defensively this was a great run uh red zone defense last year good run stopping unit do have a little bit of a new retooled defensive line this year what are your expectations for that side of the ball

Yeah, last year they did stop the run pretty well.

They had some moments where they were inconsistent with it.

But the biggest thing is that they feel like they've got the pass rush fixed on that defensive line because they had a secondary that had some injuries, gave up some big plays, really played inconsistent football and were one of the worst pass defenses in the country in terms of yardage giving up, giving up.

they feel like a part of that was they couldn't get after the quarterback consistently like they had been in the past.

And they think they have two, three deep edge rushers that they can kind of go to and rotate and things like that that should help this defense improve in terms of stopping the pass.

And I think that's kind of the one thing tonight that you're watching closely if you're an SMU fan because there's been a lot of talk about, hey, you change coordinators, you change the voice calling the plays.

In your prep of Florida State, if there were an argument for them to ultimately win this game at home, cover the spread, whatever it is, what stood out to you about their game that they could have that edge?

defensively this was a great run uh red zone defense last year good run stopping unit do have a little bit of a new retooled defensive line this year what are your expectations for that side of the ball

yeah last year they they did stop the run pretty well they had some moments where they were inconsistent with it but you know the biggest thing is that they they feel like they've got the pass rush fixed on that defensive line because they had a secondary that had some injuries, gave up some big plays, really played inconsistent football and were one of the worst pass defenses in the country in terms of yardage giving up, giving up.

they feel like a part of that was they couldn't get after the quarterback consistently like they had been in the past.

And they think they have two, three deep edge rushers that they can kind of go to and rotate and things like that that should help this defense improve in terms of stopping the pass.

And I think that's kind of the one thing tonight that you're watching closely if you're an SMU fan because there's been a lot of talk about, hey, you change coordinators, you change the voice calling the plays.

You think that that's been able to be a good thing as far as promoting from within with Maurice Crum Jr. because he knows these guys.

They have a system that has been able to work at SMU in the past, and they think that that's a good thing that they kind of kept that continuity.

In your prep of Florida State, if there were an argument for them to ultimately win this game at home, cover the spread, whatever it is, what stood out to you about their game that they could have that edge?

there uh

eight one three let's stand up uh I think he is going to have a good grip on this.

He has called plays before.

He did it at Western Kentucky.

He's been in the SEC at Ole Miss.

He came to SMU, and when Craig Niver left the staff and went to be defensive coordinator, I think out at Coastal, They ended up hiring Maurice Crum for that spot, moved Scott Simons back to safeties, and that has been a just terrific move.

Now you're seeing the next devolution of that.

Did he ever sign a mini camp tryout? Um, but ultimately he did get a temporary restraining order, uh, that would allow him to play as we sit here and talk about.

there, 8-1-3.

Let's stand up.

I think he is going to have a good grip on this.

He has called plays before.

He did at Western Kentucky.

He's been in the SEC at Ole Miss.

He came to SMU, and when Craig Niver left the staff and went to be defensive coordinator, I think out at Coastal, They ended up hiring Maurice Crum for that spot, moved Scott Simons back to safeties, and that has been a just terrific move.

Did he ever sign a mini camp tryout? Um, but ultimately he did get a temporary restraining order, uh, that would allow him to play as we sit here and talk about this.

But I was asked this on our FSU show, what was Rhett Lashley thinking watching this game? If you had to go inside the mind of Rhett while he's watching a 31-point favorite squeak out a win against New Mexico State, what do you think he was thinking during that?

I think SMU's got to play with a ton of effort.

And that's what stood out to me about New Mexico State.

And that might sound like I'm downplaying some of the things that they did schematically to open up some of those things in the passing game with Hedden throwing the ball around the yard, a pretty good pit.

They really played hard defensively.

That's what stood out to me.

FSU was able to kind of impose their will a little bit.

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So it seems like Lashley, uh, you know, never say never, but it seems like he's pretty happy where things are at at SMU.

Yeah, definitely.

I mean, Rhett and his family are very, very comfortable at SMU.

I think they've, they've made the big, um, investment back into SMU just from the standpoint of, you know, SMU was his first head coaching job.

It was a job that, you know, when he was an offense coordinator at UConn, he got the opportunity to kind of get back to, like, a little bit more notoriety taking that job.

Not that he had fallen off at, you know, from Auburn to UConn, but it, it was a major change to kind of catapult his career when he got back to SMU years and years ago.

And so when he c- got the job and he was the head coach, you know, they really wanted to kind of pour into SMU, and they came here at a time where, yeah, there was a feeling that, you know, they were going for a power conference.

Yeah

Tell me where you think that l- part of his game is in 2026.

Yeah, I don't think it's necessarily where any team wants to be, but I think after last year with Kevin Jennings, you know, having to play from the pocket a lot more, um, he had an injured ankle starting basically week two.

He got banged up at the end of that Baylor game, and it, it hobbled him really, really badly throughout the rest of the season.

He rushed for just, I think, 50 yards on the year after rushing for 350 the year before.

But the g- bright side was is he learned how to be a little bit more of a pocket passer, and he finished top 10 nat- nationally in passing yards.

He was just outstanding.

I think threw for 370 against Miami.

Mm

What are the thoughts behind the scenes and just kind of how that off-season went?

I think as you look at college sports in general, I mean, we just kind of saw this with Dusty May in a sense.

But there's a lot of reasons to just leave and go chase money or go, just go straight to the pros or do whatever to get out of whatever situation you're in.

But Rhett Lashley has had his hands all over SMU for as well as his time with, you know, Sonny as the OC.

And he was a big part of building this in the right direction.

And so there was, I think, this true sense of ties to SMU.

I think SMU did a good job of making sure he was obviously welcomed the right way, but also always felt welcome and wanted throughout his entire coaching journey here and made his staff feel the same way, invested with the Gary Weber End Zone Complex.

Uh, but are concerns along the trenches on either side of the ball, or is this kind of overblown?

What are the thoughts behind the scenes and just kind of how that offseason went?

I think as you look at college sports in general, I mean, we just kind of saw this with Dusty May in a sense, but there's a lot of reasons to just leave and go chase money or go just go straight to the pros or do whatever to get out of whatever situation you're in.

But Rhett Lashley has had his hands all over SMU for as well as his time with Sonny as the OC.

He was a big part of building this in the right direction.

And so there was, I think, this true sense of ties to SMU.

I think SMU did a good job of making sure he was obviously welcomed the right way, but also always felt welcome and wanted throughout his entire coaching journey here and made his staff feel the same way, invested with the Gary Weber End Zone Complex.

They're well on their way to figuring out what to do next with the stadium, which is just going to be crazy when they do all of that.

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