Everything Rhett Lashlee said after SMU's win over Stanford

SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee met with the media after the 40-10 win for the Mustangs over Stanford to get bowl eligible. Here’s what he had to say as his team moved to 6-1.

Opening statement: “Obviously we’re really happy to get win No. 6 and be 3-0 in the league, come on the road, get a road conference win. Those are always good. So, really was pleased with how fast we started. I was kind of worried about that coming off the bye week. We started really fast, obviously the first play of the game. I thought our defense was strong throughout. In the middle, wasn’t pleased with … we had two turnovers on a special team. We had another pick that led to a touchdown inside our own 10. It’s kind of sloppy with a lot of holding penalties and things like that. At the end of the day, really a lot of respect for Troy (Taylor) and his unit. I think he’s going to do a really good job here. They play the game the right way, and we’re very fortunate to get out here and win. 

On bowl eligibility: “It’s awesome. Seven games in to say we’re bowl eligibile that’s something you’ve got to check off every year. That’s your hope. If you want to go somewhere, you’ve got to get to that point. To do it in our first year in the league is humbling. I think our guys do know we’ve just put ourselves in position to play for stuff continually down the stretch, but I don’t think we’re going to sit around and be satisfied with that’s the end result that we want, but it is a big deal, and so we’re really proud of us for that.”

On SMU’s defense: “They were just swarming. I mean, obviously, (Ashton) Daniels is a great player. After he drives in, I do think the young quarterback played really well for the freshman. I thought what they did the best is stop the run, which is something that we’ve really been working hard on. They did a really good job of sticking (Elic) Ayomanor. He made a great touchdown catch. He’s going to make those plays. He’s really good at it, but in general, did a nice job making sure we rolled our coverage that way, trying to make someone else beat us, but they were solid. We gave up the 10 points off turnovers, but to hold someone around 200 yards that knows how to play offensive football the way they do, I thought that was really special.”

On the key to the big plays early: “The first play, we felt good about the look. We felt like if we hit it perfectly in stride, we could score. But we just thought we’d get at least a good positive completion. Kevin just threw it perfect. It hit Moochie just right in stride. The way they played that formation, it just wasn’t anybody over the top. That was good. Then we’ve really been working hard on hitting some deep balls. We haven’t hit deep balls this year as well as we have maybe in the past. So for Kevin to he hit Keyshawn, I think, for our second touchdown on the go-ball was big. He (Kevin) scrambled and extended the play for RJ. Look, college football’s about stopping the run and turnover margin and explosive plays. We did two of those well tonight. I think Kevin does a really good job of seeing the field. I want to say the first two throws are just really good football plays. To extend the play the way you did on R.J.’s throw and others is probably the biggest help for us being explosive.” 

On SMU’s fast start overall: “It’s important. You got to start fast, especially on the road. I think the last two weeks we had a good touchdown drive at Louisville and a big play to start today. It settles everybody down. I think our last four games we played our best we scored on the opening drive. We’re not going to do that every week, but we’re sure going to try to. There’s a lot of stats out there about deferring, taking the ball, all those things. I’m a big believer in taking the ball because it gives you a chance to score first. It doesn’t matter the scenario. Then it gives you a chance to pick which way you want to kick in the second half, which, typically allows you to take the wind in the fourth quarter. Our guys have been doing a nice job of that and we need to try to continue.”

On SMU’s fan base coming out to Stanford: “It’s awesome and they’re excited. There’s a lot of California kids that go to SMU. There’s a lot of California families out here. So to be able to come out here on this coast every year, I think is pretty cool. Just the way they travel and we’re used to going and singing with our band, but it’s a long trip. With our band not being here, I think our players are kind of like, ‘what do we do now, you know,’ and so just seeing how many fans we have on the SMU sideline and hearing them throughout the game with the SMU chants. It’s really cool. It’s the vision. It’s what we want to build our program to and so it’ll prove that not only do we have great home environments that we’ve had this year, but our fans will travel. They were awesome at Louisville. They’re awesome today. I’m sure a bunch of them are at Duke next weekend.”

On Kevin Jennings growing into his starting role: “I think he’s really got almost better and better each game. The one interception today was really bad, but for the most part over those four games, he’s protected the ball. He’s got two turnovers in four games and to be an aggressive player like he is, it’s not like he stopped playing aggressive. It’s not like he’s not playing with confidence, you know, and he’s still only turned over twice. I think he’s done a nice job for the most part other than that one play of when things aren’t throwing the ball away, he’s tucked it and ran. He has an incredible ability like the Jake Bailey 3rd down late in the game. How he can tuck the ball, run around, and then just pop up and know where everybody on the field is is really a special gift. I think that’s the biggest thing is he’s obviously is a passer-grown, I think, continue to be aggressive, continue to be a playmaker for us, also a valuable football.”

On Roderick Daniels, Jr. as punt returner: “I trust Junior, he’s a really good punt returner. He’s taken one back this year for a touchdown already, did last year. He slipped on the first one, he was fair catching it, he slipped right as the ball was coming down. Then the second one, they just did a good job of putting a hat on the ball. It’s not like we had a true freshman or a redshirt freshman out there. We have an experienced guy, we believe in him, he’s going to return our punts. No different than if another experienced player, no one’s perfect. He’s going to be harder on himself than anyone and that’s why I know it would be corrected.

On Brashard Smith missing time: “We just decided offensively he wasn’t going to play in the first half. Nothing major. He’s a great kid. We love him to death, but we value our culture, and we expect people to show up to class and to show up to our meetings on time, and if you miss enough of them, we get with our captains and came together, felt like it was good to just say, let’s sit him for a half, and they even said he could return kicks, but he’s not going to play on offense in the first half. That’s what we did. I thought LJ, having him back was good, him and Junior handled a load. The 2nd half started, and it’s all gone. We’ll work on being where we’re supposed to be this week, but nothing major. Just kind of internal things we try to do to do right. We’re going to respect our professors on campus, and we’re going to respect our teammates with internal meetings as well.”