Even though the SMU offense scored at least 30 points for the sixth time in seven ACC games this season, it wasn't necessary as the defense was dominant in Saturday's 33-7 victory at Virginia.

The Mustangs finished the game with nine sacks, 12 tackles for loss, three pass breakups, two quarterback hurries and a forced fumble. 

"Our defense was just unbelievable today," SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee said after the game. "... They were 3-of-15 on third down. Did a really good job stopping the run, again, 65 yards allowed us to really control the game. If we don't turn the ball over late, I think they'd have had a special day."

Ahmad Walker led with 10 tackles, including five solo, with Kobe Wilson finishing with nine and Alexander Kilgore picking up a team-high six solo tackles as part of his eight total.

Isaiah Smith and Jared Harrison-Hunte had two sacks each, Kori Roberson Jr. finished with 1.5 and Kilgore had one of his own. So did Mike Yoan Sandjo-Njiki, who also forced a fumble on his sack.

In all, the Mustangs gave up just 173 yards of total offense, including 1.7 yards per carry and 4 yards per pass. And they still think they could be better.

"This week it was a big mission to get off on them," Smith said. "We'd seen UNC had 10 sacks, so we (knew) they get exposed. We went out there and got the job done and definitely was a lot of them left on the field still, so we've got to go and watch film and correct it."

SMU scored a touchdown on its second drive of the game, but started the game with a punt and had another punt and missed a field goal on the other three of its first four possessions.

All the defense did was force two punts, get a fourth-down stop and forced a missed field goal of its own. 

"They stopped them on a fourth-and-short, they held them to a field goal miss, they stopped them on another fourth down," Lashlee said. "Allowed us to get the lead up to where it was at the half, 17-0, probably should have been about 24."

The Mustangs closed out the first half with two more punts forced, including a three-and-out. It was a similar story in the second half, which began with two punts, a turnover on downs and another three-and-out punt.

The turnover on downs came after an interception gave Virginia the ball at the Mustangs 34. The Cavaliers finally broke through with a 4-yard touchdown pass on fourth down following a fumble that gave them the ball inside the SMU 30.

"Guy makes a great interception on Kevin on the first one, just an incredible play and they've got the ball at the 30, or whatever it was, and they keep them totally off the board," Lashlee said. "The last one, again, if we don't turn it over on the 25, I think they might have got the shutout. Really, just an incredible job by those guys. It all starts up front, we stopped the run and rushed the passer and they did that today."

The first, and only, Virginia score of the game with just 4:16 left in the game. It was the fewest points allowed to an FBS opponent since shutting Temple out 55-0 last October.

"We wanted the shutout real, real bad," Smith said. "We never want anybody to score on us. I don't really know where I'd rank this defensive performance. It was a good day for the defense, but there's still a lot more work to be done."

Part of SMU's success on defense was the return of Elijah Roberts who missed last week's game with an injury. He was back on the field, but with a cast on one arm. That didn't slow him down.

"He's effective one-handed, two-handed, 5 is always going to go every chance he gets to step on the field," Smith said of Roberts. "He's a big part of our defense and a big part of our D-line, especially when it comes to pressures. You see where he ranks in the nation, I think he's second right now and that's probably because he missed a game from his hand. Elijah's always going to come do it."

Now the Mustangs have guaranteed themselves a spot in the ACC championship game. But just like Saturday's near shutout, the SMU players and coaches aren't satisfied.

"It feels great. One of our first goals of the summer was to make it there," Smith said. "But job's not finished, not even close. We've still got work to do."