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SMU Football: Will Mustangs avoid letdown vs. Tulsa in Week 6?

By Clayton Panzeri

TAMPA, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 28: Xavier Jones #5 of the Southern Methodist Mustangs rushes during a game against the South Florida Bullsat Raymond James Stadium on September 28, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 28: Xavier Jones #5 of the Southern Methodist Mustangs rushes during a game against the South Florida Bullsat Raymond James Stadium on September 28, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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SMU football is quickly rising in the polls. Will it handle Tulsa at home to avoid a letdown in Week 6 where it could gain some serious traction?

SMU and Sam Buechele have shocked the college football world so far this year. Starting off the season 5-0 with a big win at a ranked TCU 41-38 and putting the Group of Five teams on notice. Now ranked No. 24 in the national polls the Mustangs are in prime position to fight for a New Year’s Six Bowl against the likes of UCF and Boise State.

Tulsa comes into the season 2-2 with a big win against Wyoming two weeks ago at home 24-21. The Golden Hurricane have had an up and down start to their year, but look to get back on track coming off of a bye going into Dallas. Junior quarterback Zach Smith has led the team with 1,018 passing yards and five touchdowns in just two games. The Golden Hurricane hope to keep this momentum going into their conference matchup against SMU.

While SMU is quickly rising in the polls, they need all of the style points they can get, still ranked behind Boise State and UCF. Sam Buechele has provided most of that after transferring from Texas and giving the Mustangs a big spark in 2019. The Mustangs have scored 44 points a game and lit the scoreboard up, while Tulsa has relied on their defense to win them games down the stretch.

Here’s how you can watch:

Date: Saturday, Oct. 5th
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Dallas, Texas
Venue: Gerald J Ford Stadium
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: ESPNWatch

Keys to Victory

SMU runs an offense that is similar to the air raid with a little bit of a sprinkled spread offense mixed in. They will look to pass all night long on the Tulsa defense with Reggie Roberson Jr. on the outside who has over 510 yards on the season and three scores. Look for SMU to set the tempo and knock the Golden Hurricane out early in this one.

Tulsa is a team that doesn’t have a ton of playmakers on offense. They have to manufacture as many points as possible and look to dominate the time of possession. With two very different styles of offense, Tulsa will find themselves in trouble if they can’t stop SMU’s passing attack, forcing them to take more shots downfield and be less efficient.

Betting Odds

Odds courtesy of Odd Shark

Points Spread: SMU -13
Over/Under: 63

Prediction

SMU is coming off of five straight wins and a huge blowout win at South Florida where they put up 48 points. We should see much of the same with this game in Dallas as Tulsa doesn’t match up very well in the secondary and is at risk to give up a ton of big plays with the weapons that the Mustangs have on the outside.

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Tulsa may be able to hold the time of possession, but SMU doesn’t need much time to score. with a heavy passing attack, the Mustangs should wrap this one up at home pretty handily, even after a bye for Tulsa. At the risk of slipping up and losing their NY6 chances, SMU has to have a good game here and add some style points as well.

Final Score: SMU 49, Tulsa 21

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