Nick Saban raves about Kevin Jennings play making, competitive character
SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings is among the nation’s top quarterbacks in efficiency since taking over as the starter this season. Legendary coach Nick Saban went inside the Film Room on College GameDay from Athens, Ga., highlighting Jennings’ big plays.
“The first thing I like about him is the guy has got really good arm talent. He’s made all the throws so far that you need to make to be an outstanding quarterback,” Saban said. “His instinctive ability to scramble, keep his eyes down to field and make yet another explosive play by finding an open receiver. Those kind of instinctive plays are not something that you find in a lot of quarterbacks.”
He sits third nationally in yards per pass attempt (9.69) and fifth in passing yards per completion (14.96). Jennings has the highest passer efficiency rating in conference games only in the ACC at 178.6. He’s Top 4 in the country in yards per attempt.
Saban showcased some of Kevin Jennings’ clips from Duke, a game in which he had five turnovers. Despite that rough outing for him, he went out and led SMU to a dominant 48-25 win over Pitt. Saban loved that response from him.
“First of all, you can improve some of the turnover issues with good fundamental techniques,” Saban said. “It shows me what kind of competitive character the guy has to have the resiliency to be able to overcome bad plays, which I think is really important for quarterbacks, because you’re gonna always have some. That’s why his team has been successful with him playing quarterback.”
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ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, who’s also been high on the Mustangs, touted Rhett Lashlee’s move to Kevin Jennings this season and how SMU’s trending with him at the helm.
“He is an outstanding coach. Came into this year, really Preston Stone was his guy. That was his quarterback,” Herbstreit said. “Within the year makes to switch, Jennings, who just did a great job there in the film room on showing his big play ability, but when he plays within the structure of the offense and then can stay confident in that and then not always rely on the athletic ability, he’s going to get better every single week. This team’s for real.”
One of the greatest defensive coaches in college football history, Saban reminded folks that it’s just not about Kevin Jennings. SMU’s defense is also a big reason why they’re atop the ACC standings.
“The thing that I like about SMU is they play really good defense,” Saban said. “They’re one of the top defensive teams in the country in terms of takeaways, rush defense, lots of categories, and that’s the biggest difference in Miami is their inability to stop people because of their defense.”
