Tag: SMU

SMU draft prospects for Packers fans to watch during College Football Playoff

A few draft prospects from SMU for Packers fans to watch during the College Football Playoff.

The last time the Green Bay Packers drafted a player out of Southern Methodist University was 1982 when they selected kicker Eddie Garcia with the 264th overall pick. 

Two prospects could be on Green Bay’s radar to end that streak. Let’s take a look at them before SMU takes on Penn State in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT

Brashard Smith, RB

Josh Jacobs could go down as the best offensive free agent signing in franchise history. The former Alabama running back has been a workhorse for the Packers and at 26 years old, he figures to handle the majority of carries in Green Bay for the foreseeable future.

With Jacobs, MarShawn Lloyd and Chris Brooks all under contract beyond this season, it’s safe to assume the Packers won’t use a premium pick on the running back position. That shifts our focus to Day 3 targets. That’s where Smith enters into the conversation.

A converted wide receiver, Smith has rushed for 1,270 yards and 14 touchdowns during his first season at running back. The Miami transfer has also hauled in 35 receptions for 303 yards and four touchdowns.

Smith is a fluid athlete who can string together moves to weave through traffic. As a former wide receiver, he can track the ball away from his body and catch and go without throttling down. 

The SMU running back brings special teams value as a returner. At Miami in 2023, Smith led the ACC in kick return yards (579) and average (29). 

Elijah Roberts, Edge

Roberts looks good off the bus. Standing at nearly 6-4 and 275 pounds, Roberts has an ideal frame. Since transferring from Miami in 2023, Roberts has recorded 15.5 sacks and 128 pressures. Roberts rushes with power and drives through offensive linemen to disrupt the action. 

How to buy No. 6 Penn State vs No. 11 SMU College Football Playoff tickets

Whether you’re a fan of Penn State, SMU, or just college football, get your College Football Playoff tickets now.

The Penn State Nittany Lions and SMU Mustangs are headed to the 2024-25 College Football Playoff.

The Nittany Lions were selected to be the No. 6 seed and will host the No. 11 seeded Mustangs on Saturday, Dec. 21 at noon EST.

Tickets for the game are already available. At the time of publication, the cheapest available tickets for the College Football Playoff first-round matchup between Penn State and SMU cost $158.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Penn State vs SMU CFP tickets” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/8jygQBN/”]

Both these teams are looking to rebound from difficult conference championship losses. Penn State fell 45-37 to Oregon, while SMU lost on a last-second 55-yard field goal against Clemson.

Get your Penn State vs SMU College Football Playoff tickets now before they sell out.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Penn State vs SMU CFP tickets” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/8jygQBN/”]

How to buy No. 6 Penn State vs No. 11 SMU College Football Playoff tickets

Whether you’re a fan of Penn State, SMU, or just college football, get your College Football Playoff tickets now.

The Penn State Nittany Lions and SMU Mustangs are headed to the 2024-25 College Football Playoff.

The Nittany Lions were selected to be the No. 6 seed and will host the No. 11 seeded Mustangs on Saturday, Dec. 21 at noon EST.

Tickets for the game are already available. At the time of publication, the cheapest available tickets for the College Football Playoff first-round matchup between Penn State and SMU cost $158.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Penn State vs SMU CFP tickets” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/8jygQBN/”]

Both these teams are looking to rebound from difficult conference championship losses. Penn State fell 45-37 to Oregon, while SMU lost on a last-second 55-yard field goal against Clemson.

Get your Penn State vs SMU College Football Playoff tickets now before they sell out.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop Penn State vs SMU CFP tickets” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/8jygQBN/”]

Wisconsin kept Alabama out of the College Football Playoff

Wisconsin kept Alabama out of the College Football Playoff

The Wisconsin Badgers are to thank for the Alabama Crimson Tide missing the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Imagine reading that sentence back in August before the season began. The likely reason for that reality, if projecting forward, would have been Wisconsin notching a signature win over Alabama when the Crimson Tide visited Madison.

Related: Major takeaways from Wisconsin hiring Kansas’ Jeff Grimes as its new offensive coordinator

Nope, that did not happen. Alabama dominated Wisconsin 42-10 in the Week 3 meeting. The Badgers lost starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke on the opening drive to a season-ending injury. The team showed some fight, holding the score within 11 points in the minutes approaching halftime. But the Crimson Tide struck quickly for an end-of-half score to broaden its lead to 21-3, then added another seven points to start the third quarter to break the game open.

At the time, it was a strong win for the Crimson Tide. A road nonconference win against a strong Big Ten program usually would be a resume-booster.

But in this case, Wisconsin’s end-of-season five-game losing streak and final 5-7 record took the shine away from Alabama’s win. It made the win mostly unimpressive, which proved to be a significant factor when the CFP committee held the Crimson Tide out of the 12-team field in favor of an 11-2 SMU team.

The Crimson Tide and Mustangs were the final two teams in contention for the last at-large bid. SMU is 11-2 with a ACC title game loss to Clemson, while Alabama is 9-3 with losses to Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

Many believe that the committee’s precedent of adding Alabama over an undefeated ACC champion Florida State in 2023 would lead to them favoring the Crimson Tide again this season.

Whether they should have or not, Alabama’s resume was deemed less impressive than SMU’s. Connecting the dots, that win over Wisconsin could have been the difference, had the Badgers gone on to finish 8-4 or 9-3. Instead, the Badgers missed a bowl game, and held Alabama out of the playoff.

Wisconsin and Alabama will meet in Tuscaloosa in 2025.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion.

The ‘doomsday scenario’ that could knock Alabama football out of the CFP

Entering championship weekend, there’s one game that could give Alabama fans cause for concern.

The Alabama Crimson Tide look to be in a good spot to make the 12-team College Football Playoff entering championship weekend.

Alabama was ranked No. 11 in the updated CFP rankings, released Tuesday night. As of the committee’s penultimate rankings, Kalen DeBoer’s team has the final at-large playoff berth after beating the Auburn Tigers 28-14 in last Saturday’s Iron Bowl, and after the Miami Hurricanes fell 42-38 in an upset loss at Syracuse.

But one question seems to be lingering: what happens to Alabama if Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers knock off the SMU Mustangs in the ACC title game Saturday night in Charlotte?

Currently, SMU is the projected ACC champion and No. 3 seed in the committee’s bracket. The Mustangs are No. 8 in the current CFP rankings. But if SMU loses to Cade Klubnik and a Tigers offense that has shown flashes of explosiveness this season, and the debate comes down to a three-loss Alabama team vs. a two-loss SMU team, who would get the nod by the selection committee?

USA TODAY Sports columnist Paul Myerberg called a Clemson win over SMU a “doomsday scenario” for the selection committee. It’s also the only scenario, Myerberg says, that could keep Jalen Milroe and the Crimson Tide from reaching the playoff.

Myerberg explains:

“The Mustangs argument rests on just two losses, both to ranked teams; a nine-game winning streak featuring six wins against bowl teams; only two Power Four wins decided by single digits; and being one of two Power Four teams, along with Oregon, to go unbeaten in conference play.

“Alabama’s case rests on beating Georgia, South Carolina, Missouri and LSU. Being Alabama also helps.”

RELATED: College GameDay announces location for conference championship game

Myerberg concluded that Alabama would likely get into the CFP over SMU. “While impossible to predict with any certainty, here’s guessing the 12-team committee continues a tradition set during the four-team era and gives the Crimson Tide the benefit of the doubt,” he said.

Fox Sports’ analyst Joel Klatt agrees. Klatt said on the Thursday edition of his podcast that he saw Clemson beating SMU, with Alabama holding on to the final playoff spot over the Mustangs.

“I think in a direct comparison, SMU is going to lose the argument to Alabama. I really do,” Klatt said. “That’s why I told you (earlier) in the rankings reaction that Alabama was going to be in regardless.”

There’s a chance that things go straight chalk Saturday and a debate between Alabama’s resume vs. SMU’s never comes to fruition. That would be the preferred outcome for the committee.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Alabama news and notes, plus opinions. 

Will Clemson wear home or away jerseys for ACC Championship Game vs SMU?

Clemson will likely wear this uniform combination Saturday night when they face SMU in the ACC Championship Game.

Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers are one win away from returning to the College Football Playoff as ACC champions for the first time since 2020. Standing in their way is an SMU Mustangs program in their first season in the conference.

SMU officially joined the league along with California last summer during the latest wave of conference realignment. The Ponies have made quite an impression in their first season as a league member, going 11-1 overall to reach the ACC Championship Game.

Clemson (9-3 overall, 7-1 ACC) advanced to the conference title game when the Miami Hurricanes fell 42-38 to the Syracuse Orange. The Tigers would clinch a berth in the playoff with a win over the Mustangs Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

Kickoff for Clemson vs. SMU is set for 8 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ABC, with Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy calling the action. Molly McGrath will report from the sidelines.

RELATED: SMU head coach speaks highly of Clemson, loves what he’s seen from Cade Klubnik

But what uniforms will Clemson wear for its first ACC Championship Game appearance in two years?

Well, the Tigers are the designated visiting team for Saturday’s game. Visiting teams typically wear their road white jerseys, though schools designated as the home team have the option to wear white — a “Right of First Refusal” of sorts for teams at neutral-site venues.

As a Clemson official who spoke to Clemson Wire reminded us Tuesday, the Tigers typically wear their orange pants in the ACC Championship Game regardless of home or away status.

As the designated away team, Clemson wore its white jerseys over orange pants in 2020 when the Tigers defeated Notre Dame 34-10 in the ACC title game. That was Notre Dame’s lone season as a conference member in football, a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Clemson also wore white jerseys over orange pants in the 2018 ACC title game against Pitt and in the 2016 conference championship game vs. Virginia Tech. They wore orange jerseys over orange pants in the 2019 ACC title game vs. Virginia, as well as in 2017 (vs. Miami) and 2015 (vs. North Carolina).

If the past is any indication, the Tigers will take the field Saturday night in Charlotte in their white jerseys over orange pants. If so, it will mark the first time since last year’s 38-35 Gator Bowl win over Kentucky that Clemson has worn its white jersey/orange pants uniform combination.

As of Tuesday, neither team had officially announced uniform combinations for Saturday’s game.

[lawrence-related id=31004,30996,30991]

Contact/Follow us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson news and notes, plus opinions. 

Former Notre Dame football coach Gerry Faust dies at age 89

Rest in peace, Coach.

Sad news for longtime Notre Dame football fans broke Monday. [autotag]Gerry Faust[/autotag], who coached the Irish from 1981 to 1985, has died at age 89.

Over his five seasons in South Bend, Faust accumulated a record of 30-26-1, good for a .535 winning percentage. Under his leadership, the Irish won the 1983 Liberty Bowl over Doug Flutie and Boston College. The following year, they lost the 1984 Aloha Bowl to SMU in its last game before it was handed the death penalty a few years later.

A disappointing 1985 season in which the Irish went 5-6 prompted Faust to announce that he would resign after the final game against a Miami team coached by Jimmy Johnson. The Irish lost that game, 58-7, and the university would go on to hire [autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag] as Faust’s successor.

After his Irish tenure ended, Faust went to coach at Akron, where he did so for nine seasons and compiling a 43-53-3 record. But he never lost his love for the Irish no matter how much time passed:

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Faust family during this difficult time.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89

Notre Dame football will host SMU in 2026, replacing Virginia

This time, the Mustangs won’t be fresh off the death penalty.

Notre Dame football plays five ACC opponents every season in exchange for retaining its independence. While we are told who the Irish will play well into the next decade, that opponents list can change anytime. We just got an example of that.

The ACC has announced that the Irish will host SMU during the 2026 season on a date yet to be determined. This game will replace the one against Virginia that was scheduled for Oct. 17 of that season. This will allow the Cavaliers to play the first of two games they have scheduled against West Virginia, a series that was concurrently announced.

This will be the first time the Irish and Mustangs have met since the Irish earned a crushing 59-6 victory in 1989. At that time, the Irish were the top team in the country and fresh off their most recent national championship. The Mustangs, meanwhile, were fresh off the death penalty sidelining them for two years.

The playing field should be a little more even this time. That should at least make this game more competitive.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89

Wisconsin trending toward flipping a commit from SMU’s class of 2025

Wisconsin trending toward flipping a commit from SMU’s class of 2025

Wisconsin is trending toward flipping class of 2025 cornerback Zay Gentry from SMU, according to recent predictions from On3’s Steve Wiltfong and Billy Embody.

Gentry committed to SMU on May 19. He then took official visits to Wisconsin on May 31, Baylor on June 14 and Nebraska on June 21, but remained committed to SMU through the process.

Related: Updated college football recruiting class of 2025 national rankings by blue-chip ratio

Wisconsin appears to be on the verge of flipping Gentry’s commitment after On3’s two predictions, and after the Badgers continued to pursue the talented cornerback even after his commitment to SMU. The indication is especially clear given Steve Wiltfong’s resume as a recruiting insider — first at 247Sports and now at On3.

Gentry is ranked as 247Sports’ No. 533 player in the class of 2025, No. 45 cornerback and No. 87 recruit from his home state of Texas. His potential addition to Wisconsin’s class of 2025 would bring the group to three total cornerbacks, and make it so 11 of the program’s 14 official visitors from May 31 are committed (three-star wide receiver Muizz Tounkara still undecided). The only players Wisconsin has failed to land are Gentry (so far), four-star edge Jayden Woods (Penn State), four-star cornerback Rukeem Stroud (UCF) and four-star edge Jayden Loftin (Tennessee).

Gentry would be commitment No. 23 for Wisconsin in the class of 2025. The Badgers’ group ranks No. 16 in the nation and No. 5 in the new Big Ten.

Flipping the talented cornerback from SMU could be one of Wisconsin’s last big splashed in the class as the cycle continues to wind down.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.

ACC Tournament will feature top 15 teams beginning in 2025

The Irish men will have to get better fast.

The ACC will include California, Stanford and SMU beginning with the 2024-25 season. That will bring the total number of conference members to 18. With that clearly being too high of a number for its conference basketball tournaments, the conference decided a change was needed.

Starting in 2025, only the teams that finish in the top 15 in the conference standings will be invited to the ACC Tournament. This follows a cue from a recent decision by the Big Ten, which also will be expanding next season to the point where it also only will invite the top 15 teams in the conference standings to its tournament.

While Notre Dame’s 16th-ranked women’s team is not expected to slide to the bottom of the ACC anytime soon, the men already are there in a rebuilding season. If the new rules went into effect for this season, the Irish wouldn’t be invited to the tournament.

Hopefully, with a year of experience under their belt, the young men’s Irish team will improve enough that they still will play in the 2025 ACC Tournament. There’s a long road ahead though, and there’s no guarantee of things being any better next year. Best of luck to [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] and his team in reaching this new goal.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89