After defeating the New Mexico State Aggies last Saturday, the Florida State Seminoles are gearing up for a much tougher test on Monday. They get ACC play underway as they'll host the No. 19 SMU Mustangs inside Doak Campbell Stadium.
The argument can be made that this is the most important game of the season for FSU. If they have hopes of winning their conference, getting a win against SMU would start that mission off perfectly. A loss in this game followed by hitting the road to play the Alabama Crimson Tide in a few weeks, would put them in grave danger of an 1-2 start and could lead to another disappointing year for the Seminoles.
With that said, here are five things to know about SMU as Florida State tries to pull off the upset.
SMU has the most wins in the ACC the last two years
They've only
been in ACC since 2024, but SMU hasn't wasted any time making an impact with a 14-2 record in conference play. That includes wins against Florida State in 2024 and victories against the Miami Hurricanes and Clemson Tigers in 2025. So, in terms of games in the conference, SMU has been the standard the last few years.
They had one of the top red zone defenses in 2025
SMU's defense allowed just 20.5 last season, which was tied for 30th in the FBS. A big reason for that was that once teams got in the red zone, they had a difficult time putting up points. The Mustangs gave up a scoring rate of 70.2%, which ranked fourth in the nation. Only the Ohio State Buckeyes, Wyoming Cowboys, and San Diego State Aztecs were better.
QB Kevin Jennings will be hard to stop
Over the last two seasons, Jennings has thrown for 6,886 yards and 49 touchdowns while completing 65.6% of his passes. He also has over 400 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns over that span. FSU will need to be very disciplined when it comes to defending him.
RB Kendrick Raphael is a threat
Raphael ran for 943 yards and 13 touchdowns for the California Bears last season and added another 245 receiving yards with another score. He's an explosive and shifty back that runs downhill with conviction. Florida State can't let him control the tempo of the game.
They will be one of the toughest opponents for FSU this season
Florida State has some hard games this year, but SMU is certainly one of the toughest seeing as they are a well-rounded team. It will be paramount for the Seminoles to be clicking on all cylinders in this one, or things could get out of hand early.
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This article originally appeared on FSU Wire: Five things about SMU Mustangs before matchup vs FSU
