If any team needed an open date, it is SMU this week.
The Mustangs opened with a big boy schedule, playing three top-20 teams in a span of 30 days. Only four other schools have faced three top-20 teams: Kansas State, LSU, Stanford and Texas A&M.
Those teams, all of whom have a recent history of winning, were equipped for those games. They went 5-7 against the top-20 opponents.
SMU, trying to rebuild its confidence, took a step too high. It lost all three by a total of 83 points.
To put the difficulty of SMU’s schedule into perspective, consider that 61 FBS-level teams have yet to play a top-20 opponent.