Lashlee – No SMU in the CFP would be “wrong on so many levels”

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said it would be “criminal” if his team was eliminated from the College Football Playoff after a last-second 34-31 loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game on Saturday night.

The No. 8 Mustangs (11-2) finished the ACC regular season as the only undefeated team in league play. Against Clemson, they overcame a 17-point halftime deficit, but lost as time expired on a 56-yard field goal by Nolan Hauser.

“It would be criminal if we weren’t there,” Lashlee said in his postgame press conference. “It would be wrong on so many levels. Not just for our team. It would be wrong for what college football stands for. Our team deserves a chance to be there. It doesn’t matter what I say, but it would prevail.” A really bad precedent. It would break all the principles we were told. We showed up and racked our brains. You know we should be there. So we’ll see what happens.

After trailing 24-7 at halftime, SMU came back – culminating in a 4-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Jennings to Roderick Daniels Jr. in the corner of the end zone with 16 seconds left to tie the score at 31 finish.

But Adam Randall returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards, and Cade Klubnik threw a 17-yard completion to Antonio Williams with three seconds left to set up the 56-yard field goal attempt. Hauser nailed the ball through the uprights, sparking wild Clemson celebrations.

SMU players walked off the field dejected, some standing to watch as the Tigers celebrated their eighth ACC title in the last decade and secured the ACC’s automatic playoff spot. That left the Mustangs wondering whether they would get an open field spot or be eliminated altogether.

The final CFP Selection Committee rankings will be released beginning Sunday at noon ET.

“Our guys are just hurting me,” Lashlee said. “It hurts me because I think for good reason their trust in the system has just been shaken. I think they’re all in there wondering, ‘Are they going to be there tomorrow? Is the solution OK or is it correct?’ what is being done?’ That’s the truth. They are hurt because they lost the game. They’re hurt because they know they could have won, and then they fought back. In the last minute, (Clemson) played a great game. It hurts them because they weren’t given a lot of trust that they did what they were supposed to do and I hope that it hurt them 11 hours, I won’t be.

Selection committee chairman Warde Manuel gave some leeway Tuesday when asked directly whether SMU could fall behind No. 11 Alabama (9-3) with a loss, answering “possibly yes.”

Just last season, the ACC felt the pain of being left out of the playoffs when the selection committee chose Alabama over undefeated ACC champion Florida State. With an expanded 12-team playoff outside of the automatic berth for the ACC, there are no at-large bid guarantees.

“It just hurts me for our guys. It hurts me because their trust in the system is shaken right now, and for good reason. I think they’re all in there wondering, ‘Are they going to be there tomorrow?’ ‘Is the solution there or is the right thing being done?’ That’s the truth.”

SMU coach Rhett Lashlee

“The game could have gone either way,” SMU athletic director Rick Hart told ESPN. “I haven’t seen anything tonight, I haven’t actually seen anything lately that would change our position.”

Asked if he believed the selection committee would do the right thing, Hart added: “I believe they are good people doing well.”

SMU will not host a watch party for its team on Sunday. Instead, Lashlee will have a media availability later this afternoon.

Lashlee has maintained all week that his team has done enough to win or lose the CFP. This also applies to ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips.

In a statement late Saturday evening, Phillips reiterated that position.

“As SMU finished the regular season at No. 8 in the CFP rankings, and as I have consistently stated, they clearly earned a spot in the playoffs,” Phillips said. “Punishing a team that finished the regular season ranked No. 8 and played an extra game for a conference championship would have dangerous implications for the sport by rewarding teams that don’t have to play an extra game.”

SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings, who nearly engineered the comeback after two early turnovers, said “a lot of emotions” went through his mind when the field goal kick ended their championship hopes. But he also believes his team has shown they can compete with anyone.

“Hopefully we showed what we can do all year and they got us to the playoffs,” Jennings said. “But you can’t tell. That’s why I pray we get the place.”