Kevin Jennings passed for 247 yards and two touchdowns and Justin Medlock returned a fourth-quarter interception 96 yards for a score as SMU outlasted Stanford 34-10 on Saturday afternoon in an Atlantic Coast Conference clash in Dallas.
Jennings hit on 22 of his 30 passes and connected with Chris Johnson Jr. and Derrick McFall on scoring tosses. Johnson added 96 yards rushing on just five carries that included an 87-yard TD run for the Mustangs (4-2, 2-0 ACC), who won their second straight game.
The Cardinal (2-4, 1-2 ACC) got 278 passing yards and a touchdown from quarterback Ben Gulbranson but was held without points twice on drives inside the SMU 5-yard line. CJ Williams hauled in seven throws for 109 yards and a TD for Stanford.
SMU took the lead on a 19-yard Jennings-to-McFall touchdown pass with 2:39 to play in the first quarter that capped a 13-play, 75-yard march. Sam Keltner added a 32-yard field goal with 12:30 left in the second quarter to expand the Mustangs’ lead to 10-0.
The game turned in a major way in the final two minutes of the second quarter. Stanford reeled off an 18-play, 73-yard march that consumed almost 10 minutes but was turned away on fourth down and goal at the SMU 1 when Micah Ford was stopped short of the goal line.
After four plays gave SMU a little room to work, Johnson rolled around right end and sprinted down the sideline for an 87-yard score to make it 17-0 with just 35 seconds to play until halftime.
That was enough time for the Cardinal to answer, with Gulbranson hitting four straight passes to move 75 yards and culminating the possession with a 14-yard TD pass to CJ Williams with two seconds left.
Jennings was Houdini-like in working his way out of trouble in the backfield before finding Johnson for a wild 42-yard catch and run for a touchdown that expanded SMU’s lead to 24-7 with 8:22 to play in the third quarter.
Emmet Kenney’s 34-yard field goal with 34 seconds left in the third got Stanford within 24-10. The Cardinal again drove to the shadow of the SMU end zone with over six minutes remaining before Medlock stepped in front of a Gulbranson pass, intercepted it and rambled nearly the length of the field to cement the win for the Mustangs.
Keltner capped the scoring with a 48-yard field goal with 1:32 to play.
