Saturday marked a moment that SMU’s loyal supporters had been waiting for 358 days.

On September 1, 2023, the Mustangs officially received an invitation to the Atlantic Coast Conference, leaving their former home, the American Athletic Conference, after 10 years and a conference win last December. Fast forward to August 24, 2024, and SMU wore ACC branding on its jerseys, gear and reputation for the first time.

But the ACC honeymoon didn’t quite go the way the Mustangs had imagined. SMU entered its Week 0 road game at Nevada as a four-touchdown favorite. What many expected to be a smooth win for the defending AAC champions turned into a bitter battle over four quarters in the cold and windy setting of Reno, Nevada.

Trailing by double digits early in the fourth quarter, SMU shifted into high gear, outscoring the Wolf Pack 16-0 in the final period to win 29-24. Tight end RJ Maryland proved to be the Mustangs’ savior in the near-upset, totaling 162 yards on eight pass catches, which is a career-high. The junior collected 116 yards on four catches in the final period alone, outpacing man coverage on a go route and securing the game-winning 34-yard touchdown with 1:18 left.

With a single defensive stop in the last 78 seconds, SMU was able to breathe a sigh of relief like in Texas, overcoming a small adversity and making it 1-0.

“I think you need wins like this because it shows the determination of your team,” SMU quarterback Maryland said. “At halftime we trusted everyone and talked to everyone that we were going to win the game – it’s a hard-fought win.”

Before kickoff, SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee said in a television interview with CBS Sports Network that both incumbent starting quarterback Preston Stone and backup Kevin Jennings would play in the first half. Lashlee kept his promise and the Mustangs switched back and forth between the two gunslingers to start the game. It was Stone’s first start since last November, when he suffered a broken fibula in the final game of the regular season.

The All-AAC quarterback threw just six interceptions in 12 starts last year, but threw a rare miss to the Nevada defense on his first throw of the season — and SMU’s offense took a while to get going. After two scoreless drives under Stone, Jennings took over as quarterback for two possessions — his only appearance in Saturday night’s game.

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“Preston earned the starting spot. He’s the starter. But both guys are going to play and deserve to play,” Lashlee said. “The plan from the beginning was that Kevin would play the third and fourth series. That’s fair to him. Let Preston start the game, then Kevin can see those two drives and get a feel for what the defense is doing, then Preston can come out and watch the defense a little bit. Then we wanted to put Preston back for the fifth series and go from there and see how the game goes.”

Jennings eventually led a touchdown drive in the second quarter, but disaster struck before SMU could score its first points of 2024. Immediately after the offense stalled on its third consecutive possession, the Mustangs snatched a punt too far and an opportunistic Nevada recovered nine yards from the end zone.

The Wolfpack took advantage, and after the mistake, they grabbed a quick 7-0 lead over the heavily favored Mustangs. That lead held until the end of the first quarter, when Nevada shut out an SMU team that led the FBS in first-quarter scoring last year with 12.3 points per game. But it wasn’t just a one-quarter statement from the Wolfpack. Nevada stayed in control when quarterback Brendon Lewis threw an end zone pass to West Virginia transfer Cortez Braham Jr. nine seconds before halftime, giving them a 17-10 halftime lead.

“You have to give a lot of credit to (Nevada’s) head coach Jeff (Choate) and his team,” Lashlee said. “They were ready to play. They kicked our butts for half a game or more and I think he’s going to do a really good job here. They’re tough and you can feel it in their team.”

After surprisingly trailing after two quarters, the third quarter presented the Mustangs with a valuable opportunity to make amends. But the penalties proved deadly, which proved to be a recurring theme throughout the game. SMU ranked in the top 20 in the nation for fewest penalties per game in 2023, but the yellow flags consistently killed any momentum and were hard to overcome. The Mustangs finished the game with 11 penalties – and while they were tied with Nevada in that category – SMU’s flags cost 125 yards, while Nevada’s price was just 82 yards.

“That was probably the most undisciplined game we’ve played since I’ve been head coach here — I’m not proud of that,” Lashlee said. “Some really self-inflicted injuries really made it hard for our offense to get going in the first half. As soon as we got a first down, it felt like we were on 2nd-and-15, 2nd-and-20 or 1st-and-20 because of the penalties we had.”

The most serious penalty was a 15-yard foul on Mustangs cornerback Brandon Crossley for “spitting” in the third quarter. It wasn’t the first spitting incident of the night, as Lashlee claimed wide receiver Jordan Hudson was spit on in the first quarter, resulting in three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. But Crossley’s decision proved crucial, as it came just before a Nevada punt and the Wolf Pack traded its new life for a touchdown at the end of the third quarter to take a 24-13 lead.

But in the final 15 minutes, SMU finally brought some urgency. After struggling with the running game all night, Miami (FL) transfer Brashard Smith finally got going and put his new team back within striking distance by scoring a 4-yard touchdown to cap a 98-yard run. The momentum remained in the ACC team’s favor as Nevada botched a fair catch on the ensuing kickoff, leaving the offense stranded at its own 1-yard line. SMU’s run defense – one of the best in the game in 2023 – demonstrated its power by trapping Nevada running back Savion Red in his own end zone and scoring a crucial safety.

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After the defensive contribution to the score, SMU trailed 24-23, but the offense provided the finishing touches. Maryland started the game-winning drive with a 20-yard catch-and-run, and its power grew when it converted a crucial 3rd-and-7 to keep the drive going. It was no surprise that Stone – who was quarterback for the entire second half – looked to the reliable tight end to give SMU its first lead, and he sailed a 34-yard deep ball down the left sideline to Maryland for the decisive blow.

“Graduation is a big part of what we want our program to be known for,” Lashlee said. “I don’t remember what I said. I don’t know if what I said was important, but they got it done. It helps a lot to have experienced quarterbacks, experienced guys on offense and on defense when we needed stops.”

Stone overcame a slow start of 1 of 7 passing with an interception to finish the night as one of the Mustangs’ best offensive players, completing 17 of 30 for 254 yards. He also accounted for 35 rushing yards and put his head down to make crucial gains in the closing stages of the close game.

“The football game was an emotional rollercoaster,” Stone said. “I don’t think I or we as a team performed the way we wanted to. I believe adversity breeds excellence all season long. We just kept going and getting better, everyone made plays, the defense got off the field and we just believed.”

The defense, led by strong safety Isaiah Nwokobia and his 13 tackles, also had to overcome a slow start. Lewis’ dual-threat tendencies took hold early as he posted 60 rushing yards and also threw two touchdowns in the first half. The second half was a different story for SMU’s defense, which limited the quarterback to 17 rushing yards and zero passing touchdowns in the final two quarters. That same defense shut down Nevada in the final 18 minutes of the game and ultimately provided the offense with enough opportunities to win.

“I think Nevada did a great job of frustrating us because they run the ball great with the quarterback and his movements and there’s a lot of imbalance and that’s not normal,” Lashlee said. “Our guys want people to drop back to pass and run after, but that wasn’t the play that was played. Fortunately, we put them in situations towards the end of the game where they absolutely had to pass and were able to play to our strengths.”

Nevada introduced new head coach Jeff Choate on Saturday and began its new era with an unfortunate 0-1 finish that could be a promising sign for future efforts. Choate’s team played the defending conference champions to the last minute – a pleasant turn of events for the Wolf Pack faithful after suffering through two straight 2-10 seasons. Meanwhile, SMU emerged unscathed from its debut as an ACC member, and the Mustangs return to Dallas next Saturday to defend against FCS’ Houston Christian at the renovated Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

“It’s not always about how you win, it’s about the fact that we won, 1-0,” Lashlee said.