Despite outstanding performances across SMU’s offense, the No. 17 Mustangs couldn’t stop the Baylor Bears in a double-overtime affair, losing 48-45 on Saturday.
Redshirt junior Kevin Jennings passed for 296 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception, completing 17 of 23 passes despite his top receiver, Jordan Hudson, being out with an injury. Through the first half, Jennings completed all 10 passes he attempted, the first time he’s had a 100% completion rate in a full half in his career.
In Hudson’s stead, senior Romello Brinson (four catches, 126 yards, two touchdowns) and freshman Jalen Cooper (two catches, 89 yards, one touchdown) led the receiving corps. Both receivers caught a first play, 75-yard touchdown pass on separate drives.
“Those explosive plays are always going to help,” Jennings said. “I think we did that today. As long as we continue to do that in these upcoming games, we’ll be successful on the offense.’
TJ Harden, the transfer running back from UCLA, had a breakout game Saturday, rushing for 115 yards and three touchdowns. After sharing time with Chris Johnson Jr. in the first half, Harden became the primary back for the latter half of Saturday’s game.
“[Harden] did his job for sure,” Jennings said. “He got the ball when his number was called, he made plays, and that’s exactly what we need from our running back. That’s what he did, and I’m excited for that guy.”
Jennings connected with Brinson on the first play of the game for a 75-yard touchdown pass, and a Collin Rogers field goal put the Mustangs on top 10-0 at the end of the first quarter. In the succeeding quarters, the SMU defense had far fewer answers for Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson, who began his path to a 440-yard, four touchdown day.
“I think we had them right where we wanted them, you know, in the fourth quarter,” senior linebacker Isaiah Nwokobia said. “I think it’s more about us than about what they did. We’ve got to continue to focus on us, continue to prepare, and continue to get better, and we’ve got to finish.”
In the second quarter, Baylor scored touchdowns on all three of their drives; Robertson had passing touchdowns to senior receivers Kobe Prentice and Josh Cameron, and Bryson Washington ran it in with 37 seconds left in the half to cut the SMU lead to 24-21.
The offense stalled for both sides in the third quarter, as the lone score came off the foot of Baylor kicker Connor Hawkins. SMU had two opportunities to score, but Rogers suffered the first of three missed field goals and Jennings threw a red zone interception after the Mustangs recovered a muffed punt.
“We let them get on a little bit of a run before half offensively, but then our defense kind of re-established themselves in the third quarter,” head coach Rhett Lashlee said. “We didn’t have a great third quarter offensively.”
The Mustangs looked much sharper to begin the fourth quarter, scoring back-to-back touchdowns to jump out to a 38-24 lead. Harden ran both in, the first for 40 yards and the second from just five yards out. Lashlee expressed his frustration with the Mustangs’ play with 8:38 remaining and a two-score lead.
“We didn’t finish it when we needed to,” Lashlee said. “We’re up 38-24 with eight minutes to go… we didn’t finish the game. That’s the story. That’s the tagline. We didn’t finish the game.”
Back-to-back touchdown drives by the veteran Robertson tied the game at 38 apiece. Rogers had the opportunity to win it with a 57-yard field goal as time expired, but couldn’t get the distance. Instead, the game went to overtime for the first time since SMU’s 28-27 win over Duke on Oct. 27, 2024.
Baylor and SMU exchanged touchdowns in the first overtime- Washington powered it in from the two-yard line, and Jennings found Brinson in the back of the end zone on SMU’s first play of extra time. In the second overtime, Jennings and the offense lost steam and were forced to attempt a field goal. Rogers, who was picked for the preseason all-ACC team and the Lou Groza Award watchlist, couldn’t connect from 38 yards.
“The [field goal] in overtime has to be made,” Lashlee said. “I mean, it’s gotta be made, right? I haven’t said anything to him yet, but we’ll get back at it.”
With the ball back and the game still tied, Baylor ran as far as they could before handing the ball to the redshirt freshman Hawkins, who booted the walk-off 27-yard field goal with ease. After the game, both Jennings and Nwokobia emphasized the importance of learning from adversity and preserving a positive team culture.
“It’s definitely a lesson for us to go and go back and watch film, see what we did wrong, and the things we can do better at,” Jennings said. “We understand that you don’t really see exactly who you are until adversity strikes. That’s when we’re going to see what kind of team you are, and right now we’re focused on staying together.”
“It’s about our culture,” Nwokobia said. “We’ve got to continue to make sure that we stay honed in on that. As leaders, we’ve got to do a great job to continue to make an emphasis on the culture, the work we put in, the brotherhood we have here, and if we do that, we’ll be fine.”
With the win, the Bears extended a 13-game win streak against SMU that dates back to 1989. The Mustangs will look to regroup on the road against Missouri State on Sept. 13.
