SMU and Rhett Lashlee are doing all they can to continue their miraculous run from last year this season as well. A brilliant 11-3 record and a playoff spot work wonders for a program that has always been in the shadows. The one man who was able to get the country talking about SMU was star QB Kevin Jennings. After a breakout season in 2024, Jennings seems to be entering 2025 in a mood to go big. He’s been to the ACC championship and the playoffs. This year, he is gearing up to further.
“I know it’s a matter of when, not if, we can and will win a national championship again at SMU,” Lashlee said on The Paul Finebaum Show. The last time the Mustangs won a championship was in 1982. Imagine a wait of 43 years. However, there has been a resurgence in the last two years under Lashlee. So, when it comes to maintaining momentum, the HC can check that off the list. The beginning of the 2024 season raised some alarm when former QB Preston Stone fell to injury. That only opened up the way for Kevin Jennings to cast a spell on the sport, taking the Mustangs to their 1st ever playoff appearance in years.
As fall camp begins, Jennings still features among the top five quarterbacks in the ACC. That’s the result of him publishing 3,245 yards, 29 TDs, and a completion rate of 64.1% last year. That’s why Lashlee is confident that the ceiling will be broken through by Jennings this year. He said in an August 5 episode of McElroy & Cubelic In The Morning, “Kevin’s in a great place. He’s been really hungry to just become a complete quarterback.” Jennings decided to skip the draft this year and is coming back for one last dance to take SMU to newer heights this season.
“He’s added 10 to 12 pounds, which I think will really help him, as you know, just week in, week out at this level, you know, hold up. And even he’s a little faster and stronger because of that. So he’s dedicated himself physically. I think mentally, he kind of went to this deal like, ‘Look, I want to be the offensive coordinator on the field. Like I don’t want to just know my job. I want to know the whole thing at a higher level. And so he really studied that in the spring and the summer,” Lashlee added.
Jennings has developed impressively in his three years at SMU. But he did not come without faults. The QB became turnover-prone towards the end of the season. It was the one glaring flaw in their 38-10 loss to Penn State in the playoffs. He threw 3 interceptions, and two got returned for TDs. But Lashlee has hope for Jennings’s first full season as a starter. “I think he’s got to go out and just prove that he can continue to be this aggressive playmaking style QB, as you saw in the second half of that Clemson game, at the same time value the football,” the HC said.
SMU is the No. 3 team in the ACC preseason poll, which puts them within a good range of booking their spot at the championship game. Kevin Jennings got them there the last time, and he is well-positioned to repeat the feat this year as well. “He looks like a different guy in a good way, and he was pretty darn good last year. So, you know, we’re excited about him getting out there and showing the growth he’s had,” Lashlee said. Being one of the best QBs in the conference, and that too with just one season as a starter, means that Kevin Jennings is all business. 2024 ended in a heartbreak for the QB, and that’s why he’s in a completely different mindset this time.
Kevin Jennings is finding his groove as a full-season QB1 for the first time
Kevin Jennings ended all talks of SMU being a one-time wonder in 2024. He lit up the field to his best, unfortunately getting knocked out in the playoffs. But to do all of that in just one year speaks to the QB’s prowess. Now that he has a grasp on what a season as QB1 could look like, he’s ready to have some fun. “Last year, when I was competing for the job, I tried to be perfect at practice, which really didn’t go well,” he said at the ACC Kickoff. For the 2024 season, Lashlee announced that Jennings and Preston Stone will be splitting time. Stone was expected to take the lead, considering he was the centerpiece that broke SMU’s decades-long slump.
“Heading into this season, playing freely, being able to make mistakes, learn on the mistakes… that’s probably better on me,” he added. QB coach D’Eriq King has also been instrumental in Kevin Jennings’ development, which is coming soon in the season. Jennings threw an alarming 13 interceptions last season. But there’s little doubt about him not being able to put that issue in the past. Now in his second season in the ACC, Jennings comes back roaring with talent and experience.
SMU will be looking to make a bigger leap this season. Rhett Lashlee has all the gears in place to compete for a playoff spot. And he has a fierce QB in Kevin Jennings, who is looking at 2025 like a “revenge year.” The last two years are proof that Lashlee was the savior SMU fans were praying for all along. With the help of an improved Kevin Jennings, a Natty doesn’t seem like an impossible reality.
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