Since taking over as SMU's QB, Kevin Jennings is making his case as the ACC's best QB
SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings certainly arrived on the national scene on Saturday with his showing in the 34-27 win over previously ranked Louisville. Even before that, he’s been playing at a high level since taking over as SMU’s starting quarterback.
In his three-game stretch as a starter, Jennings has a 91.4 offensive grade by PFF, which is third-highest amongst all Power Four offensive players and is the highest among ACC offensive players.
Jennings is just behind WVU’s Wyatt Milum and Penn State’s Drew Allar over this three-game stretch. The stretch includes an Iron Skillet win over TCU, a win over Florida State and the win at Louisville. In the Florida State game, he had a season-high 91.4 grade as a passer, per PFF.
His passer efficiency rating in the ACC for conference games only sits at 183.7, which is the best in the league.
That’s right, better than Miami’s Cam Ward, Clemson’s Cade Klubnik and others. Jennings is will make his sixth career start on Oct. 19 at Stanford while the others near the top of the ACC are seasoned veterans.
The body of work Ward has all year long has him among the Heisman Trophy picks while Klubnik is cooking lately as well, but Jennings took over in Week 4.
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It’s a dramatic rise for Jennings and a critical one for SMU, which now sits at No. 25 in the AP Poll and Coaches Poll.
It took a minute for the Mustangs to find their identity, but in Kevin Jennings, a state championship winning quarterback at South Oak Cliff High School, SMU’s found a star. The redshirt sophomore has recorded six touchdowns in the past three games, and he holds a completion percentage of 73.9% since being named the starter prior to the TCU game.
The thing about Jennings is he doesn’t even care to know that he’s approaching stardom, it seems.
“It’s definitely a great experience, just getting the national buzz,” Jennings said Wednesday. “Trying not to get too big-headed with the team. We still got a lot of games to play so just keep being consistent and carry it all the way.”
Next up, another road test at Stanford on ACC Network. With another strong showing, the ACC Huddle crew will once again be talking about Jennings and his play.
It’s starting to become the norm.
