DALLAS – Kevin Jennings threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns as ninth-ranked SMU completed its first Atlantic Coast Conference schedule with a penalty-plagued 38-6 victory over California on Saturday.

The Mustangs (11-1, 8-0, No. 9 CFP) were already fixated on next week’s championship game in their ACC debut before closing the regular season with their 17th straight win in league play. They won their last nine American Athletic Conference games dating back to 2022 before moving into the power conference this year.

Brashard Smith had 68 yards rushing on 16 carries, 66 yards on three receptions and scored twice, while SMU overcame a season-high 17 penalties for 137 yards.

SMU plays No. 12 Clemson next Saturday night for the ACC title and a spot in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. No. 8 Miami would have been in the ACC Championship Game with a win, but lost 42-38 at Syracuse, opening the door for Clemson.

The Mustangs took control early with touchdowns on three consecutive drives. They took a 21-0 lead on Derrick McFall’s 8-yard TD run with 13:02 left in the first half, when they had 234 total yards – and just 34 from then until the start of the fourth quarter.

Cal (6-6, 2-6), also in its first ACC season, played without sophomore quarterback Fernando Mendoza, a 3,000-yard passer this season, who was sidelined due to illness.

The Golden Bears’ first five losses were by an average of 3.4 points. They started 0-4 in ACC play and lost those games by a total of nine points.

Jennings escaped trouble, spun, rolled left and threw on the run to hit tight end Matthew Hibner in the front left corner of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown. Smith, whose 32-yard catch contributed to the first touchdown, then ran 5 yards for a score. Smith had a 23-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter.

Chandler Rogers started in place of Mendoza and was 8 of 15 passing for 84 yards before CJ Harris took over in the third quarter. Rogers threw for 3,389 yards and 29 TDs last season at North Texas after starting two seasons at Louisiana-Monroe, but had thrown just 10 passes for Cal before Saturday.

The takeaway food

California: The Bears’ offense was certainly out of sync without Mendoza, and leading rusher Jaivian Thomas and starting left tackle Nick Morrow also didn’t play. They only had 254 total yards. They trailed 21-0 and had 0 total yards before Rogers scored on a 37-yard completion. That was the same drive they had on first-and-goal from the third down before losing yards on two plays and wasting two penalties – and then missing two field goal attempts, one of which was negated by a penalty was made.

SMU: An incredible first season in the ACC for the Mustangs, the ninth team since 2011 to make the move from a Group of Five to a power conference. None of the previous eight players started better than 1-1 in their conference debut, and only Louisville had finished with a winning record, going 5-3 in the ACC in 2014 after moving from the AAC.

Impact on the survey

The Mustangs entered the game with their first top-10 AP ranking since reaching No. 3 in 1985. They also finished ninth in the College Football Playoff rankings, their highest finish in the poll that began in 2014. They are expected to rise in both polls after Miami’s loss.

Next

Cal, one of the 13 bowl-eligible ACC teams, will have to wait for bowl selection to see if it plays another game this season.

SMU plays in the ACC Championship game on December 7th in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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