Friday Night at Ford Stadium: No. 19 SMU (6-2) Hosts Virginia Tech (6-2) on ESPN, in a Series Last Played in 1975
SMU comes home Friday night for a 6 p.m. CT kickoff against Virginia Tech on ESPN — two 6-2 teams, a series the Mustangs lead 2-1 and have not played since 1975, and a home side answering for last week's 30-27 loss at Syracuse that ended a four-game winning streak.
Friday night football in Dallas has a national window this week. SMU hosts Virginia Tech at Gerald J. Ford Stadium with kickoff at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN, in a matchup of two 6-2 teams with ACC standing on the line: the Mustangs are 4-2 in the conference, the Hokies 3-2. It is also a series with a half-century gap — SMU leads it 2-1, and the teams last met in 1975, according to BVM Sports' preview, read this run.
SMU arrives with something to answer for. The Mustangs' four-game winning streak ended last week in a 30-27 loss at Syracuse, a game Sports Illustrated's matchup file, read this run, broke down plainly: Syracuse sacked quarterback Kevin Jennings four times and held running back Kendrick Raphael to 51 yards on 14 carries, after SMU had allowed eight sacks in its first seven games and never more than two in one. Virginia Tech's defense is built to test exactly that — the Hokies allow 93.4 rushing yards per game and 3.0 yards per carry, 12th nationally, per the same file.
The desk stages this as a preview only: no score is predicted and no result is implied. The Sports Desk's game file follows the final tonight, on the desk's standing game-night rule. For Dallas fans, the practical facts are the kickoff (6 p.m. CT), the channel (ESPN) and the place (Ford Stadium in Dallas) — a ranked home team, under lights, on a Friday night in November.
