A Look at SMU Heading Into the Wasabi Fenway Bowl

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We are now eight days away from the matchup between the SMU Mustangs (11-2) and the Boston College Eagles (6-6) that will take place at Fenway Park on Thursday morning, December 28. While the Eagles are getting ready for the game on campus, using Fish Field House to familiarize themselves with their opponent, the Mustangs are back in Dallas, Texas doing the same. They are not scheduled to arrive in Boston until the weekend. There is still plenty to learn about the Mustangs.

First, they will bring a nine-game winning streak to Fenway Park and this will be their first neutral site game of the season. There will be some that will call this a Boston College home game based on location. Either way, SMU was also good on the road going 5-2. One of those two losses was to the only ranked team they played, the Oklahoma Sooners by a 28-11 score. In their conference regular season, the Mustangs had their way with their league opponents. They scored at least 30 points in all of their conference games, reached the 50-point plateau twice, and got to 60 points once. The only nail-biting games they played took place on November 4th at Rice, a five-point win 36-31. Then on the 18th, a four-point win at Memphis, 38-34.

Their head coach, Rhett Lashlee is a finalist for the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year award. This is the first time that Lashlee has been a finalist for this award. He led the team to their first AAC championship (8-0). The eleven wins are the most by the program since the 1982 national championship team. The conference title was their first outright championship in 41 years. They accomplished this by playing a dominating brand of football on both sides of the ball. That style of play led the Mustangs to be ranked in the top 20 in several categories.

On offense, they scored 528 points on the season. Their scoring average of 40.6 ranks as the second highest in program history. They rushed for 28 touchdowns which is tied for the most in program history. They scored 55 or more points four times during the regular season, the most in program history for a single season. On defense, they were one of the best in the country. They got to the quarterback a lot this year. 47 times, in fact, which ranks second in program history. SMU’s margin of victory was 28.9 points in league play (45.9-17.0). That was the largest margin of victory for any team in the NCAA during league play in 2023.

For Boston College, slowing down this high-powered offense is going to be quite a challenge. Keeping the Mustangs’ defense off balance may prove to be an even bigger challenge. When the Eagles are on top of their offensive game, they run the ball down a defense’s throat. This could very well be a game where imposing your will becomes the difference between winning or losing. Next Thursday morning we will find out who can impose their will.