The SMU Mustangs face the Abilene Christian Wildcats Saturday in week 1 2021 college football action from Gerald J. Ford Stadium. This will be the first on-field activity of the year for both teams. The Wildcats went 1-5 last year in a rough campaign. As for SMU, they posted a 7-3 record which left them in fifth place in the AAC standings. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
Abilene Christian managed to get in a half-dozen games last year (amid a couple of cancellations), but the results weren’t very good. The Wildcats lost their first three games before a three-point win over Mercer. After that came losses to D-II Angelo State and Virginia to finish things off.
The good news for the Wildcats is that they found a good quarterback option in Peyton Mansell. He put up 62 percent of his passes for 1,237 yards in a half-dozen games. Wide receiver Kobe Clark added 26 catches for 362 yards and four scores as well.
Over on the SMU side, they finished 7-3 overall last year and posted a 4-3 mark in the American Athletic Conference. That effort left the team in fifth place in the standings. The Mustangs started off well, posting seven wins in their first eight games.
After opening up the year at 7-1, SMU fell off course in their final two outings. First was a tough 28-24 loss to Tulsa on November 14, then a 52-38 loss to East Carolina on November 28. The Mustangs were slated to play UTSA in the Frisco Bowl but the game was cancelled.
Check back for the current trends in this matchup once they’re released.
PICK: I’m going to stick with SMU in this one. The Mustangs rumbled to a near-500-yard average per game last year, and also put up a 39-point average with each outing. Quarterback Shane Buechele is gone along with two guys from the offensive line, but the team should be deep enough to cover the losses well. Top wide receiver Rashee Rice is back, and SMU got three excellent receivers through transfers as well. If everything works as planned, the Mustangs will have a very well-balanced and explosive offense this season. I like SMU to get to work right away here.