BYU vs Southern Methodist Picks and Prediction – 9/6/2024

Gerald J. Ford Stadium will play host to a Friday night college football clash between the BYU Cougars and the SMU Mustangs. Make sure you are ready for all the football action with our college football picks. The Cougars were overmatched in their first season in the Big 12 Conference and finished last in total offense. Last week, BYU raced out to a 14-point lead after one quarter and rolled up 527 yards of total offense during a 41-13 home victory versus Southern Illinois.

BYU junior QB Jake Retzlaff dazzled the home crowd with 348 passing yards and three touchdowns. LJ Martin rushed for 67 yards and scored twice. Chase Roberts contributed a game-high 108 receiving yards for the Cougars, who possessed the ball for nearly 40 minutes. 

The SMU Mustangs are first-year ACC Conference members and rank in the top ten nationally in returning production. SMU QB Preston Stone threw for 28 touchdowns and led an offense that ranked eighth nationally in scoring (38.7 ppg). On Saturday, SMU improved to 2-0 with a comfortable 59-7 home victory versus FCS Houston Christian 

Preston Stone put SMU on the scoreboard first with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Hudson. Brashard Smith (108 rush yds) added two short touchdown runs to give the Mustangs a 20-0 lead. Jake Bailey caught four passes for 59 yards and a score. 

BYU benefited from playing inferior opponents in years past and their roster is not ready for Power Four football. SMU has done a great job preparing for their transition to the ACC Conference and will cruise to a home victory that goes over the total. Final Score Prediction, SMU Mustangs win 35-24.