SMU Routs Virginia Tech, Arizona Stuns TCU: Friday Recap
Eight possessions, eight scores. On Friday, SMU punished Virginia Tech 51-28 behind Kevin Jennings, who threw for 350 yards and four touchdowns, and the Mustangs stayed in the race for the ACC title game. In Tucson, No. 24 Arizona stunned TCU 29-28 in the final minute after recovering an onside kick and hitting a 37-yard field goal. New Mexico marked its first game ever in the AP poll with a 31-3 rout in Reno, Illinois beat Nebraska 24-13 and East Carolina edged USF on a last-gasp field goal.
An SMU offense that never stalled
The script was set on the first series. Dramekco Green capped the opening drive with a 12-yard run, and SMU went on to score on each of its first eight possessions, five touchdowns and three field goals. The Mustangs finished with 569 yards of offense, a season high.
Jennings was close to flawless, completing 24 of 32 passes for 350 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. His favorite target, Yamir Knight, caught six passes for 103 yards and three touchdowns. Jalen Cooper added a 50-yard touchdown catch in the second half, and kicker Brendan Baird, a former SMU soccer player, made field goals of 47, 26 and 50 yards. Kendrick Raphael also ran for a touchdown.
For Knight, a James Madison transfer, it was a first: he had never caught three touchdown passes in a game. After scoring at Syracuse the week before, he now has four touchdowns in two games. With Jennings, he has become the centerpiece of the Mustangs' passing game this season.
The turning point: a strip before halftime
Virginia Tech was not outclassed everywhere. Ethan Grunkemeyer completed 28 of 38 passes for 291 yards and a touchdown, and Jeffrey Overton Jr. ran for 123 yards and two scores. The Hokies piled up 417 yards, usually enough to stay in a game.
The difference came on defense. Marques White forced a Grunkemeyer fumble in the second quarter, and SMU cashed in: Jennings found Knight for a 46-yard touchdown with 6:09 left before the break for a 20-7 lead. White finished with two of SMU's four sacks. After halftime, Jennings and Knight connected on two more touchdowns, from 13 and 5 yards. The Mustangs' scoring run only ended with 5:31 left, when Brennan Johnson intercepted a deflected pass.
What it means in the ACC
A week after losing at Syracuse and dropping out of the AP poll, SMU improved to 7-2 (5-2 ACC). Rhett Lashlee's team is still unbeaten at home in ACC play since joining the conference (12-0) and remains in the hunt for the league title game. Miami (8-0, 5-0) and Wake Forest (7-1, 5-1) sit ahead of the Mustangs.
The schedule gives SMU a direct shot: Wake Forest visits on Nov. 14 for the Mustangs' home finale. Virginia Tech (6-3, 3-3 ACC) hosts Stanford the same day.
The win also carried extra meaning against James Franklin. In December 2024, his Penn State team knocked SMU out of the College Football Playoff in the first round, 38-10. Franklin, who took over at Virginia Tech after leaving Penn State in the fall of 2025, is in his first season with the Hokies, whose ACC title game hopes are fading with three conference losses.
Friday's other results
Arizona 29, TCU 28. The wildest finish of the night came in Tucson. Trailing 28-26 after Noah Fifita's 15-yard touchdown pass to Quincy Craig and a failed two-point try, the Wildcats, No. 24 in the AP poll, went for an onside kick that TCU could not handle. Arizona recovered, and Michael Salgado-Medina hit a 37-yard field goal with under 40 seconds left. A final interception ended the Horned Frogs' hopes.
It had started well for Arizona, which led 10-0 after Isaiah Mizell's 20-yard touchdown catch and a first Salgado-Medina field goal. The game swung before halftime, when Hudson Hooper intercepted Fifita and returned it 93 yards to put TCU ahead 14-10. The Wildcats regained the lead in the third quarter, but the Horned Frogs moved back in front 28-20 in the fourth.
Fifita finished 24 of 37 for 313 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, leaning first on Giovanni Richardson. "Knowing it was going to be a four-quarter game, anytime you have Noah Fifita pulling the trigger, you have a chance," coach Brent Brennan said after the game. Arizona (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) remains in the conference title race and hosts Utah, No. 3 in the latest AP poll, on Saturday, Nov. 14. TCU fell to 4-5 (2-4).
The win came at the right time. Arizona was coming off a loss at Texas Tech, and a second straight defeat would have all but closed its path to the Big 12 title. Utah, unbeaten at 8-0 (5-0 Big 12), led the conference outright before Saturday's games and hosts No. 7 BYU on Saturday, Nov. 7. The outcome of that game will shape how much the Utes' visit to Tucson a week later weighs in the race for a spot in the Big 12 championship game.
New Mexico 31, Nevada 3. In the first game in program history played with an AP ranking (No. 22), New Mexico smothered Nevada, holding the Wolf Pack to minus-9 rushing yards. The Lobos took control early: Scottre Humphrey capped the opening drive, and Kiefer Sibley added a 31-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 first-quarter lead. In the third quarter, Brett Karhu forced a fumble on a sack, and Humphrey cashed in for his second touchdown (21-3). He finished with 107 yards, and Toa Fa'avae added a 25-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cade Keith. Nevada (3-6, 2-3) scored only on a field goal just before halftime.
The Lobos (8-1, 5-0 Mountain West) earned the program's first-ever win in Reno. Unbeaten in conference play, they remain in the mix for the Group of Six playoff spot, with Boise State among their rivals, and have little margin for error if they want to keep it.
Illinois 24, Nebraska 13. Katin Houser threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Collin Dixon (8 catches, 129 yards), who now holds Illinois' single-season record with 12 receiving touchdowns, the school said. A fake field goal, with punter Lars Rau running 29 yards, sparked the drive that gave the Illini the lead in the third quarter. Illinois (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) won its fourth straight and became bowl-eligible, while Nebraska fell to 5-4, losing it's last 4 games.
East Carolina 20, USF 17. Andrew Conrad won it for the Pirates with a 55-yard field goal with two seconds left. The final drive began at the ECU 14 with 1:42 left, and 10 plays and 49 yards later, the kicker had his chance. Earlier, Emory Williams had found Landon Sides twice in the end zone, from 15 yards to tie it 10-10 just before halftime and from 8 yards for a 17-10 lead in the third quarter. USF, which scored on its opening possession, had tied it 17-17 on Jason Collins Jr.'s 1-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Sides finished with 14 catches for 126 yards. USF (6-3, 2-3 American) likely saw its conference title game hopes fade, while East Carolina improved to 5-4 (3-2).
