Pitt moves up 1 spot to No. 18 in AP poll, awaits SMU showdown in Dallas

A month ago, one of the most iconic players in SMU history was speaking to coach Rhett Lashlee.

Craig James said Lashlee’s Mustangs reminded him of another SMU team he knew well. He was referring to SMU of the 1980s when James teamed with Eric Dickerson to form the Pony Express backfield, one of the sport’s most iconic running back tandems of all-time.

Actually, a remarkable comparison.

The Mustangs between the seasons of 1981-84 were 41-5-1, including a 7-3 victory against Pitt and quarterback Dan Marino in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1, 1983.

Before the end of the decade, however, SMU was handed the death penalty by the NCAA for recruiting violations, and the 1987 and 1988 seasons were canceled. The epic fall led to SMU managing only one winning season from 1989 to 2008.

James closely follows the current version of the Mustangs, and the day he was speaking to Lashlee, SMU had just defeated Florida State, 42-16. James was impressed.

“I said I can’t believe I saw the kind of enthusiasm and athleticism that we had on our teams for the first time in 40 years,” James told TribLive. “SMU is unlike it’s been in 40 years. We are leaps and bounds different and, I think, more athletic, for sure, than we were last year (when SMU won the American Athletic Conference championship).”

By the end of the week, Pitt and its fans might know what James meant.

It’s showdown time in the ACC, with Pitt heading to Dallas for its first regular-season game in Texas since 2003, when a team featuring Larry Fitzgerald defeated Texas A&M, 37-26. The game will be the seventh all-time between Pitt and SMU and the first since the Mustangs defeated the Panthers, 28-6, in the BBVA Compass Bowl after the 2011 season.

With SMU joining the ACC this season, the game takes on added luster as a matchup between teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. Pitt (7-0, 3-0) is No. 18 (up from 19), and SMU is No. 20 (7-1, 4-0 ) a week before the more important rankings from the College Football Playoff committee are released.

SMU is feeling good about itself after an almost unbelievable 28-27 overtime victory at Duke (6-2, 2-2) on Saturday night. Quarterback Kevin Jennings threw three interceptions, and the Mustangs lost three fumbles before Brashard Smith ran 24 yards for the deciding touchdown.

“There were so many times we just should have lost the game,” Lashlee said on the ACC Network. “That’s a really good Duke football team. They did not deserve to lose the way they played.”

SMU joined Pitt as teams that benefited from their opponents’ missed field goals in the fourth quarter. California kicker Ryan Coe missed from 40 yards with 1 minute, 50 seconds left in Pitt’s 17-15 victory Oct. 12 at Acrisure Stadium. Duke’s Todd Pelino missed from 42 before SMU’s Jahfari Harvey blocked a 30-yard attempt by leaping over the right guard on the last play of regulation.

It’s perhaps a lesson for Pitt’s perfect kicker Ben Sauls (12 for 12). Lashlee told the ACC Network that Harvey’s play is one his team practiced all week.

“You don’t know you have to have it until you have to have it,” he said.

SMU committed six turnovers, but Duke never scored off any of them. The Mustangs are only the second team in the past 20 seasons to win a game with a minus-6 turnover margin.

“We know SMU has historically been known for offense, receivers and all that stuff,” safety Jonathan Magill told the ACC Network. “Defensively, we really wanted to have a swagger.”

In the postgame SMU locker room, Lashlee gave an impassioned speech.

“Any normal team,” he began, “would just roll over and say ‘You know what? It’s not our night. You guys just take it.’

“Defense, unbelievable job. Offense, it was a comedy of errors with the turnovers, the penalties (seven for 85 yards), the goal line stand (SMU failed to score after having first-and-goal at the 1). But in overtime, 24 yards to the house.

“Nobody cares at the end of the day what it looked like. All it’s going to say is SMU 7-1.”

Now, SMU must turn its attention to Pitt, one of only eight undefeated FCS teams, after the Panthers intercepted five passes, with three pick 6s, to beat Syracuse.

“We have to go play a team that just scored three times on defense,” Lashlee said. “Right now, (Pitt is) smiling really big after what they just saw (Saturday night).”

After the game, Smith, who played wide receiver at Miami before transferring, showed the same type of confidence Pitt players have put on display all season.

“Pitt, they’re a good team,” Smith said, “but if we play how we usually play, no one can mess with us.”