SMU Rolls Past Virginia Tech 51-28 as Kevin Jennings Throws Four Touchdowns, Yamir Knight Catches Three

SMU needed a response after last week's last-second loss at Syracuse, and the Mustangs delivered one with their most productive offensive night of the season. Kevin Jennings threw for 350 yards and four touchdowns, Yamir Knight caught three of them, and SMU scored on eight straight possessions in a 51-28 win over Virginia Tech on Friday night at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas.

SMU (7-2, 5-2 ACC) piled up 569 total yards, a season high and the most Virginia Tech has allowed in James Franklin's first season in Blacksburg. The Hokies (6-3, 3-3 ACC) moved the ball too, finishing with 417 yards, but two turnovers and an SMU offense that kept answering left them chasing the Mustangs all night. Virginia Tech never led and never tied the game.

Fast start, then a turnover that flipped the half

SMU took the opening possession 75 yards in eight plays, and Dramekco Green finished the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run at the 12:22 mark of the first quarter. Brendan Baird, a former SMU soccer player, added a 47-yard field goal with 3:00 left in the quarter for a 10-0 lead.

Virginia Tech answered with its best drive of the first half. Ethan Grunkemeyer led an 11-play, 75-yard march and capped it with a 1-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, and John Love's extra point cut the deficit to 10-7. Baird pushed the lead back to six with a 26-yard field goal at 8:32.

Then came the swing play of the half. Marques White beat the Virginia Tech protection, stripped Grunkemeyer and recovered the fumble. On the very next snap, Jennings found Knight for a 46-yard touchdown, and SMU led 20-7 with 6:09 left before halftime.

The Hokies did not fold. Jeffrey Overton Jr. broke loose for a 22-yard touchdown run at 2:22 to make it 20-14. SMU still had enough time for one more drive, and Baird made it count, drilling a 50-yard field goal with three seconds left to send the Mustangs into the locker room up 23-14.

Eight straight scoring drives

Whatever adjustments Virginia Tech made at halftime, SMU had an answer. Kendrick Raphael scored from 3 yards out at 9:10 of the third quarter, and Jennings hit Knight again, this time from 13 yards, at 4:26 to push the lead to 37-14.

The Mustangs then put the game away with patience instead of speed. A 15-play, 82-yard drive ate 8:04 off the clock and ended with Jennings throwing a 5-yard touchdown to Knight, the receiver's third scoring catch of the night, with 9:21 to play. That made it 44-14 and stretched SMU's streak to eight consecutive scoring drives.

Virginia Tech used the final quarter to make the score more respectable. Overton scored a second touchdown on a 2-yard run at 6:29, and Grunkemeyer ran in the two-point conversion to make it 44-22. On SMU's next possession, a Jennings pass was deflected and Hokies safety Brennan Johnson intercepted it, returning it 22 yards and ending the Mustangs' scoring run. Virginia Tech cashed in when Grunkemeyer found Que'Sean Brown for a 3-yard touchdown at 3:30, though the two-point pass failed and the score stood at 44-28.

SMU needed just two plays to respond. Jennings connected with Jalen Cooper on a 50-yard touchdown at 3:13, and Jimmy Wyrick sealed the night by intercepting Grunkemeyer at the SMU 27 and returning it 12 yards with 2:24 left.

Jennings and Knight lead a balanced attack

Jennings completed 24 of 32 passes for 350 yards, four touchdowns and one interception, and added 17 rushing yards on five carries. The win moved Jennings to 26-9 as SMU's starting quarterback, according to the Associated Press.

Knight finished with six catches for 103 yards and three touchdowns. Cooper added five catches for 98 yards and a score, while Yannick Smith caught six passes for 84 yards, including a 37-yarder. Theo Melin Ohrstrom (two catches for 29 yards) and Randy Pittman Jr. (two for 22) rounded out a passing game that spread the ball around.

The run game was just as productive. SMU ran 36 times for 219 yards and two touchdowns. Christian Rhodes led the way with 92 yards on seven carries, highlighted by a 59-yard burst, and Raphael carried 15 times for 63 yards and a touchdown. Green added 39 yards and a score on six carries.

SMU converted 8 of 12 third downs and held the ball for 31:17. The full numbers are in the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab).

Virginia Tech moved the ball but could not keep pace

Grunkemeyer completed 28 of 38 passes for 291 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The Hokies quarterback also scored on the ground, but SMU's pass rush held Grunkemeyer to minus 1 yard on 11 carries, and the strip sack before halftime proved costly.

Overton was Virginia Tech's best weapon, running 13 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns with a long of 38. The Hokies totaled 126 rushing yards and three rushing scores on 28 carries. Brown led the team with nine receptions for 37 yards and a touchdown, Luke Reynolds caught six passes for 67 yards and Ayden Greene had two catches for 49 yards.

Virginia Tech matched SMU on third down at 7 of 12 and went 1 for 2 on fourth down. Both teams were flagged four times, with the Hokies penalized 45 yards to SMU's 32. Noah Chambers led the Virginia Tech defense with 11 tackles, and Johnson's interception was the Hokies' lone takeaway.

By the numbers

SMU outgained Virginia Tech 569 to 417 and won the turnover battle 2-1. The Mustangs had 26 first downs to the Hokies' 23 and averaged just over 6 yards per carry, with 219 rushing yards on 36 attempts. Through the air, SMU averaged nearly 11 yards per pass attempt, with 350 yards on 32 throws.

Baird's three field goals, from 47, 26 and 50 yards, accounted for nine points and kept the early lead growing on drives that stalled in Virginia Tech territory. The 50-yarder at the end of the first half turned a one-score game into a nine-point cushion heading into the break.

Virginia Tech's offense was efficient in stretches and scored four touchdowns, but the Hokies could not get enough stops to make those drives matter until the game was out of reach.

SMU's pass rush keeps producing

White finished with two of SMU's four sacks, and the forced fumble was the Mustangs' most important defensive play of the night. SMU has 151 sacks since the start of the 2023 season, the most in FBS over that stretch. Alexander Kilgore led the Mustangs with 10 tackles.

What it means

The win steadied SMU after a rough week. The Mustangs came in unranked for the first time this season after falling 30-27 at Syracuse on a touchdown pass with 17 seconds left. Friday was the second straight home game in which the SMU offense took over, following a 59-20 win over Cal in which the Mustangs scored 42 straight points after trailing at halftime.

SMU is now 12-0 in ACC home games and 19-4 in conference play since joining the league, the most ACC wins of any team in that span. The Mustangs are chasing a second ACC Championship Game appearance in three seasons, with No. 1 Miami (8-0) and Wake Forest (7-1, 5-1 ACC) ahead of them in the standings. Wake Forest visits Dallas on Nov. 14 for SMU's home finale, a game that could shape the title race.

Virginia Tech had come in rested after an open date that followed back-to-back wins, the latest a 20-16 upset at Clemson. The Hokies return home to host Stanford on Nov. 14.

Sources: ESPN box score and play-by-play, and the Associated Press game report. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: SMU Athletics.