The day before his team played Arizona in the Trust & Will Holiday Bowl, SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee warned that teams playing bowl games this late in the season typically get off to slower starts since they’ve been off for so long. Either his team is somehow really good after being off for a month or he pulled off an epic bit of sandbagging.

The Mustangs scored touchdowns on three of their first four offensive possessions then held off a second half rally in a 24-19 win over the Wildcats on a gorgeous night at Snapdragon Stadium.

SMU set the tone on the second play of the game, calling a reverse flea flicker where quarterback Kevin Jennings handed the ball off to a running back, who pitched to a wide receiver, who tossed back to Jennings, who hit a streaking Matthew Hibner for an 80-yard gain down to the one-yard-line.

It was the longest pass play in Holiday Bowl history and set up T.J. Harden for the first of his two rushing touchdowns to give SMU a 7-0 lead. That was a quick strike. The Mustangs other scoring drives were methodical, going 87 yards in eight plays and 94 yards in 16 plays to build a 24-0 lead while the Wildcats offense had all kinds of trouble getting going. Arizona QB Noah Fifita had just 43 yards passing for the entire 1st half.

At halftime they had a Freaky Friday kind of body switching experience and Arizona nearly pulled off a massive turnaround. The Wildcats finally got some life thanks to a Mustangs turnover. Jennings floated a ball towards the end zone that Michael Dansby picked off, setting up Fifita to hit Javin Whatley for a 28-yard TD pass late in the 3rd quarter and cut the lead to 24-6. Two possessions later the WIldcats found the end zone again, this time on a 10-yard strike to Tre Spivey to cut the lead to 24-12.

Since wild things tend to happen at the Holiday Bowl, Riley Wilson picked off his second pass of the day, setting up Arizona for another chance to cut into the lead with less than five minutes to play. A few plays later Fifita was picked off by Alexander Kilgore, but the Mustang faithful still could not fully relax. Fifita found Cam Barmore for a 15-yard touchdown with 33 seconds left but Arizona’s onside kick attempt was unsuccessful, bringing an end to the comeback attempt.

Both teams finish the season with identical 9-4 records.