DALLAS — It wasn’t as miraculous as BYU’s comeback from behind to beat SMU in the 1980 Holiday Bowl, but it was almost as unexpected, especially because the Cougars insisted on shooting themselves in the foot over and over again Friday night.

And this time, it was the defense that delivered the win, essentially the same defense that was constantly beleaguered and embarrassed during the Cougars’ inauspicious start to Big 12 play last year.

Amazingly, BYU’s defense dominated in Big D.

BYU held an SMU team that averaged more than 53 points per game in its last nine home games to five field goals and 261 total yards, pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the young college football season deep in the heart of Texas: defeating the Mustangs 18-15 in front of 31,172 spectators at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

SMU put on a spectacular show. BYU came with a bunch of hungry underdogs.

The dogs won – but only just.

“I like how we won this game,” said BYU coach Kalani Sitake. “In the past, we’ve been behind or had turnovers and the guys have let their heads hang. Now the guys are fighting through it and not giving up.”

There was a lot to overcome, most notably three turnovers, including an interception by defensive lineman Jared Harrison-Hunte that gave SMU the ball at the BYU 3.

And yet the Cougars did it. Somehow. Somehow.

Will Ferrin’s 26-yard field goal at the 1:58 mark made the difference in a game that seemingly no one deserved until Jake Retzlaff crawled off the mat and launched a 67-yard touchdown drive in the final six minutes.

Or want to.

Retzlaff made numerous mistakes throughout the game, some of them almost comical in nature, but just like last year at Oklahoma State when he led the Cougars into overtime on a late drive, the junior made the right decisions when his team really needed to make them.

Retzlaff finished the game with 15 of 28 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown, as well as two interceptions, with a passer rating of 111.7. He also lost a fumble but ran for 35 yards.

BYU’s coaches made some mistakes and questionable decisions of their own, but in the end, Sitake’s decision to attempt a first down on 4th and 1 near the halfway line with just over four minutes left on the clock and the game tied 15-15 proved to be the right one.

No game was bigger than that, no decision more appropriate.

While RB1 LJ Martin and RB2 Hinckley Ropati were nursing injuries on the sidelines and after a timeout that allowed the Cougars to, in Sitake’s words, “tweak” the game, Retzlaff threw the ball to third running back Miles Davis.

Davis, whose role had diminished over the past two seasons, took the ball 37 yards to the SMU 15-yard line. Three plays later, Ferrin made the 14th field goal of his career with 1:58 left.

“It just felt good,” Sitake said of the decision to go for the fourth try. “I didn’t look at any analytics or stuff like that. It just felt good and I paid attention to our guys. We even took a timeout.”

“People wanted us to think about it a little more. I just still had a good feeling about it. I liked the look in our guys’ eyes and they felt like they could do it, were confident in the decision and off we went.”

SMU’s backup quarterback, Kevin Jennings, had hurt the Cougars with his legs after replacing the ineffective Preston Stone – Jennings ran for 38 yards – and took the lead with just under two minutes left.

A late hit on the kickoff return, when BYU’s Marcus McKenzie apparently didn’t see the returner’s signal for a fair catch, gave the Ponies the ball at their 40.

BYU’s defense fought back for what felt like the hundredth time, forcing four consecutive incomplete passes and the Cougars extended their overall record against SMU to 5-0.

“That’s the leadership of our defense, our staff and our coaches and the guys’ belief in each other,” Sitake said. “You have to go through adversity to get the guys to trust each other like that.”

Eight days after suffering a heart attack, BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill called plays from the press box and watched his boys play the game of their lives.

Blake Mangelson, Isaiah Glasker and Jack Kelly had sacks, while Kelly’s former teammate at Weber State, Marque Collins, made a key interception and Jakob Robinson jumped on Brassard Smith’s fumble.

“We’ve been practicing that all week,” Collins said of his pick, which came inside the 5-yard line. Three plays later, Retzlaff was intercepted by the defensive back — in his defense, the player appeared to have fallen down and was out of the BYU quarterback’s line of sight, but then jumped up and made the play.

Three plays later, Robinson recovered the fumble. It was the kind of wild, tense back-and-forth game the Cougars and Mustangs always seem to play, and BYU always won, almost miraculously.

SMU will conduct the trip again in 2027.

The first half set football back nearly a decade. That’s how ugly it was. BYU struck first — Retzlaff threw another touchdown pass to tight end Mata’ava Ta’ase — but momentum began to shift dramatically when Martin left the game on the second-to-last play of the first quarter.

Facing a third and two attempt deep in their own territory, the Cougars gave the ball to Ropati, who was unable to do anything. BYU punted and SMU took advantage of the excellent field position to get just within field goal range.

Collin Rogers’ career-high 53 yards put the Mustangs on the scoreboard. Rogers also made field goals of 52, 38, 28 and 45 yards.

“Hats off to their kicker,” Sitake said. “My goodness, that guy was automatic.”

With Martin out of the game and Ropati struggling to find running lanes, BYU promptly went 3-and-out on its next three possessions.

In total, the Cougars had six three-and-outs and failed on one of their three attempts to reach the fourth.

BYU got very lucky after another punt when the ball bounced into the back of an SMU player. The Cougars took over at the SMU 36 but again couldn’t move the ball after Ropati’s 9-yard run on second down.

He was stopped on third and one, and then on fourth and two he lost 2 yards on a handoff to Miles Davis from the 27-yard line. Retzlaff danced between shotgun and under center before the ball was finally snapped and Davis had no chance.

The Mustangs had regained their momentum and, with Jennings at the helm, were able to go on offense and once again get within field goal range.

Rogers’ third field goal of the first half from 38 yards gave the home team a 9-7 lead at halftime.

Shortly before halftime, Retzlaff finally found his rhythm and brought BYU to SMU’s 37-yard line, but Will Ferrin’s 55-yard field goal attempt went wide to the left.