SMU closes the regular season with a road trip to Stanford, and depending on how November treats the Mustangs, this could be anything from a playoff-clinching formality to the last tune-up before Selection Sunday nerves kick in.
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SMUSTAN
SMUSTAN
OverUnder
Best BetSMU
SMU brings the far more proven quarterback and a veteran offensive front into a matchup against a Stanford team still figuring out who it is. The talent and experience gap favors the Mustangs clearly, though a five-game gauntlet against ranked ACC and Notre Dame competition means fatigue is a real variable by the time they get to Palo Alto.
SMU
+Jennings returns: 18-6 as starter, 3,641 yards in 2025
+4 returning O-line starters incl. All-ACC PJ Williams
+Preseason FPI No. 24, ACC title contender
−Brutal Nov gauntlet vs Notre Dame, FSU, Louisville, UVA, VT
−Season finale could be a letdown/trap spot
−Co-coordinator staff on both sides still unproven
Stanford
+GM Andrew Luck overhauling roster via portal and recruiting
+Home finale, something to play for regardless of record
−Coming off consecutive 3-9 seasons plus a 4-7 interim year
−Projected to finish bottom half of the ACC in 2026
−New starting QB Davis Warren still learning the system
The quarterback contrast tells most of the story here. Kevin Jennings is back for a fifth year in Dallas, already 18-6 as a starter over the last two seasons with 3,641 passing yards and 26 touchdowns in 2025 alone. Across the field, Stanford hands the keys to Davis Warren, a Michigan transfer trying to find his footing in a brand-new offense on the Farm.
That new offense is part of a full teardown. Andrew Luck is running the program as GM, Tavita Pritchard is the head coach, and Terry Heffernan calls the plays — all replacing a Troy Taylor regime that got fired after back-to-back 3-9 seasons and an ugly bullying investigation. Stanford went 4-7 under interim coach Frank Reich last year, and this staff is still auditioning the roster it inherited alongside the portal pieces it brought in.
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SMU, meanwhile, is trying to survive the meat grinder. Notre Dame on the road, plus Florida State, Louisville, Virginia and Virginia Tech, are all on the schedule ahead of this trip — every one of them inside FPI's top 40. However Lashlee's team looks by the time it lands in Palo Alto says a lot about whether the Mustangs are playoff-ready or gassed.
SMU Mustangs
Nov 21?@ Notre Dame—
Nov 13?vs Wake Forest—
Nov 6?vs Virginia Tech—
Oct 30?@ Syracuse—
Oct 16?vs Virginia—
Oct 2?vs Boston College—
Sep 25?vs Missouri State—
Sep 19?@ Louisville—
Sep 12?vs UC Davis—
Sep 7?@ Florida State—
Stanford Cardinal
Nov 20?@ California—
Nov 13?@ Virginia Tech—
Oct 30?@ Louisville—
Oct 23?vs NC State—
Oct 17?vs Elon—
Oct 10?@ Notre Dame—
Oct 2?@ Wake Forest—
Sep 26?vs Georgia Tech—
Sep 19?@ Duke—
Sep 4?vs Miami—
Aug 29?vs Hawai'i—
Recent form.
Don't sleep on the emotional pull for Stanford here, either. It's a home finale for a rebuilding roster that's heard all year about buying into Luck's vision, and teams like that tend to play with more jump than their record suggests — especially against a visitor that might already have bigger business in mind. SMU has the O-line to lean on late, with four starters back including All-ACC tackle PJ Williams, but a long season has a way of catching up to teams in late November.
