Buechele’s six TDs move Mustangs to 7-0
DALLAS — SMU’s improbable season remains perfect thanks to an aerial game that eliminated some of the high anxiety last seen when the Mustangs took the field.
Shane Buechele set career highs with six touchdown passes and 457 passing yards as No. 19 SMU improved to 7-0 with a 45-21 win over Temple on Saturday.
Reggie Roberson Jr. had a career-high 250 receiving yards on eight catches, including touchdowns of 75, 60 and 33 yards. The 33-yard score saw Buechele lead Roberson into the left corner of the end zone in tight coverage. On the two longer connections, Roberson got behind the secondary in the middle of the field with room to spare.
“We thought coming into the game we had some favorable matchups with some of our skill guys, and we had to execute,” SMU coach Sonny Dykes said. “Shane obviously made some really great deep throws, and Reggie made some plays.”
The Mustangs have opened the season with seven straight victories for the first time since 1982, when they were 10-0-0 en route to an 11-0-1 finish. The seven-game winning streak is their longest since winning eight straight during the 1984-85 seasons and matches their win total of the previous two years.
“Our team does a really good job at taking it week by week and going 1-0,” Buechele said. “It’s always a goal to win, but to win that week — not just the whole season.”
SMU (3-0 American) remains in first place in the West Division. Dykes called it “certainly the most complete game I think we’ve played up to this point.”
SMU enjoyed an off week following its frenetic triple-overtime win over Tulsa at home on Oct. 5 when the Mustangs rallied from a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Dykes said his team benefitted from the rest and put in the best practice week of his two years on the Hilltop.
“Throwing vertical routes is something that we always need extra work at, and we got it,” Dykes said. “It also gave us a chance to put a couple new wrinkles in.”
The week allowed Roberson to recover from an injury that sidelined him during the Tulsa game.
“When I came back and was ready to practice, I had some great practices,” Roberson said.
Buechele, in his first year at SMU after playing the previous three years at Texas, was 30 for 53 passing. He also threw touchdown passes of 10 yards each to James Proche and Kylen Granson and 5 yards to Xavier Jones. Buechele’s previous yardage high was 375 as a Longhorn in 2017.
Temple (5-2, 2-1) scored on 1yard runs by Ra’Mahn Davis and Anthony Russo and a 25-yard pass from Russo to Branden Mack. The Owls are one game behind firstplace Cincinnati in the East.
“There’s a lot to fix in all areas,” first-year Owls coach Rod Carey said. “The good news is it’s correctable. The bad news is it cost us today. They caught us in the oneon-ones and took advantage and executed, and we did not.”