DALLAS >> Kevin Jennings threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns as ninth-ranked SMU completed a sweep of its first Atlantic Coast Conference schedule with a penalty-plagued 38-6 win over California on Saturday.

The Mustangs (11-1, 8-0, No. 9 CFP) were already locked into next week’s championship game in their ACC debut before closing the regular season with their 17th consecutive win in a league game. They won their last nine American Athletic Conference games, dating back to 2022, before moving this year into the power conference.

Brashard Smith had 68 yards rushing on 16 carries, 66 yards on three receptions and scored twice while SMU overcame a season-high 17 penalties for 137 yards.

SMU will play No. 12 Clemson next Saturday night for the ACC title and a spot in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. No. 8 Miami would have been in the ACC championship game with a win, but lost 42-38 at Syracuse and opened the door for Clemson.

The Mustangs took control with touchdowns on three consecutive drives early. They were up 21-0 on Derrick McFall’s 8-yard TD run with 13:02 left in the first half, when they had 234 total yards — and only 34 more from then until the start of the fourth quarter.

Cal (6-6, 2-6), also in its first ACC season, played without sophomore quarterback Fernando Mendoza, a 3,000-yard passer this season who was out because of illness.

The Golden Bears’ first five losses were by an average margin of 3.4 points. They started 0-4 in ACC play, losing those games by a combined nine points.

Jennings scrambled away from trouble, spun, rolled left and threw on the run to hit tight end Matthew Hibner in the front left corner of the end zone for an 11-yard TD. Smith, whose 32-yard catch helped set that first touchdown, then ran 5 yards for a score. Smith had a 23-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter.