What SMU did differently to beat TCU for the Iron Skillet

UNIVERSITY PARK — SMU's first two tries at bringing the Iron Skillet back from TCU under coach Rhett Lashlee didn't go as the Mustangs hoped.

In 2022, SMU got off to a slow start and ceded the rivalry trophy to the Horned Frogs and the following season Lashlee thinks they didn't have the right focus.

"Two years ago it was a big game for our players, our fanbase and everybody so we were emotional about it," Lashlee said after SMU's 66-42 victory over the Horned Frogs . "Last year I think we all wanted it too much. I probably am to blame for all of that. I made it 'Hey this is a rivalry game, it's about skill, it's TCU-SMU, Fort Worth-Dallas.'"

Ahead of Saturday's 103rd meeting of the rivalry between SMU and TCU , the Mustangs made a change in how they prepared from a season ago.

Outside of the handful of comments players and coaches made to reporters throughout rivalry week, SMU didn't discuss TCU during the week.

The Mustangs scouted their opponent and watched film but didn't try and push ay bulletin-board material.

The coaches didn't play the TCU fight song throughout practices until players got sick of it — something Lashlee used to do at Miami to prep for Florida State and the team has done in the past against opponents like Oklahoma .

"It's not that we didn't respect them or think it was a big game," Lashlee said. "We just wanted to focus on us."

That focus allowed the Mustangs to deliver a very convincing victory just two weeks removed from a lackluster loss to BYU at home.

SMU's offense rebounded after failing to find the end zone against the Cougars, the Mustangs scored on a punt return and forced five turnovers on a TCU offense that hasn't been prone to giving up the ball.

It was a complete team win where SMU never trailed. Much of it, according to Lashlee, stemmed from the mindset the Mustangs came in to Ford Stadium with.

"We felt like to win from the first play to the last play we needed to just leave no doubt that we're the most physical team on the field," Lashlee said. "That was literally our only thought process coming into the game on offense, defense special teams."

Physicality was certainly on display. The Mustangs controlled the line of scrimmage well on both sides of the ball.

Despite dealing with a mid-game injury , SMU's O-line stayed consistent in opening holes for their running backs. The Mustangs rushed for 238 yards — Brashard Smith lead the way with 137 on the ground — and averaged 5.7 yards per carry.

On the defensive side, the Horned Frogs got just about nothing going on the ground with 65 total yards on 32 carries. While TCU is a pass-first offense, there was no fighting with the Mustang defense for yardage.

During TCU's first offensive drive, the Horned Frogs faced 3rd-and-1 and opted to run twice in a row. SMU stopped them both times and on 4th down the ball was forced out of quarterback Josh Hoover's hands as he attempted to sneak for the first down.

Ahmad Walker knocked the ball loose and Brandon Crossley picked it up and went 51 yards for a score.

Rivalries games are often known for their physicality, but with that can come sloppiness. SMU's coaches were keen to avoid the passion their players had for competing to turn into an emotional performance.

"When you're emotional instead of passionate, there's a difference. When you play with passion, you're in control. When you play emotional, you're not in control," said Lashlee. "It slows you down."

Playing emotionally leads to making silly mistakes, hitting people when they shouldn't, according to Lashlee.

SMU avoided a lot of those mistakes, for the most part.

Some late-game unsportsmanlike conduct calls showed there was maybe some emotion still there. But by the time those penalties were committed, the Mustangs were rolling to a major victory.

SMU heads into ACC play with a 3-1 record after its nonconference schedule. The rest of the slate is tough with Florida State being the squad to welcome the Mustangs into the conference.

However, with a focused, passion-fueled victory over a power-conference rival the Mustangs may have other teams start to talk about them.

"We've just got to make a statement, show the ACC that we belong," defensive back Ahmaad Moses said ."We had to take an L to BYU...we were trying to get that win, that statement to show we aren't here because of money, we're here because we have the talent and we've got the players to be in the ACC and compete."