Rhett Lashlee talks SMU's win over FSU in season opener

SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee spoke with the media following the Mustangs 27-24 victory at Florida State on Monday night. Here's everything he had to say. Opening statement Well, eventful night. I'm really proud of how our guys handled just the hour and 45 minute delay. And they were ready to play and then they still came out ready to play. Showed a lot of maturity. I want to say, appreciate Florida State. They were great through the whole process. Mike was great. The ACC was great. Mike Roach and his officiating crew are phenomenal. The way they communicated to us through the delay and even throughout the game, we played probably a quarter and a half. It was right before half, I think, when we got clocks and we couldn't communicate well and all that, both sides. So they just handled it really well. Stuff happens, so really happy to win. It's hard to win. It's hard to win on the road. It's extra hard to win when you lose the turnover battle 4-0 and do a lot of things to not make yourself hard to beat. You know game ones are tough, it's not an excuse but we were somehow able to get that out of the way, win on the road and we're really happy to be 1-0 and I think we play a game in like 20 hours or something. So we'll try to get home. On handling delay, how players responded Yeah, well you know I guess we didn't know it but it happened right before we ran out because the clock stopped. But we get out there and then all of a sudden there's no lights. And they were hopeful they could get it back on in about 10-15 minutes, so we stayed out there for a little bit and y'all probably saw Mike and I go to midfield. We were just like at some point you need to go in or you got to restretch. so once we realize it was going to probably take longer than we hoped, we went in they were hoping for 815-830. Again, I think they did a great job getting it to where we could play I don't know exactly what happened. It's definitely way out of my wheelhouse. But when I think a transponder blows or something, I don't know. So they got it to where we could play and kind of old school, both teams. Mike and I, I mean, I've ve never done this before. We probably came in the locker room, we told our guys. 'Hey, it's like a lightning delay'. We told them we're the last team in the country to get to play a game. What's another hour, hour and a half? And they were awesome. They were just awesome. They embraced the oddness of it. And then we had to, I've never walked down into the other team's home tunnel to go in there. But we had to go just meet with Florida State and our people and the ACC and just decide and it was good. Everybody was on the same page, let's go old school. What 10 years ago, there wasn't any talking to players. They did have clocks, but so yeah, just both teams were playing with the same issues, so it was all good. But then we found out we're going to start at 915. Our guys came out and ready to go. On how no headset communication affected operations during first half Yeah, I mean, again, until two years ago, we didn't communicate in the QB's headset. But we've gotten used to it. So, for most of the first half, I'm not able to talk to Kevin. Then you saw a bunch of times him kind of running over and like, hey, tell the play, run back in, you know, and so I mean, we do what we do. We just adjust and move on. I think if you sit there and whine and think about how hard it is, you're not going to solve the problem. We were just alright, let's go play without it, you know? And our guys did a good job of that. Thoughts on offensive performance, if he was happy with the way they moved the ball Yeah, I really was and I think we punted one time. But like at the end of the third quarter, so, you know, the first fumble can't happen early in the game killed our momentum. We would at least have an attempt at three you would think on that drive and we were moving it pretty good. Then you know the the one it really hurt was we're up 17-10 we get to stop to start the half, we drive all the way down and we have exactly what we want and we just we had a miscommunication. Receiver runs the wrong route and and Kevin was getting pressure and threw it instead of eating it because if he runs the right route it's throw and a catch and so we throw a pick that just is killer. And then we just start shooting herself on the foot as a team, right? So then we throw a pick basically in the end zone, they come all the way down, we stop them. We jump offsides Take three points now, they end up getting seven, and we give it back. And then we get a stop. Defense responded really well all night. We get a stop, and then I mean, one of our most reliable players, tries to field a weird punt and hits his foot, and now they get it again. And then obviously the only really bad turnover was the last one, that wasn't good. But other than I'd say really one and a half plays, really that one pick at the end was really, Kevin played awesome. I mean, he was in control, threw for 430, he ran it when he needed to. Things broke down, he made plays, think of the last third and 11. Third and one, we get the hold. They cover it, he scrambles, and Chunky just turns it up, and I mean, just he's a player, man. So really proud of him. And proud of our guys for just finding a way to win. That's all that really matters. On offensive performance, how the showing compared to what he envisioned I think it shows what we think we can be. I don't know if you know this, second or third play of the game, Kendrick comes out with a shoulder. Came back in at the end of the game, he's the one icing the game, really tough. Chunky got banged up at one time and they just kept playing. We ran the ball well when we needed to. Probably could have ran it more. But ran it when we needed to, threw it when we needed to. We moved the ball really well. We just we had three really bad turnovers on offense. And it's just weird. We missed one field goal, we settled for a field goal inside the five. I made a really bad second down call. And we ended up not scoring on third down having to settle for three that time. We showed how good we can be. This was game one on the road against a really talented team but we got a lot to clean up. On what he learned about 2026 team playing conference opponent on the road in season opener The moment's not too big for them. I mean, look at our defense, a lot of new guys. We're still getting after the quarterback. They ran it a lot. I don't have the stats, but we stopped the run enough, especially with a quarterback that can run. The two big plays, we just didn't tackle well. Game one stuff, hopefully we'll get better, but I thought our guys were physical. Thought on offense, a lot of the new skill guys. I mean, the only guy Kevin had really played a game with that was a starter was Yamir Knight, and then a little bit of Jalen Cooper. Everyone else was new, the tight ends, the receivers, the running backs. And so for them to click as good as they did, and then Kevin missing two weeks of fall camp, thought our line was really good. Did we have a sack? I don't think we had a sack on offense. They protected him, we ran it well. They do a lot of looks that they blitz a ton. I mean, it was a blitz fest. They probably got tired, they blitzed so much, but our offensive line did a good job of just continuing to hang in there. On mental toughness and resilience offense showed responding to turnovers but continuing to move the ball They did what we asked them to, they responded. We asked them to be calm in the chaos and couldn't be more chaotic than the first hour and a half, right? And we're in total control of the game, driving down in the third quarter to try to go up two scores. We mess up, miscommunicate, throw a pick. Next thing you know we're tied. Then we break through, go down, score, take the lead. Next thing you know, they throw it on flats. Guy makes a great play, scores, we're tied again. Then I think we throw a pick. Defense comes out there three and out. So they just did a really good job responding. There's a moment. Unfortunately we turned it over too many times for me to be sure which one it was. I Can't run [remember], I think it was after the muff punt, but I'm not sure. And I wasn't very happy. And Kilgore just ran by and said 'coach we got y 'all, don't worry about it.' Just kept running. That's the mentality the whole team played with. So that gives us a chance with anybody, but I think you saw tonight if we can not beat ourselves, we'll be pretty good. On Nick Reed's response after missed field goal It was good. You know his first kick here. He's been really good. He kicked the ball off great. Kicking in the end zone is a big deal. But to bounce back from that miss. You're tough at the end. Do we score, do we not score, do we complete it down to 20? We were kind of in between, but that last run we centered it up and great operation, he made it. So he responded well, we had some issues, we missed the field goal. We fumbled a punt, we jumped off sides on a PAT. So it wasn't very pretty. Wasn't very clean. Not happy about it at all. And if we want to keep winning, we're going to have to clean it up quick. On Randy Pittman's performance against former school, how he was during the week He was RP, he's a big goofball and I love him. I mean, he's the happiest dude, he's always in a great mood. He's one of the smartest, instinctive football players I've ever been with. I mean, he just played lights out. I mean, catches the seam ball on the sideline, catches the first or second play of the game. That one time where they about took his pants off, I don't know if you all saw that, we got backed up first and 20 and he carries guys and jumping over guys. He's just a football player and he didn't get too high. I was really proud of him. He scored a touchdown and early in the week he told Coach Dodge to tell me if he scored a touchdown, he's going to get a celebration penalty. And I told Riley, I said, 'Riley, you go to him and tell him he's not getting a celebration penalty'. And I said, I'll figure something out. I didn't have to. He had a good little dance from what I saw, but nothing illegal. On Kevin Jennings being healthy again, utilizing athleticism to extend plays Like I said, y 'all saw what he can do. And like I said, we were sloppier, there would have been 430 and 5 touchdowns. But I think he's happy to be healthy and I think he knows what his legs can bring. We didn't design running much, pulled a few, but there's going to be plenty of times we need to, but just extending plays. I think the last drive, he took a pretty good hit on that one, but that was big, got us a second and one. So his legs, not just extending plays to throw it, which he's great at, but running the football is going to be big for us in big games. On defensive performance overall Yeah, I mean, I think first half we played great, what was it? They gave up 10 points, we put them in some tough spots. We fumbled the punt, backed up, late in the game it's tied, we throw the pick. So they just really, I thought for the first game, you always worry about tackling, tackled well. We got enough pressure on the quarterback when we needed to. Like I said, we slowed down the run game. I don't know the stats, but it didn't hurt us too bad. So I thought it was a good first game for the defense, I was proud of them. On how win sets up SMU moving forward A whole lot better than not winning it. 1-0 is a lot better than 0-1. I'm sorry Hayden, I'm just, I'm tired. No, it's good. I mean, it's good to be 1-0. It's good to be 1-0 in the league. We knew the beginning of our season's a challenge on the road. Now we play, it's already Tuesday, we play Saturday. We'll get home on Wednesday; I don't know when we'll get home. But got a short week, going to have some guys beat up against a team that went, I think, third round last year. And then we got another road trip. So we got to get better from the sloppiness, fast. The one thing I will say is the sloppiness wasn't, we didn't have a lot of false starts, we didn't have any on the road. We didn't have any late hits, personal fouls, unsportsmanlike conducts. The one that was really undisciplined was jumped offsides on fourth and three on a field goal. So the holds, those things, the passing interference, those things are going to happen, they can get cleaned up. So yeah, they were great. Just got to be better if we want to keep winning.