Rhett Lashlee, SMU among big winners in the transfer portal

SMU is quietly having a good offseason.

We have the usual suspects when it comes to winners and losers in the transfer portal. The Alabama Crimson Tide, LSU Tigers, and the USC Trojans are usually active in the portal when it comes to talent acquisition. The Colorado Buffaloes are the outlier this season with a mass exodus like we’ve never seen before.

Outside of those teams, there is a surprise addition to the offseason transfer portal winners. The SMU Mustangs are quietly building a roster that can compete with anyone at the Group of Five level. They could probably take down several Power Five teams as well.

The team added six players coming over from the Power Five, led by former commit Jordan Hudson. The five-star WR flipped from SMU to TCU when Sonny Dykes took over as the head coach of the Frogs. He now comes to Dallas and will suit up for the high-powered SMU offense.

Max Olson of the Athletic (subscription required), highlighted the Ponies in his list of the best transfer portal classes this past offseason.

“SMU has shaken up its depth chart quite a bit entering Rhett Lashlee’s second season by landing 25 transfers,” Olson writes.” Hudson has the tools to be a big-time playmaker and help replace the production of second-round pick Rashee Rice. The top-100 recruit caught 14 passes for 174 yards and three touchdowns as a freshman and was previously committed to SMU before a late flip to TCU. Wilson was an important get for their linebacker room who should make an immediate impact, and the Mustangs were able to upgrade their depth in quite a few spots during this spring window.”

Hudson’s TCU teammate Kyron Chambers will also join SMU this offseason.  Chambers didn’t record any stats with the Frogs during their CFP run but will likely see ample playing time with the Mustangs defense. Rhett Lashlee and the staff were able to address both sides of the ball as they look to improve upon their 7-6 season.

You should circle Sept. 23 on the calendar when Hudson returns to Fort Worth to take on his old team.

Deep Dive: Look into career of new QB Tanner Mordecai

Will Tanner Mordecai be Russell Wilson 2.0 for the Badgers?

Since he took over at head coach, Luke Fickell has completely changed the culture of the Badger football team. By bringing in coordinators like Phil Longo and Mike Tressel as well, Fickell has made Wisconsin a far more intriguing option for athletes.

Longo’s “Air Raid” offense in particular has been a huge bonus in the Badgers’ favor this offseason and has helped the team reel in talent from across the country.

One player they have gotten via the transfer portal is former SMU quarterback Tanner Mordecai. Mordecai will use his final year of eligibility to join the Badgers in 2023 and he’s a current frontrunner to be their next signal caller.

Here’s how the field general’s career has stacked up on his way to Madison:

BYU 24, SMU 23 New Mexico Bowl What Happened, What It All Means

BYU 24, SMU 23: New Mexico Bowl what happened, player of the game, and what it all means

BYU beat SMU to win the New Mexico Bowl. What happened, who was the player of the game, and what does it all mean?


BYU 24, SMU 23 New Mexico Bowl What Happened, Player of the Game, What It All Means

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New Mexico Bowl What Happened

– Down 24-17, SMU got a touchdown pass from Tanner Mordecai to Jordan Kerley with eight seconds to play. SMU went for two, Mordecai chose to run, and he was stopped well short. The onside kick attempt went out of bounds, and BYU got out with a somewhat improbable win, because …

BYU star QB Jaren Hall couldn’t play on his injured ankle, and the offense didn’t complete a pass in the second half. However, Ben Bywater took a Mordecai pass for a pick-six, Christopher Brooks gave the Cougars a 24-10 lead late in the third on a 22-yard touchdown run, and the defense hung on for dear life on the final two-point try.

Sol-Jay Maiava-Peters stepped in for Hall and ran for a touchdown and a game-high 96 yards, but he only hit 7-of-12 throws for 47 yards with an interception. SMU got two touchdown passes out of Mordecai and 91 rushing yards and a score from Tyler Lavine.

New Mexico Bowl Player of the Game

Ben Bywater, LB BYU
He came up with a game-high 11 tackles, and his 76-yard pick six early in the third quarter turned the game around.

CFN Experts Picks Dec 20-27 | CFP NY6, Dec 28-Jan 2

New Mexico Bowl Fun Stats

– SMU outgained BYU 389 yards to 256.

– The two teams combined to convert 4-of-5 fourth down tries.

– SMU converted 10-of-18 third down tries. BYU converted 5-of-12.

New Mexico Bowl What It All Means

It might have been a bit of a disappointing season overall, but BYU was able to come a whole lot of adversity and injuries to get out of this with a gut-check win. No, Maiava-Peters wasn’t going to wing it around, but that wasn’t his job. He ran well, the offensive line took over for stretches, and the ground attack and defense got it done.

With this, it’s the second bowl wins in the last four seasons and Kalani Stake has won 29 games in the last three seasons.

SMU is going to be kicking itself for not being able to take control of this right away. It didn’t have to worry at all about the BYU passing game, its own offense was able to move just enough early on.

It was an unfortunate two-point conversion try at the very end – it was like SMU ran its best red zone play for the touchdown – but the offense was able to outgain BYU by 133 yards, it was far more effective, and it had a whole lot of chances.

Even with the loss, it was a good first season under Rhett Lashlee and a fourth straight winning season for the program. However, it’s now 0-3 in bowls since its last win in the 2012 Hawaii.

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2022-2023 Bowl Schedule, Predictions

Wisconsin officially lands SMU tranfer QB Tanner Mordecai

The Badgers have their next quarterback

After multiple reports of SMU transfer quarterback Tanner Mordecai linked to Wisconsin, the Badgers have officially landed the senior transfer.

Mordecai made things official on Twitter earlier Friday afternoon.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank Southern Methodist University, faculty, staff, and football program,” said Mordecai on Friday.

“After conversations with Coach Fickell and Coach Longo, I am excited to announce I will utilize my last year of eligibility at the University of Wisconsin.”

Mordecai immediately becomes the expected 2023 starter in a quarterback room that also includes Oklahoma transfer Nick Evers.

Mordecai had 7,152 passing yards with a staggering 72 touchdowns and 22 interceptions over a pair of seasons as SMU’s starting quarterback. He began his career as an Oklahoma Sooner, where the former four-star recruit spent three seasons as a backup before transferring to SMU.

Here is a look at his complete statement:

Report: Wisconsin is landing a transfer quarterback

The Badgers land a transfer quarterback

The good news just keeps on coming for Luke Fickell and the Badgers in the early days of his tenure.

After landing Oklahoma transfer quarterback Nick Evers, reports are that the Badgers will be getting another former Sooner under center.

As reported by both Bruce Feldman of The Athletic and Adam Rittenberg of ESPN, Wisconsin looks like they will be landing SMU transfer quarterback Tanner Mordecai.

Mordecai had 7,152 passing yards with a staggering 72 touchdowns and 22 interceptions over a pair of seasons as SMU’s starting quarterback. He began his career as an Oklahoma Sooner, where the former four-star recruit spent three seasons as a backup before transferring to SMU.

College Football: Where Texas teams are playing this bowl season

These teams won’t be watching bowl season with Texas A&M from home.

We’ve reached the most wonderful time of the year. It’s bowl season.

This year the No. 21 Texas Longhorns (8-4) will participate in the slate of games. Steve Sarkisian’s team will travel the short distance to San Antonio to face the No. 12 Washington Huskies (10-2) in the Valero Alamo Bowl.

The Longhorns previous two bowl nominations were to the Alamo Bowl. Texas dismantled the highly regarded Utah Utes 38-10 before defeating the Colorado Buffaloes 55-23 the following year.

This year’s game reunites Pete Kwiatkowski with his former team. His defenses at Washington were so potent they earned the nickname, “Death Row.”

Steve Sarkisian is also reunited with a former team. Sarkisian revitalized Washington going from 0-12 the year before he took over to three bowl games in four years.

Here’s a look at where Texas teams will play during bowl season.

SMU vs. Tulane, live stream, preview, TV channel, time, how to watch college football

The SMU Mustangs will meet the Tulane Green Wave in an AAC matchup in college football on Thursday night from Yulman Stadium.

The SMU Mustangs will meet the Tulane Green Wave in an AAC matchup in college football on Thursday night from Yulman Stadium.

SMU is coming off a 41-23 win over USF to improve their record to 6-4 on the year, while Tulane is looking to rebound after a 38-31 loss to UCF while picking up their second loss of the season and sitting at 8-2.

This will be a great night of college football, here is everything you need to know to watch and stream the action.

SMU vs. #21 Tulane

  • When: Wednesday, November 16
  • Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: ESPNU
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

NCAA Football Odds and Betting Lines

NCAA odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds were updated at 6:00 p.m. ET on Thursday.

SMU vs. Tulane (-3.5)

O/U: 65

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SMU vs. South Florida, live stream, preview, TV channel, time, how to watch college football

The SMU Mustangs will meet the South Florida Bulls in an AAC matchup on Saturday afternoon from Raymond James Stadium. 

The SMU Mustangs will meet the South Florida Bulls in an AAC matchup on Saturday afternoon from Raymond James Stadium.

SMU is coming off a 77-63 win over Houston to pick up their fifth win of the season as they look to put up another victory today. As for South Florida, they have really struggled this season after losing their last seven games.

This will be a great Saturday of college football, here is everything you need to know to watch and stream the action.

SMU vs. South Florida

  • When: Saturday, November 12
  • Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: ESPNU
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

NCAA Football Odds and Betting Lines

NCAA odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds were updated at 10:40 a.m. ET on Saturday.

SMU (-17.5) vs. South Florida 

O/U: 72.5

Want some action on college football? Place your legal sports bets on this game or others in CO & NJ.

We recommend interesting sports viewing/streaming and betting opportunities. If you sign up for a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.


Additional college football coverage from USA TODAY Sports Media Group:

Alabama football / Auburn football / Arkansas footballFlorida football / Georgia football / LSU football / Iowa footballMichigan football / Michigan State football / Notre Dame football / Ohio State football / Oklahoma football / Oregon football / North Carolina football / Nebraska footballPenn State footballColorado football / Clemson football / Rutgers footballTennessee football / Texas football / Texas A&M footballUSC football / Wisconsin football

SMU beat Houston 77-63 — this could be a preview of USC-UCLA

#SMU and Houston combined for 140 total points, 91 in the first half. #USC and #UCLA might not get there, but they could make a run at it.

Did the college football world just give us a glimpse of what is going to come when UCLA and USC play each other in two weeks?

Southern Methodist defeated Houston 77-63 in a wild score, one in which Mustangs QB Tanner Mordecai threw for 379 yards but NINE scores in a record-breaking game.

The thing is: Is this a precursor to the Bruins-Trojans showdown coming up? Both L.A. teams have explosive offenses and patchy defenses, as shown by their performances on Saturday night against Arizona State and Cal, two of the worst teams in the Pac-12.

Nonetheless, it should be a thrilling game, and the chances of seeing a score like the SMU-Houston game is unlikely, although it could happen with those two teams in L.A.

Let’s take you through some of the statistics and facts from a 140-point college football game with a 91-point first half on Saturday night in suburban Dallas:

Navy vs. SMU, live stream, preview, TV channel, time, how to watch college football

The Navy Midshipmen will meet the SMU Mustangs in an AAC college football matchup on Friday night from Gerald J. Ford Stadium. 

The Navy Midshipmen will meet the SMU Mustangs in an AAC college football matchup on Friday night from Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

Navy is coming off a 51-21 win over Tulsa in their last game as they improved to 3-3 on the season, while SMU took another beating as they look to snap their three-game losing streak on Friday.

This will be a great Friday night of college football, here is everything you need to know to watch and stream the action.

Navy vs. SMU

  • When: Friday, October 14
  • Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: ESPN
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

How to watch College Football this season

fuboTV has complete NCAA college football coverage (CBS, FOX, ESPN) as well as ACC Network, Big 10 Network, ESPNU, Pac12, and more. fuboTV includes every network you need to watch every college football game in your market.
fuboTV is available on your phone, tablet, desktop, TV, and connected TV devices including Roku. Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV plus many more.
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NCAA Football Odds and Betting Lines

NCAA odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds were updated at 12:30 p.m. ET on Friday.

Navy vs. SMU (-12.5)

O/U: 57.5

Want some action on college football? Place your legal sports bets on this game or others in CO & NJ.

We recommend interesting sports viewing/streaming and betting opportunities. If you sign up for a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.


Additional college football coverage from USA TODAY Sports Media Group:

Alabama football / Auburn football / Arkansas footballFlorida football / Georgia football / LSU football / Iowa footballMichigan football / Michigan State football / Notre Dame football / Ohio State football / Oklahoma football / Oregon football / North Carolina football / Nebraska footballPenn State footballColorado football / Clemson football / Rutgers footballTennessee football / Texas football / Texas A&M footballUSC football / Wisconsin football