This is the Depth Dossier: the SMU Mustangs, Week 9.

SMU found a way to out-play Syracuse in just about every way that matters on paper and still walked away with a 30 to 27 loss.

The Mustangs outgained Syracuse by 83 yards and won the efficiency battle, but two turnovers and nine penalties in all the wrong spots cost them the game.

Here's how it unfolded. SMU ripped off 17 straight points to grab a 27 to 20 lead with nine minutes left. Syracuse answered with a field goal, then put together an 11-play, 68-yard winning drive that included a fourth and one conversion with just 17 seconds left on the clock. Quarterback Kevin Jennings threw for 352 yards and two touchdowns, but SMU gave up four sacks after allowing just eight all season. Wide receiver Jalen Hale fumbled, setting up the Syracuse field goal that turned out to be the difference. A third and 16 drop by wide receiver Theo Melin Öhrström killed SMU's last chance to seal it, and a fumbled lateral by running back Randy Pittman Junior ended the game for good. SMU is now 4 and 2 in the ACC and has dropped out of the AP Top 25.

Now, the box score tells a different story than the final score. SMU won the success rate battle and had a real edge in points added per play, and one model gave the Mustangs a win expectancy of nearly 58 percent after the final whistle. None of that mattered because turnovers and penalties, the two things that actually decide football games, went against them.

The penalties were brutal in their timing. SMU drew nine flags for 90 yards, and two of them wiped out explosive plays that would have flipped field position. A hold erased a 60-yard punt return by Yamir Knight that would have set up SMU at the Syracuse eight yard line. An ineligible man downfield call wiped out a 51-yard catch by Jalen Cooper. A face mask on punt coverage gifted Syracuse a touchdown drive from midfield, and a pass interference call on third and 10 extended Syracuse's winning drive. Head coach Rhett Lashlee didn't dance around it. He said, "We had the penalties that were all pretty critical, particularly on special teams and a couple holds on offense."

The run game looked worse on paper than it actually was. SMU finished with 31 carries for 69 yards, but once you strip out the sack yardage, that's 27 carries for 121 yards. Lashlee noted Syracuse played more of a soft zone coverage than usual, which invited the running game but didn't get much push.

A few other notes worth knowing. Jennings passed 10,000 career yards and set the program record with 76 touchdown passes. Syracuse converted all four of its fourth down tries.

No injuries were reported, so this is purely a performance story. Up front, pass protection cracked in a way it hadn't all season. Four sacks after just eight allowed through seven games is a red flag for an offensive line that had been the engine of SMU's late-season surge. Watch whether Lashlee changes up protection schemes or personnel against the rush going forward.

At receiver, Yannick Smith and Yamir Knight emerged as Jennings' top two targets, combining for 11 catches and 175 yards. Knight added a touchdown and 101 all-purpose yards. Running back Kendrick Raphael scored the go-ahead touchdown and caught five passes, continuing in his lead role even though he didn't get much going on the ground.

On defense, Sael Reyes posted a career high 10 tackles and a tackle for loss, with Jimmy Wyrick and Brandon Booker each adding eight tackles. That group effort kept SMU in control of a game its offense and special teams nearly gave away.

The bigger concern going forward is finishing. Hale's fumble and Pittman's fumbled lateral were two live-ball turnovers in a game SMU otherwise deserved to win. With the Mustangs now outside the Top 25 and tied up in the ACC race, there's little room left for these kinds of correctable mistakes to keep deciding outcomes.

This was the depth dossier. For everything college football, be it depth charts, data or dossiers, head over to C F B Depth dot com. We will be back next week. This was an AI-generated podcast from content developed by real human beings passionate about college football.