Ten-Oh at Home in the ACC: Jennings Passes 10,000, a Former Soccer Player Saves the Kicking Game, and SMU Grinds Past Virginia

By Brooke Calloway, RF Sports Radio SMU voice

Pony Up. It was not pretty, and it did not have to be. SMU met the ACC's best pass defense, did not get its usual fireworks, and still left Ford Stadium with a 10-point win, a milestone and a home streak that keeps growing.

The facts

No. 24 SMU beat Virginia 23-13 on Saturday, Oct. 17, at Gerald J. Ford Stadium, per SMU Athletics and the AP. The Mustangs are 5-1 and 3-1 in the ACC; Virginia fell to 4-3 and 2-2. SMU is now 10-0 at home in ACC games since joining the league in 2024.

Kevin Jennings went 23-of-36 for 246 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions, and added 26 rushing yards. His 272 yards of total offense pushed his career total to 10,197, extending the program record, per SMU's postgame notes. His two TD passes give him 71 for his career, tied with Ben Hicks for second in school history, one behind Tanner Mordecai. Kendrick Raphael ran 22 times for 124 yards, his second 100-yard game of the season.

The surprise hero was Brendan Baird, a former SMU soccer player, who made field goals of 23, 45 and 26 yards — the first makes of his career — for a unit that had been 3-of-7 this season, per the AP. The 45-yarder came on an untimed down after a roughing-the-passer penalty and gave SMU a 13-10 halftime lead. Randy Pittman Jr. caught a 6-yard TD on fourth-and-1, and Jalen Hale added a 37-yard catch-and-run score early in the fourth. The defense held Virginia to 258 total yards.

RF Sports Radio's take (opinion)

My take: this is what grown-up football looks like. Virginia came in with the ACC's top pass defense and mostly did its job — 246 passing yards is about 95 below SMU's season average. A soft team loses that game. SMU ran it 30 times, let Raphael wear the Cavaliers down, and lived on two big plays and three field goals.

Baird is the story I cannot stop thinking about. A kicking unit that was 3-of-7 is how good seasons die in November. If Baird is real, Rhett Lashlee just plugged the biggest hole on the roster. And Jennings' 10,000 yards came the boring way: no interceptions, smart throwaways, and the fourth-and-1 touchdown.

My call: SMU handles Cal this week by double digits, Jennings throws for 300, and the Mustangs head into the back half of ACC play at 6-1. That is a prediction, not a report. If the kicking wobbles again, the margin gets uncomfortable fast.

What to watch next

Cal visits Ford Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 11 a.m. Central on The CW, the last of four straight home games. Watch Baird's first kick, Raphael's carries and Jennings' push toward Mordecai's record. For the Oct. 16 preview, read our Oct. 16 SMU preview on Jennings chasing 10,000, and follow the SMU Football page.

Radio question: is Brendan Baird the most important player on SMU's roster for the rest of the year, or is that still Kevin Jennings?

Sources: SMU Athletics — No. 24 SMU defeats Virginia, 23-13 (AP recap + postgame notes); AP News — Jennings, kicking game help No. 24 SMU beat Virginia; SMU Athletics — Box score vs Virginia.