Underdog and Pony Show: How BYU turned to its much-maligned defense to stun favored ACC newcomer SMU

DALLAS — It wasn’t as miraculous as BYU’s come-from-behind win over SMU in the 1980 Holiday Bowl , but it was almost as unexpected, especially when the Cougars insisted on shooting themselves in the foot time and time again Friday night.

And it was delivered by the defense this time, pretty much that same defense that was constantly riddled and embarrassed last year in the Cougars’ inauspicious beginning to Big 12 play.

Amazingly, BYU’s defense dominated in Big D.

Holding an SMU team that was averaging more than 53 points per game in its last nine home games to five field goals and 261 yards, BYU sprung one of the bigger upsets of the young college football season deep in the heart of Texas, stunning the Mustangs 18-15 in front of 31,172 at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

SMU brought out its high-flying pony show. BYU arrived with a bunch of hungry underdogs.

The dogs won — but just barely.

“I like the way we found a way to win this game,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “In the past we’ve been down or had turnovers and guys hung their heads. Now the guys are fighting through and not giving up.”

There was an awful lot to fight through, most notably three turnovers, including an interception by defensive lineman Jared Harrison-Hunte that gave SMU the ball at the BYU 3.

Yet the Cougars still pulled it out. Some how. Some way.

Will Ferrin’s 26-yard field goal with 1:58 was the difference in a game that, until Jake Retzlaff crawled off the mat and delivered a 67-yard scoring drive in the final six minutes, nobody seemed to deserve.

Or want.

Retzlaff made plenty of mistakes throughout, some almost comical in nature, but just like last year at Oklahoma State when he led the Cougars on a late drive to force overtime, the junior made the plays when his side really had to have them.

Retzlaff finished 15 of 28 for 202 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions for a passer rating of 111.7. He also lost a fumble but rushed for 35 yards.

BYU’s coaches made several mistakes and iffy decisions of their own, but in the end Sitake’s decision to go for a first down on fourth-and-1 near midfield with just over four minutes remaining and the game tied at 15-15 proved to be the right one.

No play was bigger than that, no decision more appropriate.

With RB1 LJ Martin and RB2 Hinckley Ropati nursing injuries on the sidelines, and after a timeout that allowed the Cougars to “tweak” the play, in Sitake’s words, Retzlaff pitched the ball to third-string running back Miles Davis.

Davis, who has seen his role diminished the past two seasons, took the ball for a 37-yard gain to the SMU 15. Three plays later, Ferrin made the 14th field goal of his career with 1:58 left.

“Just felt good about it,” Sitake said of the decision to go for the first down. “I didn’t look at analytics and things like that. Just felt good and looked at our guys. We even took a timeout.

“People wanted us to think about it a little bit more. I just still felt good about it. I liked the look in the eyes of our guys, and they felt like they could do it, felt confident about the call, and away we went.”

SMU backup quarterback Kevin Jennings had been hurting the Cougars with his legs after relieving an ineffective Preston Stone — Jennings rushed for 38 yards — and took over with just under two minutes remaining.

A late hit on the kickoff return, when BYU’s Marcus McKenzie apparently didn’t see the returner signal for a fair catch, gave the Ponies the ball at their 40.

BYU’s defense rose up again for the umpteenth time, forcing four straight incomplete passes, and the Cougars moved to 5-0 against SMU all-time.

“That’s leadership on our defense and our staff and our coaches and the guys’ belief in each other,” Sitake said. “You have to (go) through adversity for the guys to trust each other like that.”

Eight days after suffering a heart attack, BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill called the plays from the press box and watched his guys play the game of their lives.

Blake Mangelson, Isaiah Glasker and Jack Kelly had sacks, while Kelly’s former Weber State teammate, Marque Collins, came up with a huge interception and Jakob Robinson jumped on Brassard Smith’s fumble.

“Something we practiced all week,” Collins said of his pick, which came inside the 5-yard line. Three plays later, Retzlaff was intercepted by the defensive lineman — in his defense, it appeared that the lineman fell down and was out of BYU’s quarterback’s vision, then hopped up and made the play.

Three plays after that, Robinson came up with the fumble. It was the sort of wild, momentum-swinging, back-and-forth game that the Cougars and Mustangs always seem to play, and BYU always wins, almost miraculously.

SMU will return the trip in 2027.

The first half almost set football back a decade. It was that ugly. BYU struck first — Retzlaff threw another touchdown pass to tight end Mata’ava Ta’ase — but momentum started swinging dramatically when Martin left the game on the second-to-last play of the first quarter.

Facing a third-and-2 deep in their own territory, the Cougars handed the ball off to Ropati, and he went nowhere. BYU punted, and SMU used the excellent field position to get in field goal range, barely.

Collin Rogers’ career-high 53-yarder put the Mustangs on the board. Rogers also made field goals of 52, 38, 28 and 45 yards.

“Hats off to their kicker,” Sitake said. “My gosh, this guy was automatic.”

With Martin out of the game and Ropati struggling to find running lanes, BYU promptly went three-and-out on its next three possessions.

In all, the Cougars had six three-and-outs and failed on one of their three fourth-down conversion attempts.

BYU caught a huge break after another punt when the ball bounced into the back of an SMU player. The Cougars took over at the SMU 36, but again couldn’t move the ball after Ropati’s 9-yard run on second down.

He was stopped on third-and-1, and then on fourth-and-inches a handoff to Miles Davis lost 2 yards from the 27. Retzlaff danced between shotgun and under center before the ball was finally snapped, and Davis had no chance.

Their momentum restored, the Mustangs got some offense going with Jennings at the controls and again drove into field-goal range.

Rogers’ third field goal of the first half, a 38-yarder, gave the home team a 9-7 lead at the break.

Retzlaff finally got some rhythm just before halftime and got BYU to SMU’s 37-yard line, but Ferrin’s 55-yard field goal attempt was wide left.