SMU rolled into Memorial Stadium on Saturday and knocked off Clemson, 35-24, avenging the last-second loss to the Tigers in last season’s ACC Championship Game.

But Saturday’s game wasn’t about getting revenge against Clemson, at least not for SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee.

“Revenge wasn’t a big deal to me,” Lashlee said following the game. “… Our guys, they’re competitive. If it would have gone the other way [in the 2024 ACC title game], Clemson would have wanted to beat us. It’s a big win because we’re 3-0 in the league now, and we beat the team who’s won eight out of the last 10 [conference titles] in this league, at their home place. It doesn’t matter how or why we did it, and that’s a big step for our program.”

SMU, which improved to 5-2 and 3-0 ACC, certainly didn’t lack confidence coming into the matchup against Clemson, which fell to 3-4 and 2-3 in conference play.

Lashlee says his squad went into the game believing it was the better team, and the Mustangs played that way.

“All we talked about all week was believe,” Lashlee said. “Just believe. Believe in yourself, believe in each other, the guys around you. I mean this the right way – believe you’re the better team. Believe you’re the better team. There’s so many powerful things you can do if you believe, but you’ve got to believe it first, and it can’t just be something you kind of believe – you’ve got to believe it, believe it. And I think the way our guys played, they believed it, and I think that helped.”

By avenging their loss to Clemson from last year’s ACC Championship Game, the Mustangs are now 11-0 in regular season ACC games. They have won 20 straight conference games in a row dating back to when they were in the AAC in 2023.

Lashlee called the win over Clemson “tough” for Dabo Swinney’s team, but “big” for the Mustangs.

“Excited to get a win,” he said. “Dabo, I look up to him. I appreciate the example he is for coaches like myself, what he’s built here. So, tough for them, but it’s a big win for us.”