Kevin Jennings forgot he was on the gridiron for a moment.
In the first quarter of Saturday’s game against Stanford, the SMU quarterback pulled off something most quarterbacks wouldn’t even attempt in a game. Jennings faked a handoff to a motioning player, then flipped the ball behind his back to RJ Maryland running back across the formation. Maryland gained 9 yards; the play didn’t even go for a first down, and yet it still made waves on social media.
That completion was part of a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that gave SMU its first points of the game. Jennings completed 9 of his first 13 passes in the game, completing a fourth-and-3 for a 19-yard touchdown to cap the drive.
Jennings, the catalyst of last year’s run to the ACC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff, has had an eventful start to the season for the 3-2 Mustangs. Jennings has upped his completion percentage and his per-pass average. He’s over 70% this season. But he also had 6 interceptions in his first 5 games after throwing 11 in 14 appearances last year.
SMU and Stanford are battling on The CW as the Mustangs aim for a 2-0 start to conference play.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
