{"id":427000,"date":"2024-12-01T22:02:09","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T22:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=427000"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"No-9-SMU-blows-out-Cal-to-win-9th-straight-improves-to-11-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/No-9-SMU-blows-out-Cal-to-win-9th-straight-improves-to-11-1\/","title":{"rendered":"No. 9 SMU blows out Cal to win 9th straight, improves to 11-1"},"content":{"rendered":"

No. 9 SMU jumped out to a three-touchdown lead and then sealed the game with a fourth-quarter explosion in their 38-6 win over visiting Cal in an Athletic Coast Conference matchup in Dallas on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The Mustangs (11-1, 8-0 ACC) were already assured of a berth in the conference title game on Dec. 7. They will play Clemson, which qualified when No. 6 Miami fell at Syracuse on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Kevin Jennings threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns. Brashard Smith had rushing and receiving scores, and Derrick McFall also ran for a touchdown for SMU, which won its ninth in a row.<\/p>\n

The Mustangs had 251 total yards in the first half as they built a 21-0 lead but tallied only 17 yards in the third quarter before regaining steam. They finished with 415 yards to 254 for Cal.<\/p>\n

SMU also had 17 penalties for 137 yards, with 85 of those yards coming after intermission.<\/p>\n

The Mustangs’ defense, meanwhile, had five sacks, two by Kobe Wilson, among their 16 tackles for loss. Jonathan McGill’s interception in the fourth quarter set up Jennings’ 23-yard touchdown strike to Smith to seal the win.<\/p>\n

Reserve quarterback Preston Stone hit Key’Shawn Smith for a 40-yard touchdown with 3:38 left in the game to complete the scoring.<\/p>\n

Chandler Rogers had 84 yards passing before leaving with an apparent leg injury in the third quarter for Cal (6-6, 2-6), and CJ Harris came on to throw for 75 yards and had one interception. Nyziah Hunter finished with 85 yards on five receptions.<\/p>\n

The Golden Bears’ only points came on field goals of 40 and 53 yards by Ryan Coe in the second half.<\/p>\n

After picking up a combined 35 yards on its first three possessions, Cal had a golden opportunity to draw within striking distance.<\/p>\n

Trailing 21-0, the Golden Bears moved from their 25-yard line to the Mustangs’ 3. But Rogers lost 2 yards on a rush, 10 more on a sack by Elijah Roberts and, after an incompletion, 5 yards for delay of game. Derek Morris’ 38-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide right.<\/p>\n

–Field Level Media<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Nov 30, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Southern Methodist Mustangs safety Brandon Crossley (1) celebrates a defensive stop against the California Golden Bears during the first half at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

-Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
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No. 9 SMU jumped out to a three-touchdown lead and then sealed the game with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-427000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427000\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}