The 2021 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 , ...

during the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Mustangs played their home games at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in

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 ...

, competed as members of 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) ...

(AAC). The Mustangs were led by fourth-year coach

Sonny Dykes Daniel "Sonny" Dykes (born November 9, 1969) is an American football coach, and a former college baseball player. He is currently the head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU), and previously served in the same role at Southern Meth ...

—on November 29, it was announced that Dykes would leave the program to become the head coach at TCU. He finished at SMU with an overall record of 30–18. After finishing their regular season with an 8–4 record, the Mustangs accepted a bid to play in the

Fenway Bowl The Fenway Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. Organized by ESPN Events and Fenway Sports Management, it features teams from the American Athletic Confe ...

, where they were due to face the Virginia Cavaliers. On December 26, the Cavaliers withdrew from the game, due to COVID-19 issues; the bowl was subsequently canceled.

Previous season

The Mustangs finished the 2020 season 7–3 and 4–3 in The American play to finish in fifth place in the conference. The Mustangs accepted an invitation to the

Frisco Bowl The Frisco Bowl is an annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sanctioned post-season Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football bowl game played in Frisco, Texas, since December 2017. The bowl has a tie-in with t ...

, where they were slated to play the

UTSA Roadrunners The UTSA Roadrunners is a collegiate athletic program that represents the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). The UTSA Roadrunners are also commonly referred to as "UTSA", "Roadrunners", "Runners", “The Meep Meeps”, or simply “The B ...

. However, the bowl was subsequently canceled, due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

concerns within the SMU football program.

Preseason

Media poll

The American Athletic Conference preseason media poll was released at the virtual media day held August 4, 2021.

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, who finished the 2020 season ranked No. 8 nationally, was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the 2021 preseason media poll.

Schedule

Personnel

Depth chart

Game summaries

Abilene Christian

North Texas

At Louisiana Tech

At TCU

South Florida

At Navy

Tulane

At Houston

At Memphis

UCF

At No. 5 Cincinnati

Tulsa

Rankings

Weekly awards

*The American offensive player of the week :

Tanner Mordecai Tanner Mordecai (born November 8, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Wisconsin Badgers. High school career Mordecai attended Midway High School in Waco, Texas. During his career he passed for 4,797 yards and 51 touchdowns. He commi ...

(week 1 vs. Abilene Christian) :Tanner Mordecai (week 3 vs. Louisiana Tech) :Tanner Mordecai (week 8 vs. Tulane) :Tanner Mordecai (week 11 vs. UCF) *The American special teams player of the week :Bryan Massey (week 5 vs. Navy)

References

{{SMU Mustangs football navbox SMU SMU Mustangs football 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 ...