SMU vs. Houston Christian game preview, predictions

After surviving a scare in Nevada last week the SMU football team returns to an updated Ford Stadium for Saturday’s 7 p.m. home opener against Houston Christian.

The Mustangs outscored Nevada 16-0 in the fourth quarter to come back and claim victory. It was the sixth-straight win to open a season and SMU will now go for a win in its sixth-straight home opener. SMU is 10-2 at home under head coach Rhett Lashlee and has won eight-straight home games, including 6-0 last year.

The Mustangs won the only other meeting between the two teams 63-27 back in 2018.

SMU Trends

The Mustangs played both starting quarterback Preston Stone and backup Kevin Jennings against the Wolf Pack. Stone played the first two drives and Jennings the next two before Stone returned and finished the game. Expect to see both have predetermined series again this week as well as a game that could provide extended time for Jennings and a first look this season at Keldric Luster. RJ Maryland is coming off a career performance, catching eight passes for 162 yards and the game-winning touchdown. He was named the ACC Receiver of the Week.

Brashard Smith rushed for 67 yards on 11 carries, averaging 6.1 yards per carry, and a touchdown in his SMU debut. LJ Johnson scored a touchdown and added a two-point conversion.

SMU was flagged for 11 penalties and 125 yards, five of those led to Nevada first downs. The Mustangs only allowed seven points in the second half and none in the third quarter. Isaiah Nwokobia led with a career-high 13 tackles and Isaiah Smith added a sack.

HCU Trends

The Huskies will take the field for the first time with Jason Batchel as head coach. Batchel spent last season as the HCU offensive coordinator following three seasons as the head coach of Division III Howard Payne.

HCU is coming off its best season since the program began in 2014. Who the Huskies start at quarterback is still somewhat a mystery. CJ Rogers won a state title at Argyle with Batchel as his offensive coordinator before spending a year at Baylor and two at Texas State. Meanwhile, redshirt freshman Cutter Stewart impressed following his prolific high school career. Former Mustang Calvin Wiggins is listed as a starter at wide receiver.

Houston Christian had three played named preseason All-Southland Conference including senior kicker Dillon Fedor to the first team and offensive lineman Dion Daniels and defensive tackle Zae Smith to the second team.

Quotable

“It doesn’t matter what level of ball you’re coaching. I mean, the high school coaches in Texas are better than half the college coaches in the country, they just need the opportunity. Those guys have done a great job everywhere they’ve been and that’s why they’re continuing to move up and I think that’s why Houston Christian is going to be a really good program. I think they’re going to compete really well in their league this year and into the future. I think you’ll continue to see both those guys continue to rise. But you can tell the guy can coach. You look at his history, he’s won everywhere he’s been whether it be high school and other colleges. But it is cool, Texas coaches doing well. Other than when we’ve got to play them, like this, we’re always pulling for our teams in the state.” — SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee on new HCU head coach Jason Batchel and defensive coordinator Zach Wilkinson

“Well, we need to win. That’s all we’re worried about. Last week, probably, teaches everybody that. And we need to play four good quarters of football. First game of the season, they’re always crazy and weird. They just are. Sometimes it goes the way you want, like it has for us the last two years. Sometimes it goes like it did Saturday night, but we won. Now we have to start to see that consistency of performance. We did play some guys in some different spots. In some places we feel like that’s best. In some places, we’re going to move some guys around. I do think we feel like, on both sides of the ball, now that we’ve had summer, fall camp and an actual game in an adverse situation, we know one, how our team will respond. We just don’t need to put ourselves in those positions anymore than we have to. And two, I think we know where all the pieces need to go not only this week, but over the coming weeks. It’s the best fit for our team whether it be O-line, wide out, D-line, DB. I just want to see us play harder and start better. Last year we were a great first quarter team. The other night we were a terrible first quarter team. So hopefully we can start faster and continue to finish the way we did.” — SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee

SMU must …

Come out and start better than it did a week ago. For whatever reason, the Mustangs weren’t sharp to start the game. They showed more of what this team is capable of in the fourth quarter. The Mustangs hope that will carry over to the start of this one. The other issue was penalties. SMU will have to play a much cleaner game and not allow drives to continues through penalties.

HCU must …

Come out ready to play. Nevada did a good job of getting after SMU early and taking the Mustangs out of their game. Batchel will need to have his offense ready to go and Wilkinson, the new DC, will try to keep the offense out of sync. It’s a big ask, but the Huskies will have to play a near perfect game in the season opener with a new coaching staff.

Predictions

Billy Embody: SMU’s coming off a rough showing against Nevada. But the team came together in the second half to shut down Nevada and score 16 in the fourth quarter to grab the win. The Mustangs took a punch in the mouth and want to show it was a fluke. They’ll have opportunities to show that in the coming weeks. This week is about getting back on track, staying healthy and cruising to victory. I expect the tweaks offensively to show some improvement this week. Defensively, SMU should be able to push around the Huskies. SMU 53, HCU 6.

Kevin Lonnquist: I’m not going to get too knee-jerk about what I saw and didn’t see Saturday at Nevada. Yep, it was terrible for three quarters but then it was really good for the final quarter when it counted. What I hope to see in this one is better execution and better organization. The personnel decisions will sort themselves out. This game allows the coaching staff to do a bit of everything. Houston Christian will push for a little bit however SMU will have more than enough. SMU 54, HCU 10

Dean Ralsky: SMU got off to a very slow start last week in Reno and didn’t get into a rhythm until the fourth quarter, which was unlike the Mustangs from last year. SMU was one of the best first quarter teams in the country last year, so I expect them to start strong this week and build a lead throughout the game. The Mustangs should feel comfortable and gain confidence in this one as they look to play at a higher level on Saturday. SMU 48, HCU 7

Hayden Howerton: SMU is clearly the more talented, better coached team. SMU will need to come out with a high level of activation and focus, regardless of the opponent. Activation and focus typically varies from team to team due to competition level. This is the easiest game on their schedule, so they need to take advantage of it and play with a high level of execution. The flip side of that is that HCU is an FCS program on the rise. They are coming off their first winning season in program history and this is the biggest game on their schedule for this year. FCS Montana State pulled the upset over FBS New Mexico last week, but I see the Mustangs taking care of business in the home opener on Saturday night. 

I do think if SMU gets up big, they rest the starters to prepare for the short week next week, which is why I only have them scoring 56. But the key to this season is going to be playing one week at a time and you cannot look ahead with this schedule because every team will be good from here on out. SMU 56, HCU 7