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DALLAS (AP) -- Kevin Jennings threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns, Brashard Smith ran for 120 yards with a score and 14th-ranked SMU moved closer to making the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game in its league debut with a 38-28 victory over Boston College on Saturday.

Jennings was 24-of-35 passing and his 38-yard TD to Jordan Hudson, who caught the ball in stride behind the secondary inside the 5, put the Mustangs (9-1, 6-0 ACC) ahead to stay with 8:52 left in the third quarter as they won their seventh game in a row. Smith's run for the 2-point conversion made it 28-21.

SMU is the only of the 17 ACC teams without a league loss, while No. 12 Miami and No. 17 Clemson both have one. The ACC champion is guaranteed a spot in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.

"I think you saw tonight how (the players) are handling it. There's a lot of pressure, more probably put on by themselves, and they just want to win, they want it," second-year coach Rhett Lashlee said. "When the game was the tightest tonight, we played our best. And so I think that's the best evidence I can tell you for how they're handling it."

Boston College (5-5, 2-4) had opened the second half with an eight-play, 83-yard drive capped by new starting quarterback Grayson James' 20-yard TD run for a 21-20 lead. The FIU transfer, who completed 18 of 32 passes for 237 yards, also had two 19-yard completions to Reed Harris on that drive.

Smith became the 12th SMU player with a 1,000-yard rushing season. His 4-yard TD run before halftime came a play after he drew a pass interference penalty near the goal line on third down and ended a 92-yard drive.

Collin Rogers made three field goals for SMU after missing wide left on a 24-yard kick the opening drive of the game. His 41-yarder on the last play of the first half gave SMU a 20-14 lead after an exchange of interceptions.

James had a 13-yard TD pass to Kamari Morales with 1:03 left in the first half, ending a drive when he had a 32-yard completion on third-and-20, and a 19-yarder on fourth down. But two plays after the Eagles got the ball back, when Carter Davis had an interception with a 26-yard return plus a 15-yard penalty to the SMU 15, James was picked off in the end zone by Isaiah Nwokobia.

"I think it was gritty, because we responded when we needed to," Lashlee said.

First-year Boston College coach Bill O'Brien's decision earlier in the week to start James prompted second-year starter Thomas Castellanos to leave the team. Castellanos had two fourth-quarter TD runs last December when the Eagles won 23-14 in the Fenway Bowl to snap SMU's nine-game winning streak.

James is from nearby Duncanville,Texas, and had more than 30 tickets for family and friends.

"Tough not coming out on the winning side ... that dims the mood a little bit," James said.

"I'm very proud of Grayson, stepping into that situation," O'Brien said. "Grayson did a good job. We just didn't do enough."

For SMU - no other team moving up to one of the power conference had ever started 2-0, much less 6-0. The Mustangs have won 17 of their last 18 regular-season games and have won a school-record 15 consecutive conference games, including their last nine in the American Athletic Conference to win that league last year.

SMU was coming off an open date last week when it dropped a spot in the AP Top 25 from 13th, which was their highest ranking since being third in 1985. Idle No. 12 Miami is the only ACC team ahead of the Mustangs in the poll.

Boston College finishes the regular season with two home games, the the first against North Carolina next Saturday.

SMU plays its regular-season road finale at Virginia on Saturday.
 

• [14/13] SMU 38, Boston College 28
• SMU (9-1, 6-0 ACC), BC (5-5, 2-4 ACC)
• Gerald J. Ford Stadium – Dallas, Texas

• At Virginia – Saturday, November 23 – 12pm ET/11am CT – Scott Stadium – Charlottesville, Virginia
• TV: ESPN2
• Radio: KTCK 96.7 FM/1310 AM | SMU Mobile App / The Varsity Network

• SMU had a sellout crowd of 34,438
  • This is the third straight sellout
  • 4 of the top 11 crowds at Ford Stadium are this season (opened in 2000)
•  SMU has set a new Ford Stadium SEASON ATTENDANCE RECORD of 195,385 through 6 games (was 164,602 in 2010 – 7 games)

• The same plane that led the D-Day invasion on the beaches of Normandy in France was part of the flyover at Ford Stadium on Saturday. Info on the C-47 and Commemorative Air Force HERE. Watch the story about the aircraft HERE.
• https://x.com/SMUFB/status/1857886698107187488
• Photos (Courtesy SMU Athletics): https://tinyurl.com/26hvt2qt

• The coin toss was done by 24-time ATP champion John Isner. During his professional tennis career, he accumulated 16 ATP singles titles and was ranked as high as No. 8 in the world. He also captured eight doubles titles and was rated as high as No. 14. In singles, Isner was a Wimbledon semifinalist, a US Open quarterfinalist and is considered one of the best servers to ever play with an ATP-record 14,470 aces. Isner lives in Dallas and supports the community through the Isner Family Foundation.
  • https://x.com/SMUMustangs/status/1857890454747894125
  • Photos (Courtesy SMU Athletics): https://tinyurl.com/2d4cckey

• Captains: Brandon Crossley (#1, CB, Gr.), Roderick Daniels Jr. (#13, WR, Sr.), Jonathan McGill (#2, S, Gr.), Justin Osborne (#51, OL, Gr.)
• Finishing Plays – SMU had back-to-back sacks on Boston College's next-to-last possession with less than 2 minutes left
  • Kobe Wilson (3^rd down) & Jahfari Harvey (4^th down) - SMU held BC to 3-6 on 4^th downs
  • SMU converted into a TD with 8 seconds left (Key'Shawn Smith 5-yard reception from Kevin Jennings)
•  15 straight conference wins extends the SMU RECORD (previously 11 – last 4 of 1981 and first 7 of 1982)
• This is the first time SMU has started at least 6-0 in conference play in back-to-back seasons
• SMU is 9-1
  • Best start since 2019 (9-1)
  • SMU is 27-10 under Rhett Lashlee
  • SMU is 19-3 in conference games under Rhett Lashlee
  • SMU is 17-1 in last 18 regular-season games
  • SMU is 13-1 in last 14 home games
• SMU is 24-1 under Rhett Lashlee when scoring at least 30 points
• SMU had 438 yards of total offense (298 passing, 140 rushing)
  • At least 438 yards in every ACC game
• SMU was 5-6 in the red zone (36-43 on the season)
• Kevin Jennings (#7, QB, So.) – Davey O'Brien Award Semifinalist
  • Was 24-35 passing for 298 yards with 3 TDs (5^th game this season with multiple passing TDs)
  • Has at least 250 passing yards in every ACC game this season
  • Passing TDs to: Roderick Daniels Jr., Jordan Hudson, Key'Shawn Smith
• Brashard Smith (#1, RB, Sr.) – Jet Award Watch List
  • 18-120 rushing with a TDs
    • 100-yard rushing game of the season
  • all-purpose yards (120 rushing, 13 receiving, 30 kickoff return)
  • 1,026 rushing yards ranks 18^th in a season at SMU
  • all-purpose yards this season (147.0 per game)
    • ranks 12^th in a season at SMU
  • 100+ all-purpose yards in 9 of 10 games this season (14^th career game with 100+)
• Kobe Wilson had a career-high 16 tackles, including a sack on the Boston College's 3^rd-down with 1:19 left
• SMU had 1 takeaways (1 interception - Isaiah Nwokobia had his 3^rd of season, 9^th of career)
  • takeaways this season
  • Also stopped BC on three 4^th-down attempts (3-6)
• The SMU defense held Boston College to 0 points off a turnover
  • SMU has allowed just 17 points off 17 turnovers this season
• SMU had 3 sacks and 5 QB hurries
  • Sacks: Jahfari Harvey, Mike Lockhart, Kobe Wilson
• ESPN Network Highlights
  • Roderick Daniels Jr. 15-yard receiving TD from Kevin Jennings https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/42429893
  • Brashard Smith 4-yard rushing TD https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/42430572
  • Isaiah Nwokobia interception https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/42431002
  • Jordan Hudson 38-yard receiving TD from Kevin Jennings https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/42431640
• SMU Highlights and Head Coach Rhett Lashlee postgame radio | SMU Radio Network on KTCK "The Ticket" 96.7 FM, 1310 AM (Rich Phillips & Scott Garner)
  • https://tinyurl.com/24tully2
  • Rhett Lashlee postgame https://tinyurl.com/25onvb68

• Justin Osborne (#51, OL, Gr.) – Outland Trophy Watch List, Rimington Trophy Watch List
  • Has played 55 games at SMU with 52 starts
  • Tied for 6^th in career games at SMU 

• Collin Rogers (#41, K, Jr.)
  • 12 points (3-3 PATs, 3-4 FGs)
    • Extends SMU CAREER SCORING RECORD – now at 329
    • 97 points this season ranks 9^th at SMU
  • 3-3 on PATs
    • Extends SMU CAREER PAT RECORD to 164 (164-165)
    • 40 PATs this season ranks T-11^th at SMU
  • 3-4 on FGs (made 35, 41, 37, miss 24)
    • Extends SMU CAREER FG RECORD to 55
    • 19 FGs this season ranks 2^nd at SMU (record is 20 by Rogers in 2023)

• Brashard Smith (#1, RB, Sr.) – Jet Award Watch List
  • 18-120 rushing with a TDs
    • 100-yard rushing game of the season
  • all-purpose yards (120 rushing, 13 receiving, 30 kickoff return)
  • 1,026 rushing yards ranks 18^th in a season at SMU
  • all-purpose yards this season (147.0 per game)
    • ranks 12^th in a season at SMU
  • 100+ all-purpose yards in 9 of 10 games this season (14^th career game with 100+)

• Roderick Daniels Jr. (#13, WR, Sr.)
  • 4-79 receiving with a TD
    • Has 2 receiving TDs this season and 10 in his career
• Jordan Hudson (#8, WR, Jr.)
  • Career highs of 7 receptions and 99 receiving yards with a TD
• Jonathan McGill (#2, S, Gr.) – Allstate AFCA Good Works Team Nominee, Allstate Wuerffel Trophy Watch List
  • Had 2 tackles
• Isaiah Nwokobia (#23, S, Jr.)
  • Had interception (3^rd of the season, 9^th of career)
  • Had 9 tackles
• Logan Parr (#71, OL, Gr.) – Lombardi Award Watch List
  • consecutive starts
• Elijah Roberts (#5, DE, Sr.) - Bednarik Award Watch List
• Key'Shawn Smith (#9, WR, Sr.)
  • Was 5-61 receiving with a TD
  • Season-high 5 receptions
• Kobe Wilson (#24, LB, Gr.)
  • Career-high 16 tackles
  • Had 1 sack and a pass breakup
• Ahmad Walker (#34, LB, Sr.)
  • Had 9 tackles (one off career high)
  • Also had a QB hurry and a pass breakup 

• SMU had 38 points