The SMU Mustangs fell short to the TCU Horned Frogs, 35-24, for the 104th and final Iron Skillet matchup on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.
Ahead of kickoff, the Mustangs gained several players back from injury, including both linebackers, Alexander Kilgore and Zakye Barker, as well as wide receiver Jordan Hudson.
SMU got the ball to start the game and was forced to punt after a false start on third down killed its opening drive. TCU took advantage of the early opportunity and got aggressive. The Horned Frogs went for it on fourth and five and converted to keep their drive alive. That first play symbolized the aggression that TCU head coach Sonny Dykes was going to coach with.
The Horned Frogs struck first when quarterback Josh Hoover floated one up to wide receiver Eric McAlister for a 27-yard touchdown.
The SMU offense responded by putting together a nice drive, even converting a third and 15, but could not find the end zone as wide receiver Jordan Hudson bobbled a pass in the back left corner of the end zone. Ultimately, kicker Sam Keltner knocked through a 28-yard field goal to get the Mustangs on the board.
The problem for SMU was that Hoover and the TCU offense kept rolling. In the next drive, Hoover found running back Jeremy Payne in the flats for a walk-in 10-yard touchdown, giving TCU 14-3.
Even though SMU found itself in a hole early, SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee felt the team’s morale was still strong.
“Well, I thought the whole game, our guys were awesome. The sideline was great. I thought the energy was great. I thought the guys just kept playing when they would hit a score or whatever. We got a little bit down early, like we just kept playing,” Lashlee said.
The Mustangs fought back once again and found the end zone for the first time. Quarterback Kevin Jennings scrambled around and threw a dot to tight end Matthew Hibner over the middle for the nine-yard score. Once again, SMU cut the TCU lead to four, 14-10.
The Mustangs went into the second half trailing 14-10, but with room for optimism because of how the last quarter ended.
TCU started the same as before, by scoring first in the third quarter. Hoover connected with wide receiver Joseph Manjack IV to restore TCU’s 11-point lead, 21-10.
To continue with the back-and-forth nature of the game, the SMU offense stepped up to the plate and delivered a huge touchdown drive to get SMU within one possession. Jennings threw a laser to wide receiver Yamir Knight to cut into the TCU lead, 21-17.
This time, the SMU defense came up with a big stop to give SMU the ball with the chance to take the lead, which is exactly what the offense did.
Jennings threw a bullet to former TCU Horned Frog Jordan Hudson for a 34-yard touchdown, giving the Mustangs their first lead of the game, 24-21.
Jennings couldn’t control his joy in the moments of SMU taking its first lead of the game.
“Yeah, man, it’s real happiness, honestly. Going in and scoring a touchdown, it’s always great to have a touchdown, but at that moment, I knew the game wasn’t over with. We had a lot of game to play,” Jennings said.
Indeed, there was still a lot of the game to play, and unfortunately for SMU, the Horned Frogs dominated the final 10:30 of regulation. In that time, TCU scored two touchdowns, forced two interceptions off of Jennings and, ultimately, ran away with a 35-21 win over SMU.
Coach Lashlee felt for his players after the team’s late collapse.
“We had the lead again, it’s the second time in four games. We’ve had the lead in the fourth quarter. And for the first time, since we’ve been here, we’ve not finished those games,” Lashlee said. “This team has to find a way to finish those games. But this team still has a lot of potential to get better and be competitive in our league.”
SMU Meadows senior, Elle Laney, was disappointed with how SMU battled in Saturday’s game.
“Overall, I’m really disappointed about how SMU played today. It is really upsetting that after last year’s victory, we were pummeled in our opponents’ stadium,” she stated.
SMU will now have a bye week to regroup before opening up ACC conference play against Syracuse on Oct. 5th, 2025.
