Rhett Lashlee explains SMU's decision to name Kevin Jennings starting quarterback

SMU is making an early change at starting quarterback, swapping Preston Stone out for Kevin Jennings. It’s a move head coach Rhett Lashlee hopes can help get the Mustangs’ offense headed back in the direction they want to see it go.

And in turning to Jennings, Lashlee is also cutting loose an exciting physical talent at quarterback, but also a player with limited experience. Either way, Lashlee feels Jennings gives the team the best chance to win going forward.

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“We feel like with the way we are on offense and the direction we need to go and with the pieces we have, it’s going to give us the best chance to win,” Lashlee said. “And most importantly gives our team and our offense consistency. And we can start to get back to the identity that we’ve always had on offense and move forward and give ourselves the best chance to win.”

After a strong 2023 season — a year in which he threw for 3197 yards and 28 touchdowns to six interceptions — Stone struggled to start the 2024 campaign. He’s compiled just 336 yards and three touchdowns, plus an interception, in the three games he played and completed 58.1% of his passes.

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Jennings, playing some already to spell Stone, has 342 passing yards and one touchdown and one interception, while completing 56.9% of his passes. Jennings is also a distinct rushing threat, carrying 15 times for 96 yards and touchdown so far this season.

But as Lashlee explained the decision, there were many factors beyond just the outright play of both quarterbacks.

“There’s a lot of factors,” Lashlee said. “It wasn’t one game or one moment. Like I said, both guys have had a lot of success and won a lot. We’re not performing well offensively, but it does — if you just watch and you look at all the evidence, we’ve moved the ball better at the beginning of this season, when he’s in there, as a team. And again, that’s not always on the quarterback. Early drives the other night, we had a lot busts and protections and other things that aren’t on the quarterback that really contributed to some of the early issues. So that’s frustrating, but that’s why I said it’s not just one snapshot of anything. It’s the — we feel like it gives us the best chance to win with this team.”

And as Jennings takes over, Lashlee has no worries about the team falling in behind the new quarterback.,

Both Jennings and Stone were voted captains by their teammates, Lashlee said, so he’s not worried about that.

“It’s their team. It’s not my team, it’s their team,” Lashlee said. “I just lead it. But yeah, I think Kevin walked into Tulane last year and led us to a conference championship game victory. I think Kevin has a lot of upside and an ability to get better each week. I think there’s a reality — he has two career starts. So there’s still some inexperience. Like even the other night in that two minute drill, we needed to be better, I needed to be better. But I think you can see it’s a guys first time ever in a two-minute drill at the end of a game. And it’s just different than practice. So I think he’ll get better and better. He just has to be Kevin. He has to get the ball to the teammates, distribute the ball, execute the offense, there will be plays to be made and when it happens, his ability will take over. But he doesn’t have to go out and be super man. That’s not what we’re asking him to do. But I think our kids believe in him.”