SMU Mustangs Football

SMU announced in a statement Thursday that cornerback Teddy Knox has been suspended following the issuance of a warrant for his arrest due to his alleged involvement in a multi-car crash that also involved Kansas City Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice.

SMU @SMUFB announced that corner Teddy Knox, the other driver involved in #Chiefs Rashee Rice driving incident charged with eight felonies, has been suspended from the football team. Knox a Mississippi State transfer graduated from The Woodlands HS where he was an all-district… pic.twitter.com/r0j2IMmuLI

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) April 11, 2024

Authorities have said that Knox was the driver of a Corvette leased in Rice's name, per Rebecca Lopez, Paul Livengood, Matt Howerton and Pete Freedman of WFAA.com.

Both Knox and Rice have been charged with six counts of collision involving bodily injury, one count of aggravated assault and one count of collision involving serious bodily injury.

The first charge carries a punishment of up to five years in prison for each count. The second is a second-degree felony and is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The third, a third-degree felony, carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Rice told authorities he was the driver of a Lamborghini SUV involved in a multi-car crash in late March. All of the passengers in both the Lamborghini and Corvette—both cars leased by Rice from Classic Lifestyle—fled the scene. None of the other passengers have been charged with crimes.

WFAA reported that authorities said marijuana was found in both vehicles, as well as a Chiefs playbook, a diamond chain and a check worth $16,500.

The 23-year-old Rice, who was a rookie for the Chiefs in the 2023 season, was teammates with Knox at SMU. As of Wednesday night, Rice reportedly planned to turn himself in to authorities.

I’m told #Chiefs WR Rashee Rice is currently planning to turn himself over to authorities in connection with active warrants for his arrest by the Dallas PD, per source.

The specifics of that process are still being finalized at this time, the source said. pic.twitter.com/1qUCDeXmvz

— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) April 11, 2024

"I take full responsibility for my part in this matter and will continue to cooperate with the necessary authorities," he wrote on Instagram earlier in April. "I sincerely apologize to everyone impacted in Saturday's accident."

Knox, a junior, appeared in 23 games for the Mustangs in the past two seasons.

SMU is joining the Atlantic Coast Conference alongside Cal and Stanford in advance of the 2024-25 athletic sports season, and the university announced it has raised $100 million in one week in support the school's big move.

Per the release, the commitments are via "a group of thirty donors that includes trustees and key donors," both alumni and non-alumni.

SMU is making the move from the American Athletic Conference, where it has been since 2013.

SMU's move has also led to increased interest in the men's basketball and football programs. Per the release, tickets sales for the hoops team rose 30 percent in the last week. In addition, the school has sold hundreds of new football season tickets.

It's a huge move for a school that used to be a college football powerhouse in the 1980s. No team was better than SMU from 1980-1984, when it went 49-9-1, good enough for the Division I-A's top record during that time.

However, SMU was hit with the death penalty in the late 1980s for repeated NCAA violations. It took a long time for the football program to recover, but it's rebounded nicely since then and found a good home in the AAC.

Now the program is off to one of the top four conferences in college sports alongside the Big Ten, SEC and Big 12. It joins a conference that goes coast to coast now from Boston to the Bay Area.

The ACC will have 18 schools with the addition of SMU, Cal and Stanford, 17 of which will be playing football in the conference (Notre Dame being an exception as an independent).

Conference realignment is reportedly becoming more political.

Sort of.

Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated reported former President George W. Bush and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are among those lobbying the ACC to make some notable additions. Rice has lobbied on behalf of Stanford, while Bush has done the same for SMU.

Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports noted Rice is a Stanford professor, while Bush's wife, Laura, attended SMU.

Bush's presidential library is also located on SMU's campus.

Conference realignment has dominated college football headlines of late with Texas and Oklahoma set to join the SEC after the upcoming season; USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington heading to the Big Ten on the same timeline; and Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah going to the Big 12.

The Pac-12 will essentially be gone after the 2023 campaign, leaving Stanford and Cal among the programs searching for a new home.

The ACC could be a landing spot, especially if Florida State and Clemson will eventually be on the way out.

Forde reported Florida State may "serve formal notice of a 2025 move in a matter of days or weeks," which could be notable to Clemson since a source told the reporter the two schools are "very connected."

Yet even amid an uncertain future with the league, Florida State and Clemson have joined North Carolina and North Carolina State as the four schools opposed to adding Stanford and Cal, per Forde.

Bush and Rice aren't the only ones lobbying, as some with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee have pushed for the addition of Stanford and Cal in discussions with North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham.

Both schools regularly produce a number of Olympians, and the fear is a diminished athletic department for either would hurt the United States Olympic movement in the future.

Cal and Stanford reportedly aren't the only schools the ACC is looking at as conference realignment rumors continue.

While Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports reported the ACC is looking into adding the two Pac-12 schools, he also noted the league has "explored the possibility" of bringing in SMU as well.

"Administrators are expected to continue examining the expansion options and will review financial models for both scenarios—adding three or adding just two," Dellenger wrote.

SMU has a proud football history with players such as Doak Walker and Eric Dickerson starring for the program. Even now, it is coming off four consecutive winning seasons, including when it went 10-3 in 2019.

However, it is easy to get overlooked in a smaller conference in today's college football world, and the Mustangs are in an American Athletic Conference that recently lost notable programs in UCF, Cincinnati and Houston.

With that as the backdrop, Dellenger reported that SMU has discussed switching conferences with the Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC for more than a year.

There may now be an opportunity.

The college sports landscape has completely altered in recent days with Oregon and Washington joining USC and UCLA on the way to the Big Ten and Arizona, Arizona State and Utah going to the Big 12 with Colorado. The future of the Pac-12 is very much in doubt with Oregon State, Washington State, Cal and Stanford hanging in the balance.

The ACC has not made the headline additions of its conference counterparts but could look to do so given the current situation.

Dellenger explained "financials are the most significant piece to a potential ACC expansion" thanks to a locked-in media rights agreement with ESPN "that pays league members only a portion of Big Ten and SEC TV cash."

Schools have to weigh the additional travel costs of adding other programs with what value they would bring, but SMU has something working in its favor.

"The university would arrive at a reduced rate," Dellenger wrote. "Employing a rich donor base and a healthy desire to advance to the Power Four level, the university is open to forgoing conference distribution pay for their first several years in a new league."

It remains to be seen how—and if—the ACC will respond to the changes happening around it, but SMU might be moving up from the American Athletic Conference if it gets its wish.

HEIGHT: 6'1"

WEIGHT: 204

HAND: 9 1/2"

ARM: 32 3/4"

WINGSPAN: TBD

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40-YARD DASH: 4.51

3-CONE: TBD

SHUTTLE: TBD

VERTICAL: 41"

BROAD: 10'8"

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POSITIVES

— Alignment flexibility. Can line up anywhere, and SMU often moved him around the formation.

— Very good play strength. Does not get bullied versus press and knows how to muscle his way to advantageous positions at the catch point.

— Excellent hands and catch radius. Rare knack for finding the ball outside his frame and bringing it in safely. True ball-winner.

— Good bully-ball style YAC-earner. Plays with good strength and balance, with just enough speed.

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NEGATIVES

— Average or slightly below-average burst and acceleration. Not going to threaten CBs at the line of scrimmage.

— Not a clean, agile route-runner. Wins more with size and strength.

— Average elusiveness in space. More of a ball-carrier who runs past or through defenders than around them.

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2022 STATISTICS

— 12 GM, 96 REC, 1,355 YDS (14.1 AVG), 10 TD

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NOTES

— DOB: April 22, 2000

— 33 career starts

— 2022 Honors: second-team All-American, first-team All-AAC

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OVERALL

Rashee Rice is a ball-winner. Though he isn't quite a giant at 6'2" and 203 pounds, he plays with great strength and fascinating coordination both in his upper and lower body.

Rice is nimble enough to stop on a dime and turn to leap for the ball, but he also has the length, hand-eye coordination and soft hands to bring in any pass, no matter how far he has to reach or contort his body. He's always at an advantage when the ball is in the air.

Rice is effective with the ball in his hands, too. He may not have true home run speed or explosiveness, but he has enough of it for a player his size.

Rice mostly wins with strength and balance as a runner, showing the ability to fight off tacklers and trudge forward for extra yards to move the sticks and occasionally spring himself free for a chunk gain. SMU even found use for Rice on jet motion plays and screens because of his ability with the ball.

The concerns with Rice are all about play speed. He will never get bullied off his route stem at the line of scrimmage, but he doesn't typically burst off the line and torch the cornerback straight away. Rice isn't the cleanest route-runner, either. He isn't clunky or uncoordinated, but he doesn't have the bend and burst to be one of the better separators in the NFL.

Rice is a high-end No. 2 or a low-end No. 1 akin to San Francisco's Brandon Aiyuk. His ability as a ball-winner on the outside would be welcome on any team. For more creative teams, Rice's bully-ball YAC skills and alignment flexibility will make him a nifty weapon to move around the formation.

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GRADE: 7.4 (High-level Backup/Potential Starter)

OVERALL RANK: 62

POSITION RANK: WR6

PRO COMPARISON: Brandon Aiyuk

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Written by B/R NFL Scout Derrik Klassen

Former Alabama running back Camar Wheaton has found a new home.

Wheaton announced that he is transferring to SMU after one season with the Crimson Tide. According to Michael Casagrande of Al.com, Wheaton was one of seven 5-star recruits in Alabama's 2021 class, which 247Sports ranked No. 1 all-time.

#Committed #PonyUp pic.twitter.com/JnJ0PXeI0u

— Camar Wheaton (@CamarWheaton) April 12, 2022

Per Casagrande, Wheaton is one of 16 Alabama players from last year's team to have entered the transfer portal.

Wheaton didn't see any game action last season after picking up a knee injury in preseason camp. Alabama had also lost Jase McClellan and Roydell Williams to ACL injuries. Both of them will be back for the Crimson Tide along with redshirt junior Trey Sanders and junior Georgia Tech transfer Jahmyr Gibbs.

Wheaton was ranked as the No. 3 running back and No. 34 player overall in the class of 2021 by 247Sports' composite rankings. 247Sports national analyst Gabe Brooks described Wheaton as a "big-play threat on every touch" and "among the nation's top 2021 running back prospects with long-term early-round NFL draft ceiling."

Wheaton earned a selection to the All-American Bowl after rushing for 3,731 yards and 48 touchdowns in his career for Lakeview Centennial High School in Garland, Texas.

SMU has now landed nine transfers in the 2022 recruiting cycle. Wheaton is the highest-rated player in a group that also includes former Georgia offensive tackle Owen Condon and former Texas wide receiver Joshua Moore.

The Fenway Bowl will has been canceled amid a COVID-19 outbreak within the Virginia football program, the event announced Sunday:

Wasabi Fenway Bowl Update: pic.twitter.com/InTrBdar9f

— Wasabi Fenway Bowl (@FenwayBowl) December 26, 2021

Brett McMurphy of Action Network first reported the news.

The Cavaliers were scheduled to face SMU on Wednesday in a game at Fenway Park in Boston.

The Military Bowl between Boston College and East Carolina on Monday was also canceled.

🚨 NEWS🚨

2021 #MilitaryBowl presented by @PeratonCorp, benefiting @the_USO has been CANCELED.

📰https://t.co/4opLN0BoNZ pic.twitter.com/NYeJwkLUVI

— Go Bowling Military Bowl (@MilitaryBowl) December 26, 2021

According to ESPN, Boston College had been dealing with COVID-19 issues leading up to the game scheduled to take place in Annapolis, Maryland.

This marks three bowl games canceled this season after the Hawai'i Bowl was canceled Friday. Hawai'i was supposed to take on Memphis in that game, but the Rainbow Warriors reportedly had about 30 players and staff test positive for COVID.

Virginia had been dealing with excessive positive tests and pushed back its scheduled flight to Boston earlier Sunday, per Mike Barber of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The team was awaiting another round of results before leaving, but the outbreak was too much to move forward.

The game was supposed to be the final one for head coach Bronco Mendenhall, who announced he was stepping down earlier this month.

The 55-year-old went 36-38 across six years in Virginia, including a 6-6 record in 2021. The squad started 6-2 this year before fading down the stretch with four straight losses.

SMU was 8-4 under head coach Sonny Dykes, who left the program to take the same job at TCU. Defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt was scheduled to be the interim coach for the Mustangs at the Fenway Bowl.

Boston College will end its season at 6-6, while ECU finished with a 7-5 record.

A group of SMU alumni has come together on an NIL program that will provide more than $1 million annually to football players.

The group is led by businessman Paul Loyd and former NFL running back Eric Dickerson. Luke Crossland, Dick Anderson, Kelvin Beachum and Richie Butler, all former football players, have also joined the cause.

Loyd said in a statement:

“One of SMU’s biggest assets is the success and connectivity of SMU alums, of Dallas, and in combination the support for SMU student athletes. SMU is Dallas’s team and has made huge progress in every aspect of the program, so businesses stepping up for SMU NIL’s is yet another signal that SMU football is continuing the momentum and ready to take another huge step.”

SMU was once one of the preeminent college football programs in the country before receiving the so-called "death penalty" in 1987 for repeated violations of NCAA rules—most notably paying players. 

While SMU football hasn't recovered to its former heights in the decades since, the school still boasts powerful and rich boosters—ones who seem eager to spark the program. The press release announcing the Pony Up program says it hopes to "expand quickly."

The NCAA began allowing players to make money off their name, image and likeness earlier this year. 

SMU head football coach Sonny Dykes is reportedly the "frontrunner" to become TCU's next head coach, according to Blake Brockermeyer, Jeremy Clark, Billy Embody and Chris Hummer of 247Sports.com.

Per that report, "Dykes has contract offers in front of him from both TCU and SMU with each deal valued at over $4 million a year, per sources."

TCU is reportedly looking to make a hire by Sunday to replace Gary Patterson, who was fired on Oct. 31 after 20 years leading the program. Jerry Kill has been serving as interim head coach.

Patterson was 181-79 during his time at the school and was an impressive 7-3 against Texas, helping put TCU's football program back on the map.

"The story of Gary Patterson and the rise in the fortunes of the TCU football program over the last 20 years is clearly one of the most remarkable in the history of college football," athletic director Jeremiah Donati said in a statement at the time. "We are grateful to Gary and Kelsey Patterson and appreciate everything they have meant to TCU and the Fort Worth community. Under his leadership, TCU has become a nationally recognized brand name in football and in collegiate athletics."

But the Horned Frogs are a disappointing 5-6 on the season, which included a 42-34 loss against SMU in September. That ushered in the end of Patterson's time at the helm, though replacing him will require filling some pretty big shoes.

Dykes would bring a solid resume to Fort Worth. He's gone 71-62 in his career, with head coaching stints at Louisiana Tech (2010-12), California (2013-16) and SMU (2017-present). Under his watch, the Mustangs have gone 30-17, including an 8-3 mark this year, and played in two bowl games.

It's unclear if Dykes would continue coaching SMU, which is bowl eligible, through the rest of the season or join TCU immediately if he chooses the Horned Frogs' offer.

To say TCU head coach Gary Patterson was upset about how the aftermath of Saturday's 42-34 loss to SMU unfolded would be quite the understatement.

As Drew Davison of the Star-Telegram reported, Patterson unleashed on the Mustangs' program, criticized counterpart Sonny Dykes and connected the dots from SMU's decision to plant its flag on TCU's field to assistant coach Jerry Kill's concussion.

"I cannot substantiate that it was a SMU or TCU person, but it did happen," Patterson said when discussing Kill's concussion he suffered when he was knocked over multiple times during the scuffle that happened when the Mustangs wanted to plant their flag. "If we wouldn't have had the flags, it wouldn't have happened. OK?"

Davison noted video showed Kill was knocked over by TCU players at one point.

Kill, who retired from head coaching in 2015 and was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2005, has returned to work since suffering the injury.

Patterson also suggested SMU planned the entire stunt with the flags because it had someone ready to film it:

You don't think it was planned? They had a media person from their office that was out filming the flag getting set in the middle of the field. It's OK. But don't tell me there wasn't a plan somewhere there.

A guy [Kill] got hurt. Why I'm upset about it, a guy got hurt that things like that usually cause seizures. A guy got hurt. He got pushed down by our kids once on film in the middle of it and he got hit because I've got the proof to show it.

At the end of the day, whether it's SMU, TCU, I can't substantiate it. But at the end of the day it wouldn't have happened if we didn't have the flag situation.

SMU athletic director Rick Hard said there was "unequivocally" no plan and any suggestion to the contrary is "a complete fabrication."

Patterson also took aim at Dykes and suggested the SMU head coach should have contacted him to discuss the entire incident instead of reaching out to TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati:

Sonny has been a good friend of mine. I was disappointed that the AD got a call, I never got a call about Jerry getting hit. When we couldn't play in COVID, I made the phone call to Sonny Dykes, not him (Donati). I made the phone call saying, 'All of our quarterbacks are out. We can't play.' That's what the head coach of programs do. Not have one of their assistants text me in the middle of the night, or call my AD.

I still consider him a friend. I'm going to go forward with it.

Dykes was an assistant coach with the Horned Frogs in 2017.

As for the actual game, the Mustangs seized the lead in the second quarter and never looked back. They extended it to as many as 15 in the fourth quarter behind a dominant rushing attack that featured two backs who went over 100 yards.

TCU had no answer for Ulysses Bentley IV (153 rushing yards) or Tre Siggers (110 rushing yards), while wide receiver Danny Gray took advantage of the additional space the rushing attack created with 130 receiving yards and a touchdown catch.

Quarterback Tanner Mordecai overcame three interceptions with four touchdown passes, and SMU improved to 4-0 on the season.

The Horned Frogs are 2-1 and now start Big 12 play against the rival Texas Longhorns on Saturday.