Based solely on prior results this season, Florida State looks to be the easiest opponent SMU has faced all year.
The Seminoles are 1-3 with all three losses coming to unranked teams. They haven’t scored more than 21 points this season, and the offense has struggled especially in the last three weeks, not exceeding 14 points.
But despite the disappointing start Florida State has had just months after it was snubbed by the College Football Playoff selection committee, Rhett Lashlee and his players at SMU see their first ACC opponent as their most dangerous yet.
“Sometimes the scariest teams are the ones that have so much talent and just haven’t clicked yet,” Lashlee said. “Nobody missed on the preseason projections in terms of talent.”
SMU’s conference opener Saturday evening looks a lot different than it did before the season kicked off. The Mustangs now enter at 5.5-point favorites — a big jump from where they were when Florida State was No. 10 in the nation entering the season.
But those building expectations for the Mustangs — and a lack of expectations for the Seminoles based on their results so far — concern Lashlee and his players.
Just because Florida State has lost three games doesn’t mean the Seminoles won’t still send multiple players to the NFL. Florida State’s defense is still elite, and the losses don’t take away the fact that the team’s starting quarterback was a former five-star recruit.
“It’s a really good Florida State team and obviously the gold standard of this league for a long time,” Lashlee said. “I feel pretty confident in saying in my time here, this is, without question, the most athletic and fastest team we will have played.”
SMU’s offensive players say they’ve completely ignored Florida State’s record so far because based on how its defense has played the last three weeks, it could’ve won those games.
“Their defense, they’ve played good the last couple of games,” SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings said. “They haven’t really let up too many points, held their ground.”
As for SMU’s defense, it’s not buying into the outside noise that it enters as a heavy favorite. Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei may only have two touchdowns to three interceptions this year, but the former Clemson quarterback is battle-tested in the ACC and is coming off three consecutive 2,000-yard passing seasons and back-to-back seasons with over 20 touchdown passes.
“He’s a leader. He’s a winner,” Lashlee said of Uiagalelei. “There’s a reason they’re sticking with him because they know they can turn a corner and be the best version of themselves with him.”
Florida State finally got a taste of winning in a narrow 14-9 victory over Cal last week. SMU knows the program is still far from reaching its full potential.
So even as 5.5-point favorites, the Mustangs are channeling an underdog mentality as a conference newcomer facing its reigning champion.
“There’s only a matter of time before it all clicks,” Lashlee said. “They got some momentum, so these are the scary, dangerous ones to look at because perceptually, people go, ‘Oh they’re struggling.’ There’s plenty of talent over there.”
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