SMU's offense may not be able to handle the jump up in competition vs. BYU on Friday, but our college football expert believes the Mustangs defense certainly can, leading to a low-scoring affair.
SMU's offense may not be able to handle the jump up in competition vs. BYU on Friday, but our college football expert believes the Mustangs defense certainly can, leading to a low-scoring affair.
My BYU vs. SMU predictions see the Mustangs' defense answering the call but not the offense, giving Under bettors a path to victory. Here are myneeded to outscore the Nevada Wolf Pack 16-0 to pull out a 29-24 comeback in Week 0 as 27-point favorites. While SMU didn’t play the toughest schedule on the way to the 2023 AAC title, the defense made it all the easier for them. This is a unit that ranked seventh in the country in defensive success rate and fifth in sack rate a season ago, and is returning nearly all of its impact players.
But the Mustangs have depth at running back with LJ Johnson and Brashard Smith, and with the strength of the BYU defense arguably being its secondary, don’t be surprised if SMU leans on the run once again in this one. As you can probably tell, I’m high on the SMU defense. I’m not so high on the BYU offense. Jake Retzlaff earned the starting quarterback job this summer over Baylor/USF transfer Gerry Bohanon. And while Retzlaff had a good season debut, that was against Southern Illinois.
Smith has been Rhett Lashley’s go-to guy out of the backfield so far this season. Smith spent the last three seasons at Miami, primarily as a wide receiver. But he’s proving to be an effective back for the Mustangs, leading the team with 21 carries for 178 yards and three scores over the first two games of the season. This line opened with SMU as 11.5-point home favorites.
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