No. 17 BYU's Win at SMU Continues to Look Better and Better

Casey Lundquist | Oct 5, 2024

BYU RB Miles Davis vs SMU / BYU Photo

In week two, BYU traveled to Dallas and took down SMU 18-15 in a defensive battle. Coming off a 5-7 season in 2023, it was a critical win for BYU who was trying to get back to bowl eligibility. It was viewed as a good win at the time, but fast forward to today and BYU's win over SMU looks more and more impressive.

On Saturday, SMU traveled to Louisville and took down no. 22 Louisville 34-27. With the win, SMU improved to 5-1 and will likely be knocking on the door of the AP poll come Sunday.

BYU's defense, in particular, looks really impressive in hindisight. In all other games this season, SMU's offense has averaged 46 points per game. In the game against BYU, the BYU defense kept SMU out of the endzone and limited SMU to 15 points.

According to ESPN, SMU has a 30% chance to make the College Football Playoff after the win over Louisville. The schedule sets up nicely for the Mustangs from here on out:

• at Stanford
• at Duke
• vs Pitt
• vs Boston College
• at Virginia
• vs Cal

According to ESPN FPI, SMU's expected record in those final six games is 4.4-1.6. They will be favored in every game. There is a legitimate chance that SMU could end up in the ACC Championship Game.

Meanwhile, BYU now has two wins over teams with legitimate chances to make it to the College Football Playoff. SMU has a 30% chance as mentioned, and Kansas State has a 17% chance to make the College Football Playoff.

5-0 starts are rare in BYU history. This is the 100th season of BYU football and only the 8th time BYU has started 5-0. This 5-0 start includes two really, really impressive wins. That's why BYU ranks second nationally in terms of strength of record behind only Alabama. If BYU is in contention for an at-large playoff bid at the end of the season, the win over SMU will be very important.