Ford Stadium, scoring on each of its first eight drives — five touchdowns and three field goals — before a deflected Kevin Jennings pass was intercepted by Brennan Johnson with 5:31 left.

Jennings finished 24-of-32 for 350 yards and four touchdowns, three to Yamir Knight (6 catches, 103 yards), and Jalen Cooper added a 50-yard scoring catch. The Mustangs rolled up a season-high 569 total yards, per the AP recap on ESPN, the most Virginia Tech has allowed this season.

The margin stunned analysts who expected a tight game.

Gobbler Country's writers predicted a one-score contest, with Bryan Manning calling it SMU 34-31 and John Schneider taking the Hokies 31-24, noting the Hokies had just beaten Clemson at Death Valley and returned offensive linemen Montavious Cunningham and Brody Meadows.

Instead the Mustangs, who entered unranked for the first time this season after a 30-27 loss at Syracuse, answered emphatically. Virginia Tech coach James Franklin conceded, 'We did not play well and they played well...

We got humbled.'

With the score 13-7, SMU edge rusher Marques White sacked Ethan Grunkemeyer, swatted the ball loose and recovered the fumble at the Virginia Tech 47, according to ACC Sports Journal.

One snap later Jennings hit a wide-open Knight for a 46-yard touchdown, making it 20-7 with 6:09 left in the first half.

White finished with two of SMU's four sacks — the Mustangs' 151 sacks since the start of 2023 are the most by any FBS team in that span, ESPN reports — and Tyson Flowers was disqualified for targeting before halftime.

The Hokies did move the ball, finishing with 417 total yards to SMU's 569, per Sports Illustrated's live blog, which noted it was the most points Virginia Tech has allowed since Maryland's 54 in the 2021 Pinstripe Bowl and the 11th-most yards allowed in a game since at least 1987.

Jeffrey Overton Jr. rushed 13 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns, Grunkemeyer completed 28 of 38 passes for 291 yards with a rushing touchdown and a 3-yard scoring throw to Que'Sean Brown, but two turnovers and a failed fourth-and-1 stop ended the upset bid.

The win keeps SMU (7-2, 5-2 ACC) in the ACC championship race. ESPN notes the Mustangs are 19-4 in ACC play since joining the league — the most wins by any team in that span — and 12-0 in ACC home games, while only No. 1 Miami (8-0) and No. 14 Wake Forest (7-1) sit ahead in the standings.

Yahoo Sports reports Louisville's 41-31 head-to-head win over SMU in September looms as a costly tiebreaker, and coach Rhett Lashlee, 15-2 in November games, framed it simply: 'We get a chance to write our story.'

Both teams face pivotal November 14 games. SMU hosts Wake Forest in its home finale — a game Yahoo Sports calls potentially the biggest remaining on its conference schedule, since a win would give the Mustangs a head-to-head edge for one of two spots in the Dec.

5 title game. Virginia Tech hosts Stanford, trying to regroup after back-to-back wins following the open date were undone in Dallas.