SMU’s Dominance Over UVA Earns Them A Spot in the ACC Championship Game (11-23-24)
By: Xavier Jones
Headline Photo Credit: Andy Crenshaw-LMS Network
On Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, VA the Virginia Cavaliers play host to the Southern Methodist Mustangs in their final home game of the season. The Cavaliers are looking for that elusive sixth victory to guarantee them a bowl game at the end of the season, and SMU needs the win to guarantee them a spot in the ACC Championship game. However, before anything kicked off in this game, UVA would honor its seniors for Senior Day.
The Mustangs received the opening kickoff and managed to move the ball down to midfield; however, their offense stalled, and were forced to punt the ball away. UVA didn’t muster up anything themselves after receiving the punt from SMU. On the Mustang’s next drive, QB Kevin Jennings connected with Moochie Dixon on a 52-yard pass that would set them up for a 4-yard TD run by Brashard Smith. After this scoring drive by SMU, they went on to dominate the rest of the first half. The Mustangs put together two more scoring drives to take a 17-0 lead into halftime. UVA’s offense struggled to put two drives together mainly because their offensive line couldn’t block the speed and power of SMU’s defensive line. SMU’s defense managed to record 3 sacks and 5 tackles for loss in the first half. UVA also struggled on 3rd down as they went 1/8 at the half.
The struggles for the Cavaliers continued throughout the 3rd quarter. Even after UVA forced a turnover on an interception by Corey Thomas, Jr., the offense gives it right back after a turnover on downs. Going into the fourth quarter, the Mustangs held on to a 20-0 lead. Kevin Jennings would add to their lead after a 1-yard run for the TD to make the score 26-0. The Cavs’ defense got a strip sack by Kam Butler and it was recovered by Chico Bennett, Jr. After forcing the turnover, UVA would march down the field and score on a 4-yard TD reception from Anthony Colandrea to Malachi Fields to make the score 26-7. With the game pretty much out of reach, SMU would go on to score another touchdown after Jennings connected with Matthew Hibner for a 16-yard reception. The final score of the game was 33-7, and with that victory, the SMU Mustangs earned a spot in the ACC Championship game on December 7th at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC. However, there is another week of football for both teams as the Virginia Cavaliers travel to Blacksburg, VA to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies, and SMU hosts California in their final home game of the season.
Key stats from this game were pretty much one-sided in favor of the SMU Mustangs. They were perfect in the red zone going 6/6 while UVA was 1/3. The Mustangs’ defense got 9 sacks and 12 tackles for loss while going 8/14 on 3rd down and UVA going 3/15 on 3rd down.
