Rhett Lashlee recaps SMU's win over Memphis
SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee met with the media after the 38-34 win over Memphis on Saturday at the Liberty Bowl. Here’s what he had to say after the Mustangs moved to 9-2 overall and 7-0 in AAC play.
Lashlee felt like it was a battle of two top teams in the American, but it was the Mustangs that came out on top, dishing out Memphis’ second loss in league play.
“Well, that was fun. Big-time, late-season November conference battle, two good teams,” Lashlee said of SMU’s win. “We knew we’d get their best and I think we did. I thought it was a really good team win for us. First half was, they did a nice job keeping the ball away from us. So we only got four true drives. I thought we ran the ball really well in the first half. We just never got in a rhythm and so our passing numbers were down. But it wasn’t because I didn’t think we were functioning well. I think the story of the first half, we weren’t good on offense on 3rd down, we weren’t good on defense on 3rd down, didn’t feel like.
“Credit our defense. Even though they kept the ball and bled the clock, they held them to those field goals. Second half I think offense was playing lights out,” Lashlee continued. “I mean Preston was on fire. We were getting the 1-on-1s because of how we ran the ball in the first half and we were hitting them and almost scoring too quick to some degree. When we needed to, that last drive, we were able to run the football to put the game away, bleed a lot of clock, hit the fade ball.”
SMU kicks off on Saturday against Navy at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN2 looking to punch its ticket to the AAC Championship Game in just their second season with Lashlee at the helm with a win. The game will also be streaming on fuboTV.
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The Mustangs are 7-0 in conference play this season and 12-3 in AAC games under Lashlee. SMU has won 8 straight AAC games, including seven this season.
