How SMU’s outside receivers pushed the Mustangs past Pitt

The first throw SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings made against Pitt was dangerous

Jennings threw a quick pass to his left on the opening snap of the game that Pitt's Nate Matlack got a hand to.

The deflection nearly found the hands of another Panthers player that would've instantly put them in the red zone.

Despite that first play, Jennings showed absolutely no timidness when he launched his second pass on the next play toward wide receiver Key'Shawn Smith, who was covered by just one player.

Smith made the contested catch and avoided getting tackled to pick up a massive 43-yard gain. Plays like that became a hallmark of SMU's 48-25 victory .

Jennings entered SMU's matchup with Pitt coming off the worst game of his career, where he threw three interceptions and fumbled the ball away twice in the Mustangs' overtime win over Duke .

It was important Jennings return to his usual self because SMU needed him to execute their game plan at a high level.

Exploiting Pitt's propensity for stacking the box and leaving outside receivers with man coverage was a key part of the Mustangs' approach.

To pull that off, Jennings needed to be on his game and SMU's outside receivers would have to feature in an offense that has not been focused on them much this season.

"We knew going in we were going to have to win the one-on-one matchups on the outside," Jennings said after the game . "I told my receivers that the whole week that we gotta win, gotta win. I've gotta make the throw, get it to y'all. It showed out there and I put the ball in the vicinity and they made a play for me each and every play."

The Mustangs have been a run-first offense and continued to rely heavily on the ground game with Brashard Smith going for a career-high 161 rushing yards.

But when the offense has thrived through the air, the main playmakers this season have been receivers playing in the slot like Jake Bailey, Roderick Daniels Jr. and tight end RJ Maryland .

Those three entered Saturday as the top receivers on the team, however Bailey and Maryland were unavailable due to injury.

While SMU always worked to get the run game thriving, the toss to Smith early on and a handful of key throws to the other outside receivers made it possible for the Mustangs to pour the points on throughout the game.

After suffering a setback in the first quarter where an LJ Johnson Jr. touchdown was negated due to a holding penalty, Jennings went right back to his outside guys.

This time he hit Moochie Dixon along the sideline in another one-on-one situation for a 23-yard pickup that got the Mustangs down to the three-yard line.

"Key'Shawn, Moochie and Jordan [Hudson] and Kevin knew going into this game our outside receivers were going to have to win some one-on-ones against their corners," coach Rhett Lashlee said. "I thought we probably won more than our fair share so that was really positive for us."

Lashlee says his team actually went for the big throws less than he expected they'd need to.

The running game developed faster than they expected against a typically-elite Pitt run defense.

The Panthers blitzed even more than the Mustangs planned, sending the added pressure on 48.1% of drop-backs against Jennings.

The redshirt sophomore hasn't had much trouble throwing against pressure, his mobility being a major factor.

But Jennings rarely scrambled against Pitt, instead trusting his arm and his receivers to make plays.

Smith only had one more catch on the night. It once again came in man coverage for a 43-yard pickup with Jennings getting blitzed. But Smith added some extra flair, grabbing the ball one-handed.

"Whether it was Moochie making the play or Key'Shawn's couple of plays, that was big for us," Lashlee said. "Not every game but a lot of games, we haven't gotten a lot of one-on-ones with our outside receivers. When we have, we haven't been as crisp there as we've needed to be this year."

The Mustangs' focus in previous seasons has been on those big plays to their outside receivers when they had a player like Rashee Rice .

The receiver group doesn't have quite the same dominant player anymore and the offense is tailored more to its other playmakers.

But when called upon, SMU proved its outside receivers could get the job done in a major ranked matchup.

"There's a lot of trust. Our receiver group is very, very deep," Jennings said. "Every single guy can go out there and make plays."