Anyanwu, but Yamir Knight caught the fluttering ball beyond the first down marker.
The Mustangs were 4 of 5 on fourth down.
“This was one of Kevin’s better games,” Lashlee said. “He had some big third down and fourth down plays and throws. Was smart with the football. I thought he did a nice job of just being a boring quarterback, in a good way. And when he had to be special, he was.”
Quarterback Beau Pribula scored Virginia's only touchdown on a 1-yard plunge on fourth down in the first half but was limited to 13 of 22 passing for 137 yards.
Virginia: The Cavaliers came in with the ACC's top passing defense, facing Jennings and the third-best passing offense in the country. Virginia did a good job controlling SMU for long stretches, but a few big plays negated all that. Yannick Smith had a 59-yard catch to set up Pittman's TD.
SMU: The longest run of Raphael's second 100-game of the season was a 28-yarder when the Mustangs were on the verge of simply running out the clock at the end of the first half. Instead, SMU ran a quick pass to get closer for a desperation heave, then Koudelka's penalty gave the Mustangs three points instead, and the lead for good.
Fall finally came to Texas a few days before Virginia's first visit to the state in 14 years. Five weeks removed from a game played in triple-digit temperatures in the mid-afternoon, it was 57 degrees Fahrenheit (14 degrees Celsius) for the late-morning kickoff.
Virginia: Duke at home on Friday night.
SMU: The last of four consecutive home games against California next Saturday.
------
Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here. Visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here
