The SMU football team didn't have any time to dwell on last week's loss with No. 10 Miami coming to Ford Stadium for homecoming on Saturday.

So it didn't.

The Mustangs went right back to work to prove their loss to Wake Forest wasn't who the team is.

"It's exactly what everybody thought it was. It was that bad. But it's also one game," SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee said. "We're the same football team that the week before played really well on the road against an elite defense. It's life, you've got to learn from it. You can't dwell on it. You've got to strain and move forward. The only thing we can control is what's next. We can't go backwards. We're not going to sit around and mope. We're going to attack what's coming up."

Saturday marks the fifth time since 2010 that SMU has hosted a Top 10 opponent at Ford Stadium. But that is what was expected when the Mustangs joined the ACC last year, and they aren't shying away from the challenge.

"That's why these guys came to SMU, to play in games like this," Lashlee said. "That's why we moved to the ACC, to play in games like this. It's a great challenge. They're really good."

Miami bounced back from its disappointing 24-21 loss to Louisville with a 42-7 victory against Stanford. The Hurricanes come into the game with the No. 1 scoring defense, total defense and run defense in the ACC and are the No. 3 pass defense by 3.2 yards. 

Georgia transfer Carson Beck at quarterback leads the offense. It also includes running back Mark Fletcher has over 550 yards and nine touchdowns rushing, and the duo of CJ Daniels and Malachi Toney have combined for over 900 yards on 76 catches and nine scores.

"I think I can, probably, confidently say it's the most complete team we've played since I've been here," Lashlee said. "They're national championship good on defense. They're really, really good. And then offensively, they've got a championship-caliber quarterback and a lot of playmakers."

After watching the film from last week's game, the Mustangs put it behind them. They went to work to get back to being the team that had won three straight games to open conference play.

Quarterback Kevin Jennings knows the opportunity the Mustangs have on Saturday. They have to make sure they are ready to play from the start.

"This is an opportunity to play a good team coming in, to reset and flush everything that happened last week," Jennings said. "Playing against a great team like Miami, we can't come out flat like last week. We can't do any of that stuff. We've got to make sure we go out there and execute."

There are plenty of ties between the SMU and Miami football programs, starting with the coaching staff. Lashlee served as the Miami offensive coordinator for two seasons, and assistant coaches Garin Justice, Rob Likens and Kyle Cooper were also on that staff. D'Eriq King played for the Hurricanes.

There are current players who transferred from Miami, along with others from the past few seasons. The deepest history might be tight end RJ Maryland, whose father won a pair of national championships with the Hurricanes before being the No. 1 overall pick by the Dallas Cowboys.

Miami was the other finalist when Maryland chose to come to SMU, pushing all of that aside.

"My whole family, pretty much, went to Miami," Maryland said. "I know a lot of people from there. When our coaches were at Miami, they offered me. There's a lot of history between that. But I'm a Mustang. That's all that matters."

Maryland chose to stay in Dallas, and the team is trying to show out for its city.

"It's definitely a blessing to be a part of this," Jennings said. "We've got Miami coming in, Top 10 ranked team. It's homecoming for us, so our students are going to be there, and Dallas is going to be there for us. It's a chance to show what we did last week wasn't really who we are."

And just like the players and coaches wanted to be in games like this when the move to the ACC was announced, so did the fans.

"We need it to be a rowdy 11 a.m. kick," Lashlee said. "Again, no different than our team, this is what our fanbase asked for, so they need to show up and have our guys' back, and I know they will. Our guys are going to play extremely hard, and they're going to give everything they have to find a way to win."