Shane Buechele passed for 457 yards and six touchdowns, three to Reggie Roberson Jr., as No. 19 SMU rolled past Temple 45-21 on Saturday afternoon in American Athletic Conference action in Dallas.

The Mustangs (7-0, 3-0 AAC) swamped the Owls with a big first half and kept up that pace after a short third-quarter lull. Undefeated SMU has posted its best start since 1982, when Eric Dickerson and Craig James led the Mustangs to an 11-0-1 season.

Roberson finished with eight catches for 250 yards. Xavier Jones led the Mustangs with 105 yards rushing on 29 carries. SMU outgained the Owls 655-273.

Anthony Russo passed for 171 yards and ran for a score to pace Temple (5-2, 2-1) in a matchup of AAC division co-leaders.

The Mustangs opened the game with a solid 77-yard march in 11 plays, capped by a 33-yard TD pass from Buechele to Roberson. SMU added a 22-yard field goal by Kevin Robledo on its next possession to move its lead to 10-0 at the 7:46 mark of the first quarter.

Buechele and Roberson connected again early in the second quarter, this time on a 75-yard catch-and-run touchdown.

Temple responded with a 1-yard TD run by Re'Mahn Davis at the end of a 65-yard, seven-play march to cut the SMU lead to 17-7 with 5:14 left before halftime.

But that was too much time for the powerful SMU offense, which forged a nine-play, 68-yard march and scored on a 10-yard pass from Buechele to James Proche with 20 seconds to play in the half to carry a 24-7 lead to intermission.

The Owls made a bid to get back in the game on their initial possession of the third quarter when Russo hit Branden Mack with a 25-yard scoring pass that brought them within 24-14.

Buechele never let up, adding scoring passes to Kylen Granson and Roberson, from 10 and 60 yards, respectively, around a 1-yard TD plunge by Russo to put away the game.

Buechele's sixth touchdown connection, a 5-yarder to Xavier Jones, came midway through the fourth quarter.

--Field Level Media