SMU’s road success bodes well for Virginia’s chances of winning the ACC title

UNIVERSITY PARK — SMU’s opportunity to repeat history comes in an environment where it thrives this year.

On the road.

While the Mustangs have taken advantage of the growing home crowd at Ford Stadium throughout ACC play, they have been one of the nation’s top road teams, winning all four of their road games this year to extend their road winning streak to nine straight games.

That streak is among the longest active in the FBS.

SMU needs just one final road win over the University of Virginia to clinch its spot in this year’s ACC title game. Along with this year’s Oregon team, it could become the first since the Florida State Seminoles in 1992 to finish its inaugural campaign in a power conference undefeated.

SMU’s success on the road bodes well for their chances of securing that feat Saturday.

“We have an opportunity to go undefeated on the road this season, which would be an incredible feat any season,” SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee said this week. “We love going on the road. We want to have a mentality that relishes the opportunity to go into a stadium where everyone is against you. It’s a hostile environment. If you’re a competitor, you have to rise to these moments and love it. It should be something you live for instead of something you shrink from.”

The Mustangs have played some of their tightest contests away from Ford Stadium this year, but managed to hang on each time. The season started with a fourth quarter comeback victory over Nevada in Reno. The road schedule continued with a wire-to-wire battle with Louisville in a hostile environment. A few weeks later, the Mustangs survived an overtime game against Duke. The Stanford road game was the only decisive victory.

They are prepared for another game against a Virginia team one win away from bowl eligibility that has exceeded expectations this year.

“They’re long. They’re athletic and they run and play hard,” Lashlee said. “(Quarterback Anthony) Colandrea has been really good this year, so he’s a guy you worry about because he can throw that he can run it and he can extend plays.”

The biggest challenge for SMEs entering this last road game is to take the field with everything at stake.

They can become one of the first power conference teams to clinch a conference title game berth and enter their final home game at Ford Stadium with some peace of mind as Clemson and Miami battle for the final ACC berth.

But they’re trying to minimize those stakes and enter Saturday as the last nine road games they’ve played.

“We’ve got two fights left. The job’s not done. We all understand what’s in front of us and what opportunities we have, but if you sit and think about it too long, you’re not going to stay there,” Lashlee said “Now we have to finish. We have to close the deal. We get an opportunity to do that Saturday.”

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