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Clemson edged SMU 34–31 in last year’s ACC Championship on Nolan Hauser’s walk-off kick to punch a CFB Playoff ticket. As the rematch nears, Dabo Swinney’s scouting report is blunt and specific.
“More of the same. They’re fast, they’re explosive, a lot of tempo. They’re very similar—score a ton of points, put a lot of pressure on you. Their quarterback is easily the most dynamic quarterback we’ve played to this point. Got excellent skill. [SMU] is well put together.”
“They really challenge you on the edge, but really everywhere. They make you cover all areas of the field, a million RPOs. They do a good job, and they’ve got the personnel to do it.”
Swinney hasn’t forgotten how stressful the matchup can get—even in a win.
“They freaking got after us last year. We’ve got a lot to prove defensively because we did not play well against those guys," he noted. "We had a 17-point lead with about 11 minutes to play, and we couldn’t hold it. I think they threw the ball for 300-plus and had a running back with 100-plus, and we had a hard time getting them off the field on third down.
SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings passed for 304 yards and three touchdowns, while running back Brashard Smith, now with the Kansas City Chiefs, added 113 rushing yards on 24 carries. The Mustangs also converted on 9 of 18 third down attempts.
"The biggest thing was we turned them over, and thankfully, we had some explosive plays as well."
The Tigers hope to arrive with clearer identities on both sides after a couple of convincing wins, knocking off North Carolina 38-10 and Boston College 41-10. Clemson hasn’t played well at home and the Tigers are hoping to turn that around after being one of the best teams in America on their own turf for over a decade.
Last season, Clemson leaned into disruption and situational winning: “We stopped the run, we took the ball away, we got stops on downs, we sacked them,” Swinney noted. “Those guys were disruptive up front. We got off the field—4-for-16 on third and fourth down.” That formula matters against an SMU attack that forces full-field coverage and thrives on RPO pacing.
Offensively, Clemson’s recent rhythm offers a counter to SMU’s scoreboard pressure. “We’ve been really getting off to fast starts offensively. We’ve had 10 straight drives to score in the past two games to open up.”
The Tigers paired that with clean operation: “We had very few negative plays, the OL gave up no sacks… all the trips in the red zone—we had four touchdowns in the red zone.” If that efficiency translates into this matchup, Clemson can keep SMU on the back foot and trim the Mustangs’ possession count.
Context underscores the edge as the Mustangs are in position to make another run to the ACC Championship Game, while Clemson tries to just climb the ladder week by week.
“For them, they’re in a different situation than we are—they’re still undefeated in the league. So it’s a playoff-football-type game for both teams for sure,” Swinney noted. “I have got a lot of respect for Rhett and the job he does. I think they’re really, really good.”
Add in the memory of last December’s escape—and the walk-off from Hauser—and you get the tone Swinney’s after this week: respect the tape, remember the scars, and play cleaner in the same high-leverage spots in hopes of delivering SMU their first-ever regular season conference loss in ACC play.
