The 2023 SMU Mustangs football team represented

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

in the

2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season is the 154th season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). ...

. The Mustangs played their home games at

Gerald J. Ford Stadium Gerald J. Ford Stadium is a stadium in University Park, Texas, with a Dallas mailing address. The stadium is owned by Southern Methodist University (SMU) and used primarily for games played by the SMU Mustangs football team. About Ford Stadiu ...

University Park, Texas University Park is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States of America, in suburban Dallas. The population was 23,068 at the 2010 census. The city is home to Southern Methodist University. University Park is bordered on the north, east and we ...

, a separate city within the city limits of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, and competed in the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

(The American). They were led by second-year head coach

Rhett Lashlee Rhett Lashlee (born June 9, 1983) is an American college football coach who is the head coach at SMU Mustangs football, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He previously served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at t ...

. For the first time since 2019, the Mustanges won six conference games. The Mustangs finished the regular season going 8–0 in conference play to qualify for the AAC Championship Game, for the Mustangs' first appearance in a conference championship game since the 2010 CUSA Championship Game. SMU defeated Tulane 26–14 in the title game for the program's first conference title since

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

when the Mustangs won a share of the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

title. After defeating Tulane, SMU accepted a bid to compete in the 2023 Fenway Bowl against

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

. In the final CFP rankings, SMU fell one spot behind undefeated

C-USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, an ...

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Liberty i ...

, narrowly missing the opportunity to play in the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

against

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

on New Year's Day. This was SMU's final season in the American before they moved to the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

in 2024.

Preseason

Media poll

The American Athletic Conference preseason poll was released on July 25. The Mustangs were predicted to finish third in the conference.

Schedule

SMU and the

(AAC) announced the 2023 football schedule on February 21, 2023. The Mustangs' regular season schedule consists of six home games and six away games. SMU will play three of the six new conference members, hosting

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

and

North Texas North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas) is a term used primarily by residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas to describe much of the north central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. Residents of the Dallas–Fort Wor ...

and will travel to

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

. Additionally, SMU will host AAC foes

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

and

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

and travel to

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

, and

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

. For non-conference play, SMU will host

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

from

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

and FCS

Prairie View A&M Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a public historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two land-grant universities and the second oldest public institution of higher learning ...

from the

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United States. It participates in t ...

and travel to

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

and

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

, both from the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

Rankings

Personnel

Game summaries

Louisiana Tech

SMU opened the season by defeating Louisiana Tech 38–14. The previous day, SMU had announced that it would join the

starting in the 2024 season.

At No. 18 Oklahoma

During the 2022 season, SMU signed a contract with the University of Oklahoma to play a two game series non-conference series, which would consist of one home game for each team in the 2023 and 2027 series. The

Sooners Sooners is the name given to settlers who entered the Unassigned Lands in what is now the state of Oklahoma before the official start of the Land Rush of 1889. The Unassigned Lands were a part of Indian Territory that, after a lobbying campaign, ...

defeated SMU 28–11 in Norman.

Prairie View A&M

At TCU

Prior to the start of the 2023 season, TCU announced it was indefinitely suspending the

Battle for the Iron Skillet A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

after the 2025 season. TCU defeated SMU 34–17.

Charlotte

SMU defeated Charlotte 34–16. Former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

attended the game and participated in the coin toss.

At East Carolina

At Temple

Tulsa

SMU defeated Tulsa 69–10, attaining

bowl eligibility Bowl eligibility in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level is the standard through which teams become available for selection to participate in postseason bowl games. When a team achieves this state, it is described as "bowl-eligible". ...

. They scored over 50 points in the first half, doing so for the first time since their 77–63 victory over

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

the previous season.

At Rice

SMU defeated Rice 36–31, winning the Mayor's Cup. SMU quarterback Preston Stone and Rice quarterback

JT Daniels JT may refer to: Arts and media * ''Jakobstads Tidning'', a Finland-Swedish newspaper * Jimma Times, owner of the Ethiopian newspaper ''Yeroo'' * ''Jornal da Tarde'', a Brazilian newspaper from São Paulo * ''JT'' (album), 1977 album by James Ta ...

both suffered from concussions during the game. Stone's concussion put his start against UNT the next week into question, while Daniels did not play again for the rest of the season, announcing his retirement after its conclusion.

North Texas

Quarterback Stone cleared concussion protocol prior to the game against UNT, allowing him to lead the team to a 45–21 victory in the

Safeway Bowl The Safeway Bowl is the name given to the North Texas–SMU football rivalry. It is a college football rivalry game between the Southern Methodist University Mustangs football team and the University of North Texas Mean Green football team, ...

At Memphis

Both SMU and Memphis were undefeated in conference play prior to the game, meaning the loser would likely be eliminated from contention to play in the conference championship. SMU defeated Memphis 38–34.

Navy

SMU defeated Navy 59–14 to win the

Gansz Trophy The Gansz Trophy is awarded to the winner of the United States Naval Academy and Southern Methodist University rivalry football game. It was created in 2009 through a collaboration between the two athletic departments.field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

s. Near the end of the fourth quarter, safety Isaiah Nwokobia intercepted the ball to seal SMU's 26–14 victory over Tulane, winning SMU its first conference championship since 1984. After the game, Nwokobia was awarded the Most Outstanding Player award, becoming the first defensive player to win such an award in an AAC title game.

Vs. Boston College (Fenway Bowl)

References

{{American Athletic Conference football champions SMU SMU Mustangs football seasons American Athletic Conference football champion seasons

SMU Mustangs football The SMU Mustangs football program is a college football team representing Southern Methodist University (SMU) in University Park in Dallas County, Texas. The team competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the American ...