No. 20 SMU handed No. 18 Pittsburgh its first loss

Kevin Jennings threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns Saturday night as No. 20 SMU remained undefeated in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 48-25 win over No. 18 Pittsburgh in Dallas.

Jennings completed 17 of 25 passes as the Mustangs (8-1, 5-0) tied No. 5 Miami at the top of the conference standings and handed the Panthers (7-1, 3-1) their first loss. The outcome was never in doubt after SMU scored 24 points in the second quarter to take a 31-3 halftime lead.

Eli Holstein completed 29 of 47 attempts for 248 yards with one interception for Pittsburgh, which could fall out of the top 25 after the lopsided loss. The Panthers rushed for a season-high 467 yards, turned over twice and committed six penalties for 66 yards.

The Mustangs wasted no time putting their stamp on the game, scoring less than three minutes into the game when LJ Johnson punched in the ball from the 2-yard line. Ben Sauls then got Pittsburgh on the board with a 44-yard field goal at 5:55 of the first quarter.

But for the rest of the half it was all SMU. Roderick Daniels made it 14-3 with a 3-yard touchdown run less than a minute into the second quarter, and Brashard Smith, who ran for 161 yards and two scores on 23 carries, scored 71 on the Mustangs' first play Yards to victory ' next possession.

Jennings and Smith connected on the first play after the two-minute timeout for a 3-yard touchdown pass, followed by Collin Rogers' 50-yard field goal with two seconds left.

Rogers hit a 27-yard field goal on SMU's first drive of the third quarter before Desmond Reid scored on a 1-yard run for the Panthers with 38 seconds left in the quarter.

Smith's 18-yard touchdown run and Jennings' 80-yard scoring strike to Matthew Hibner increased the Mustangs' lead to 48-11 with 9:56 to play.

Backup quarterback Nate Yarnell ensured a somewhat more respectable final win with two touchdown passes for Pittsburgh in the last four minutes.

–Field level media