SMU Mustangs Season Preview | ACC Contender in Year 1?, Preston Stone Breakdown and more!

next up in our ACC preview is the only new power four team that we have this year that is the SMU Mustangs going from the American Athletic Conference over to uh the ACC as of right now in dton last year SMU is probably the most complete group of five team that we had they were the one of only four teams in the country who had a top 10 offense and defense in terms of PFF grade the other three were Michigan the national champion Alabama who was a playoff team and Notre Dame who had a really good team last year as well they also had an 11 win season something they haven't done D since before they got the death penalty in 1987 so by all accounts it was one of the best years we've seen from SMU since they got the death penalty back in the 80s uh now they go from the AAC to the ACC like I said before first time in nearly three decades that they're in a power conference now so really really fun times foru right now and D listen last year with a big 12 adding four new schools in uh UC Houston uh BYU and Cincinnati all four of those teams had losing Seasons all four of them were disappointments I think SMU men could immediately compete not only in the ACC but for an ACC title and a college football playoff birth thanks to basically the same roster they had last year and a very manageable schedule as well yeah absolutely look and I think the biggest thing is they're bringing just about the entire team back there's a couple of guys that transferred out but for the most part you got 16 of their 20 best players coming back including Preston Stone their quarterback coming back from a broken leg he suffered against Navy uh towards the end of the regular season last year but even with their backup quarterback Kevin Jennings in they still won the conference Championship game against tan so it's a really good football team especially offensively with what Rhett Lashley has going the pace and the amount of big plays that they make offensively is what makes them dangerous but the continuity the experience and the fact that they're bringing almost their entire team back from last year gives them some hope to compete ACC yeah by the way we actually interviewed Rett Lashley a couple months ago so if you want to check out that interview he's an awesome awesome guy and uh terrific coach obviously as well biggest weakness and biggest question really is how are they going to handle the jump right because last year um they were 0 and3 against Power five competition in fact their only three losses on the season were to power five teams uh two of those three losses came to TCU and Boston College who combined for a 12 and 13 record so yeah they lost to Oklahoma was a really good team but TCU and Boston College really weren't that good of teams and SMU still lost to them right so that's kind of the biggest question right now is that yeah they were 11 and0 against group of five competition but 0 and three against Power five competition now you go into a power five conference how's that going to look in the transition now of course we said before how we really are high on them this year but that is a question mark at least going into the year when you were 0 and3 against Power five competition the year before but Doan one of the best quarterbacks that we had in the group of five last year and now one of the best quarterbacks we have in the ACC is Preston Stone uh before he got injured what did you like the most when you saw from his game um there's a few things look I mean despite having probably a more above average arm than in like absolute Cannon right i' put i' give his arm strength probably a b or B plus he had the third most big time throws in the regular season last year behind Drake May and Michael penx they make big plays in this offense and stone is the reason for it right his timing and his touch on deep balls is really really impressive and he's really impressive in the play action game that Rhett Lashley sets up for him now he's really good on the move too he doesn't run a whole lot but he knows how to improvise to throw and all he's always looking downfield man don't let any of these SMU receivers behind you right and I think for stone the big thing is he's not the most you know physically imposing guy right the good news is he's protected generally but it's a high average depth of Target too so he's a bit of a gunslinger there are some turnover worthy plays in there that are more like okay we're trying to get downfield constantly and and the games where he's trying to get down field too much the TCU game is a really good example because that was actually his worst game of the season where it's like okay reel it in it's the same way we talk about Garrett green a little bit just reel it in for me just a little bit because there sometimes you're trying to swing for the fences too often but don't get me wrong down the stretch after that TCU game and before he got injured he was one of the best quarterbacks in the country absolutely perfect skill set for this offense and I think as long as he's recovered from the broken leg that he suffered he should have a spectacular season yeah absolutely should man and one guy up front protecting and that we also really like is Logan Parr their offensive guard uh transferred to SMU from Texas and immediately produced for them as their starting left guard last year he was one of only six group of five guards are in top 15 grades as both a pass blocker and as a run blocker 84.6 pass blocking grade was eighth in the group of five and he didn't allow a single sack on any of his 354 pass blocking snaps either really talented player in space as well he a 79.4 Zone blocking grade that was in the 84th percentile for FBS guards as well so I really like sm's offensive line even though they lost Branson Hickman who's a STAR Center who transferred over to Oklahoma but I think Logan Parr still on that interior uh is a really really good player they bring back next year I agree you get a star transfer on the offensive line and I get one on the defensive line one of my favorite players in the entire country off the edge for them is Elijah Roberts a transfer from Miami second best overall grade in the country among Edge Defenders only behind latu latu six in the nation and pass rush grade and Max there are times he's a big powerful Presence at 6'4 and 280s big Power rusher off the edge there's times he could take games over man I was lucky enough to actually get to grade him in the conference title game against Tain and he just took the game over I believe he won PFF defensive player of the week that week he was just a dominant dominant Force when he gets it rolling it's a hard hard task to deal with his power his strength and even he's getting better he's getting a little bit twitchier on his get off as the season went on Elijah Roberts I think is one of kind of the sleeper Edge Defenders to look out for in next year's draft but he's smu's best defensive player and it's it's really not close yeah I agree with that man second most pressures in the country fifth most sacks in the country he is a dominant dominant player man but D what's the bottom line for this team right now will it be a smooth transition for SMU going from the American Athletic Conference to the ACC and are they a top ACC Contender or do you think it'll be a rougher transition like it was for the four new Big 12 schools last year I think I think they're a dark horse you know I I think you know I think about last year the TCU game Oklahoma was just better than them I'm in on that right the TCU game Preston Stone had his worst game of the year and then from the rest of the season he was on fire and the bowl game against Boston College I kind of side eye a little because it was with their backup quarterback in the pouring rain it was pouring rain that day I think they were playing in Boston actually it was kind of a home game for BC and Boston college is a running team and got him into a muddy lowc scoring game and they're not going to be in those very often but no I there's going to be an adjustment a little bit but I think those bruises kind of help them out a little bit okay this is the type of competition we have to play against and these are the type of teams that we have to beat right they could have one of if not the best offense in the ACC right away this is an explosive explosive football team and Rhett lashley's a really good game planner and just creates explosive plays constantly long as Preston stone is healthy I really think they are a dark horse in the ACC I I'm with that man and they have the seventh best odds to win the ACC right now according to FanDuel I don't think that's correct right I I think they have a much better chance than that of of making it uh to the ACC title game and winning the ACC title honestly you know with their schedule they have and they have the third easiest schedule in the ACC according to our power rankings I mean their non-conference games are Nevada uh I think Holy Cross no excuse me not Holy Cross Houston Christian and um and BYU and TCU right that's that's manageable very much so so then after that you play Florida State you got Louisville that's really it in terms of like the really good ACC teams that they play right so they have a very very manageable schedule I think there is certainly uh a really good chance they can make the ACC title game next year because of the the roster they have and uh offensively and defensively like I said that easy schedule as well so I think in a wide open ACC smu's got a good shot man in our power ranking Zone uh they actually have the best chance to win the ACC at 19% right now which I don't again I don't necessarily agree with that but that just shows that hey they are getting undervalued in the sports books right now so if you're a betting man maybe uh sprinkle little cheddar on SMU plus 1500 to win the ACC next year it's going to be really really fun team to follow as they uh make their transition from the group of five to the power four now but that's what we got for our preview of the SMU Mustangs hey thanks for watching the PFF college football show before I let you go though we have an unbelievable deal for you guys guys right now if you use the code cfb2 you get 25% off your PFF plus annual subscription we got the 2024 college football preview guide you can find over at pff.com featuring the best players in the country from all 70 power five teams plus 10 group of five teams that have the best chance of making the college football playoff as well you can also gain access to NCAA premium stats for historical games uh teams and player tracking dating all the way back to 2014 so the last decade or so of college football all the stats you can hope for you can find in PFF premium as well also you can be the GM of your favorite NFL team with our unbelievable Mock Draft simulator where you can draft up to seven 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