Kickoff: Monday, September 7 at 6:30 PM CT
Location: Doak Campbell Stadium
TV: ESPN
DraftKings line (Aug. 30): SMU -3
Over/under: 53.5

The setup

SMU won the programs’ only meeting 42-16 in 2024, its first ACC game. The sequel is Florida State’s first time hosting the Mustangs, so Doak Campbell Stadium gets a 26-point revenge test in matchup No. 2.

Personnel snapshot

• SMU: Rhett Lashlee enters Year 5 as head coach. 11 starters return—7 on offense and 4 on defense. Key offensive linemen back include Joshua Bates, Addison Nichols, and PJ Williams. SMU’s offense averaged 416.9 yards and 32.2 points per game last season.
• SMU quarterback: Kevin Jennings returns as SMU’s starting quarterback. Last season, he threw for 3,363 yards, 26 TD and 10 INT.
• Florida State: Mike Norvell enters Year 7 as head coach. 6 starters return—2 on offense and 4 on defense. Key defenders back include Daniel Lyons, Blake Nichelson, and Ashlynd Barker. Florida State’s defense allowed 328.8 yards and 22.0 points per game last season.
• Florida State quarterback: Florida State has named Ashton Daniels its starter. Last season at Auburn, he threw for 797 yards, 3 TD and 2 INT.

Three quick analysis points

• The running-game test: Florida State allowed only 47 rushing yards and 2.0 per carry in its opener, the second-lowest Week 0 total. SMU added 821-yard, 12-touchdown back Kendrick Raphael, making the Seminoles’ sharpest first result meet one of the Mustangs’ biggest upgrades.
• The matchup wrinkle: Ousmane Kromah ran for 115 yards on 14 carries, an FBS-leading 8.21 per attempt after Week 0 and Florida State’s first 100-yard game since the 2023 ACC title game. SMU’s first defensive assignment is the end of a 33-month Seminoles drought.
• The quarterback angle: Ashton Daniels generated 232 yards and two touchdowns in his Florida State debut and owns 4,985 passing yards plus 1,427 rushing yards in his career. The new Seminoles quarterback enters the game only 15 passing yards from 5,000.

Prediction

I make final predictions on my TikTok/YouTube/Instagram/Facebook pages @uthinkuknowsports.

Full disclosure: I use AI tools to format my research into an article encompassing all of the information.