SMU Football 2025: Defensive Preview
A school fueled by oil and the United Methodist Church: of course the NCAA rulebook was optional scripture for the Mustangs.
A year ago, Cal and SMU went head-to-head in a game that can only be described as the beginning of the end of the progress built by Wilcox and the 2024 squad. Fernando Mendoza was a last-minute scratch from the active roster due to a reported illness that ultimately kept the Bears out of the endzone for the entire game, as they only scored two field goals in their 6-38 loss last season.
Flash forward to now, Mendoza’s illness is a highly contested subject amongst Cal fans due to the 6-6 result to the season and his departure to Indiana, the roster is completely different with JKS, Raphael, and Mini leading the offense rather than Mendoza, Ott, and Endries, and the California Golden Bears will be stepping on the field WITHOUT Justin Wilcox leading the charge for the first time since 2016. Meanwhile, SMU is right back to where they were last year, as they are looking to secure a spot in the ACC Championship game and earn a spot in the College Football Playoffs. SMU is currently ranked No. 21 in the CFB Playoff Standings and will make the ACC Conference Championship game if they beat Cal, OR if Pitt and Duke lose this week while Virginia and North Carolina win.
Head coach Rhett Lashlee is in his 4th season with the Mustangs after replacing former HC (and former Cal HC) Sonny Dykes and has compiled a 37-15 record, winning the ACC Coach of the Year award last season after taking the SMU Mustangs to the College Football Playoffs. Underneath Lashlee at defensive coordinator is Scott Symons, who joined the Mustangs in December of 2021, and ran a 4-3 defense last season, but has been using a successful 4-2-5 scheme in 2025.
The Mustangs Defense in 2024:
11-3 Record, 26th in Total Defense allowing 326.0 YPG on 225.8 Passing Yards Allowed per game (79th) and just 100.2 Rushing Yards Allowed per game (7th). The Rushing Defense allowed just 2.9 yards/rush and 1,403 total yards all season.
43 total Sacks for -301 yards and an average of 3.07 per game – 10th best in the FBS. 17th overall in Team Tackles for Loss with 100 (-416 yards) and an average of 7.1 per game.
27th in Turnovers Gained: 6 Fumble Recoveries and 16 interceptions (22 total).
2025 Defense:
8-3 (6-1 ACC) with recent ranking nods from the committee due to upsets against Miami and Louisville, Symons’ defense is allowing just 19.7 points per game (19th in FBS) on 389.2 yards per game (73rd).
The rushing defense, anchored by defensive edges Isaiah Smith and Cameron Robertson, defensive tackles Terry Webb and Jeffrey M’ba, and linebackers Brandon Booker and Alexander Kilgore – ranks 16th in Rushing Yards Allowed per Game with 105.0 per game – and ranks 12th overall in Yards Allowed per Rush Attempt with 3.0.
TURNOVERS. SMU ranks 1st overall in Takeaways per Game with 1.9 opponent fumbles per game (3rd overall) and 1.5 Interceptions per game (tied for 5th overall).
Likely Starters:
Defensive Line: DE #9 Cameron Robertson – DE #1 Isaiah Smith
Linebackers: WLB #54 Alexander Kilgore – MLB #28 Brandon Brooker
Defensive Backs: CB #0 William Nettles – CB #8 Marcellus Barnes Jr. – NB #7 Deuce Harmon – S #23 Isaiah Nwokobia – S #3 Ahmaad Moses
Players to Watch:
Senior Safety Ahmaad Moses leads the Mustang defense with 81 total tackles (39 solo and 42 assisted) and 5 Interceptions, while Senior DE Isaiah Smith leads the team with 8.5 Sacks for 44 yards. Senior DE Cameron Robertson missed 3 games but returned last week against Louisville and already had 9 TFL for 43 yards.
Sophomore Linebacker Brandon Booker has 4 QB Hurries and 54 total tackles on the season. At the same time, RS Senior NB Deuce Harmon is tied for 1st on the team with non-starting Junior LB Brandon Miyazono and RS Senior Safety Isaiah Nwokobia for passes broken up on the season, with 7 each.
So, How Does Cal Win This Game?
SMU and Cal are in two very different places entering Saturday’s game in Berkeley. In comparison, the Mustangs look to cruise into the ACC Championship Game by beating a Bear while its down, Cal is looking to upset the Ponies with Interim Head Coach and Bay Area native Nick Rolovich taking on coaching duties to finish the 2025 season and bowl game (while also throwing his name in Ron Rivera’s national coaching search) beside Wilcox’s handpicked OC Bryan Harsin (who also is likely flashing his resume to Riverboat Ron in hopes of landing the HC job).
To go from Wilcox to Rolovich in Berkeley seems poetic to me. On paper, this is a mismatch of a deflated Cal offense that scored just 10 points against Stanford – who was 3-7 going into the Big Game, against a red-hot SMU defense that will take advantage of Cal’s weak running game and receivers’ frequent drops to put a lot of pressure on JKS and the offensive line, which has given up 2.9 sacks per game (117th in FBS).
Perhaps the best strategy for the Golden Bears this weekend is to embrace the passing game as best as possible, as SMU is ranked 133rd overall in pass completions allowed per game, with 23.9 (JKS currently ranks 7th in the FBS in Pass Completions with 256), but also to embrace the upcoming change coming to Berkeley. Rolovich most likely won’t be the head coach in the future, so he could use the next two games to showcase how successful he can be facilitating a run a shoot offense with his recruited QB, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who we have not seen in the most mobile situations thus far, as well as flash some of the more spread out offense he ran in his successful stint as HC with Hawaii.
Players such as Uluave and Sagapolutele have said their goodbyes to Wilcox on social media, and a new era of Cal Football begins this Saturday. How this game and Wilcox’s departure is going to affect the future of this program will all be seen very soon.