SMU had no problems handling the jump to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Now the No. 8 Mustangs (11-1, 8-0, No. 8 CFP) look to complete an unbeaten run through the ACC in their inaugural season when they face perennial conference power Clemson on Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. The 18th-ranked Tigers (9-3, 7-1, No. 17 CFP) will play in a record 10th ACC championship game in 16 seasons under coach Dabo Swinney.
The Mustangs moved to the ACC after capturing the American Athletic Conference championship in 2023. They have won 17 straight regular-season conference games, going back to 2022.
“We wanted to be at this level. We wanted to play on this stage,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said. “We want to be playing in the championship game. ... We have ultimate respect for Clemson, but this is a stage we want to be on.”
Clemson looked as if it might miss out on its second straight title game, but Syracuse stunned then-No. 6 Miami to give the Tigers a spot. They have been dominant once they get there, winning eight of their previous nine ACC title game appearances, the lone loss coming to Georgia Tech in 2009.
“I’m proud of the consistency. Uncommon consistency," Swinney said. “I know we’re supposedly a bad program now and we’re doom and gloom. It’s all downhill and everything’s terrible. But I think we’ve been in this game two of the last three years.”
If the Mustangs win they'll likely wrap up a first-round bye in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. Clemson, which comes in as a 2 1/2-point underdog according to BetMGM Sportsbook, needs a win to qualify for the playoff and likely assure the ACC gets two teams in.
The ACC will receive $4 million for each team that makes the CFP and each team that advances to the playoff quarterfinals and $6 million for each team that advances to the playoff semifinal and championship game. In addition, each conference will receive $3 million to cover expenses from each round for a team participating in the CFP.
Swinney said if the Tigers win the national title he’ll invite Syracuse coach Fran Brown to Clemson to ride with him in the championship parade.
“If that happens, like let’s dream big, hey, why not? Fran Brown, he’s going to be riding in the car with me, convertible, through downtown Clemson,” Swinney said.
SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings will be playing in his second straight conference championship game.
Jennings was pressed into his first career start last year in the AAC after Preston Stone broke his leg in the regular-season finale. He responded by leading the Mustangs to a 26-14 win, accounting for 266 yards from scrimmage along with a touchdown pass.
Jennings began this season behind Stone on the depth chart, but took over as the starter in Week 4 and has gone 9-0 since with the Mustangs averaging 40.8 points per game. Jennings has thrown for 2,746 yards with 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions and is the team’s second-leading rusher with 344 yards and four TDs.
“I’m a lot more confident now for sure,” Jennings said.
Clemson enters the title game coming off a 17-14 loss to rival South Carolina last week. Linebacker Wade Woodaz said players have put that behind them.
“We’ve got another opportunity and we’ve got to be grateful for that," Woodaz said. "Sitting here and dwelling on the loss to South Carolina isn’t going to help us Saturday. Yes, we have to learn from it, got to look at our mistakes and where we messed up. But in the end, we have another shot and we’ve got to take full advantage of it.”
Brashard Smith, SMU's featured running back, was a receiver before transferring to SMU this season.
He has 1,157 yards and 14 touchdowns rushing, and also has 29 catches for 269 yards and three more scores. In the regular-season finale against California, he had 134 total yards (68 rushing and 66 receiving) with two touchdowns.
“He’s a matchup problem. He’s a good player and defensively you’ve got to account for him,” Lashlee said of Smith. “He's an all-purpose player.”
SMU lost two of its top receivers to season-ending injuries midway through its conference schedule: tight end RJ Maryland — the son of former No. 1 overall NFL draft pick Russell Maryland — and receiver Jake Bailey.
Michigan transfer Matthew Hibner took over as the starting tight end and has 15 catches for 230 yards and three touchdowns the last five games after only two catches for 31 yards the first seven. When Bailey got hurt, the Mustangs moved Roderick Daniels Jr. back to receiver from running back, and he has caught 15 passes the last three games.
The Tigers were one of the country’s most dynamic offenses for a six-game stretch — all victories — early September through October.
Clemson averaged better than 48 points a game during that run. That average has dropped to less than 27 points a game in the last five contests.
AP Sports Writers Pete Iacobelli and Stephen Hawkins contributed to this report.
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Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) rushes for a touchdown in the first half of an NCAA college football game against South Carolina, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Clemson, S.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — European Union foreign ministers will meet in late January to discuss easing sanctions imposed on Syria, the bloc's foreign policy chief said Sunday. However, she said the move would depend on Syria's new rulers carrying out an inclusive political transition after last month’s overthrow of President Bashar Assad.
Kaja Kallas' comments came at a gathering of top European and Middle Eastern diplomats in the Saudi capital of Riyadh to discuss Syria’s future.
Saudi Arabia called for the lifting of sanctions, which threaten to undermine Syria's recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war that killed an estimated 500,000 people and displaced half the country's prewar population of 23 million.
European countries and the United States have been wary over the Islamist roots of the former insurgents who drove Assad out of power and who now lead an interim government.
The former rebels have promised to hold a national dialogue summit that includes different groups across Syria to agree upon a new political road map leading to a new constitution and an election.
Kallas said EU foreign ministers will look at how to ease sanctions during a Jan. 27 meeting in Brussels.
“But this must follow tangible progress in a political transition that reflects Syria in all its diversity,” she said in a post on the social media platform X. She also posted a photo of herself meeting the new Syrian foreign minister, Asaad al-Shibani at Sunday’s gathering.
The U.S., the EU and some Arab nations began imposing sanctions on Syria after Assad’s brutal crackdown on the 2011 uprising against his rule and tightened them as the conflict spiraled into war.
Some of the measures are against individuals in Assad’s government, including freezing of assets. But many target the government in general, including bans on many financial and banking dealings, on oil purchases and on investment or trade in some sectors, crippling the wider Syrian economy.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said sanctions against “Assad’s henchmen who committed serious crimes” must remain in place.
But she called for “a smart approach to sanctions, providing rapid relief for the Syrian population. Syrians now need a quick dividend from the transition of power.” Baerbock did not elaborate but announced an additional 50 million euros ($51.2 million) in German aid for food, emergency shelters and medical care.
At the gathering, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said international and unilateral sanctions on Syria should be lifted.
Continuing them “will hinder the aspirations of the brotherly Syrian people to achieve development and reconstruction,” he said. He praised steps taken so far by the interim Syrian government, including promises to start a political process “that includes various components” of the Syrian people.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his country, which was a strong supporter of the Syrian opposition to Assad, would try to help Syria in normalizing ties with the international community.
He said it was important to establish a “balance between the expectations of the international community and the realities faced by the new administration in Syria.”
He pledged Turkish support to the new government, especially in combating threats from the Islamic State group.
“As Turkey, we are ready to do our part to ease the difficult path ahead for the Syrian people,” he said in comments carried by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency.
Last week, Washington eased some of its restrictions on Syria, with the U.S. Treasury issuing a general license, lasting six months, that authorizes certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions.
The U.S. has also dropped a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of Ahmad al-Sharaa, a Syrian rebel leader formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month. Al-Sharaa was a former senior al-Qaida militant who broke with the group years ago and has pledged an inclusive Syria that respects the rights of religious minorities.
The rebels led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule.
Much of the world severed ties with Assad and imposed sanctions on his government — and its Russian and Iranian allies — over alleged war crimes and the manufacturing of the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon, which reportedly generated billions of dollars as packages of the little white pills were smuggled across Syria’s porous borders.
With Assad out of the picture, Syria’s new authorities hope that the international community will pour money into the country to rebuild its battered infrastructure and make its economy viable again.
Follow AP’s Syria coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/syria
Germany's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock speaks to the press during a conference on Syria's future attended by top European and Middle Eastern diplomats hosted by Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Baraa Anwer)
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud speaks during a press briefing, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Baraa Anwer)
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud speaks during a press briefing, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Baraa Anwer)
Two men walk along the cells gallery of the infamous Saydnaya military prison on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
People peer through a hole in the wall into the cells gallery of the infamous Saydnaya military prison on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
A girl writes "Worship your God" in Arabic as a group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Germany's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock speaks to the press during a conference on Syria's future attended by top European and Middle Eastern diplomats hosted by Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Anwer Baraa)
A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock holds a press conference during an official visit, in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, right, meets with German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, left, and French foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, center, in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (SANA via AP)
