Kevin Jennings

Kevin Jennings (born April 10, 2004) Jennings finished his high school career throwing for 5,932 yards and 71 touchdowns along with 557 rushing yards and 8 rushing touchdowns. Rated a three-star prospect coming out of high school, Jennings committed to play for SMU, having received offers from schools such as Missouri State, Sam Houston, Lamar, and Texas A&M–Commerce (now East Texas A&M).

College career Jennings made his first collegiate start against Tulane in the 2023 AAC Championship Game after starter Preston Stone suffered an ankle injury during the Mustangs' regular season finale against Navy; Jennings finished the game with 266 total yards as SMU won 26–14.

Entering the 2024 season, Jennings was listed second on the Mustangs' depth chart as Stone had recovered from injury. Prior to the Mustangs' season opener at Nevada, head coach Rhett Lashlee announced that Stone and Jennings would be splitting playing time; this arrangement lasted for the first three games, with Stone starting all three before Jennings came in. On September 10, during the team's bye week, Lashlee announced that Jennings would be the Mustangs' starter. Against Florida State, Jennings threw for a career-high 3 touchdowns as the Mustangs won 42–16. Jennings would ultimately lead the Mustangs to the 2024 ACC Championship Game where they would fall to Clemson 34-31. The team would go on to reach the 2024 College Football Playoff as the 11th seed, losing to Penn State in the opening round 38-10.

Heading into his first full year as a starter in 2025, high expectations were cast upon Jennings as he was regarded as a Heisman Trophy dark horse and finishing third in voting for the 2025 ACC Football Preseason Player of the Year. Jennings would battle a lingering bone bruise on his ankle, but appear in all twelve games, finishing the regular season with 3,363 passing yards and 26 touchdowns en route to an appearance in the Holiday Bowl against Arizona. In 2026, SMU announced that they would be naming their new $150 million dollar recovery center after Jennings; he is believed to be the first active college football player to have a facility named after him while still a student.

Statistics

Season Team Games Passing Rushing 2022 SMU 4 0 — 17 22 77.3 205 9.3 1 0 170.5 5 8 1.6 0 2023 SMU 8 2 1−1 61 105 58.1 618 5.9 5 2 119.4 37 142 3.8 1 2024 SMU 14 11 9−2 247 380 65.0 3,245 8.5 23 11 150.9 101 354 3.5 5 2025 SMU 13 13 9−4 300 454 66.1 3,641 8.0 26 13 146.6 70 54 0.8 4 2026 SMU 0 0 — Career 39 26 19−7 625 961 65.0 7,709 8.0 55 26 145.9 213 558 2.6 10