DURHAM, N.C. — In SMU’s 28-27 overtime win over Duke Saturday night, the offense’s six turnovers would’ve been the stat that most people remembered.
SMU became the first team since Marshall in 2011 to have a minus-6 turnover margin and go on to win.
The six turnovers, five of which came at the hands of quarterback Kevin Jennings, could’ve been the whole story of the game.
But SMU’s defense made sure another number on the box score was even more jarring.
The Mustang defense did not allow a single Duke point off those six SMU turnovers Saturday night, making an unbelievable defensive stand, especially in the fourth quarter, to steal a one-point overtime victory.
“That’s arguably the most staggering stat of all,” SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee said. “It’s pretty remarkable. That’s why you keep playing every play.”
SMU’s offense gave its defense every reason to not play its hardest every play Saturday night. After Duke came back from a two-touchdown deficit, the Mustang offense proceeded to turn the ball over three times in the fourth quarter in its own territory.
Duke began its final three drives in regulation from the SMU 24-, 38- and 13-yard line. The Blue Devils attempted two field goals in the final six minutes of the game.
Still, they could not score.
“We should’ve lost that game five different times,” Lashlee said. “We should have. If we played it 100 times, we’d probably lose it 99 with the way the game unfolded. It just happened to be the one time.”
SMU’s defense forced a missed field goal, a three-and-out and blocked a field goal as time expired to send the game to overtime tied 21-21. There, the group came up with the game-sealing stop on Duke’s two-point conversion attempt.
“We did a good job at just swarming to the football, staying together when things got hard. Guys didn’t point the finger. We didn’t start blaming each other. We stayed together,” defensive back Isaiah Nwokobia said. “We knew we had to step up. That’s it. We knew we had to strain, give 110% effort.”
THE ENDING TO SMU-DUKE WAS WILD 😳🍿
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) October 27, 2024
No. 22 @SMUFB is leaving Durham with a W! pic.twitter.com/97Dv4I13bk
SMU’s defense has been on a tear all season long. The Mustangs rank third in the nation in turnovers gained (17). But they weren’t able to rely on those takeaways as they often have this season.
The Mustangs made a stand in a different way, giving up just 28 points to a team that reached SMU territory on 11 different drives Sunday night. But plays like the one Jahfari Harvey made to block the field goal late in the game or the one Cameron Robertson made earlier in the second half to sack quarterback Maalik Murphy and knock Duke out of field goal range sum up what the unit is capable of.
Through two-thirds of the season, SMU’s defense has improved each game. It’s only allowed more than 30 points once.
And its effort Saturday night rewrote the way the game will be remembered. Rather than one where SMU gave it away, it’ll be known as one where the Mustangs stole it back.
“We probably put on a clinic on how to snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat,” Lashlee said. “There’s four or five times in the last 10 minutes of that game where we could’ve just said, ‘It’s not our night.’ Our guys just kept playing and kept fighting.
“That’s what team sports are about, and that’s what winning is about. Our guys lean on each other.”
