DALLAS — SMU Head Football Coach Rhett Lashlee named sophomore Kevin Jennings the starting quarterback Tuesday, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.
Jennings, who has already seen significant playing time in the three games the Mustangs have played, will replace junior quarterback Preston Stone.
Through the Mustangs' first three games, Jennings came in at different points in each game to facilitate and even give the team a spark. Stone completed just two passes in Friday's 18-15 loss to BYU before Jennings came in to play the rest of the contest. Jennings has thrown for 342 yards and one touchdown during his time on the field this season.
Stone and Jennings have close ties to SMU football as they are both from Dallas. Stone was a four-star recruit who led Parish Episcopal to back-to-back TAPPS Div. 1 State Championships. He was the fifth-ranked dual-threat quarterback in his recruiting class and received offers from big-time programs like Alabama, Arizona and Auburn. However, Stone chose to stay in Dallas and go to SMU where he told WFAA in the summer that he always wanted to play.
Jennings, a former three-star recruit, led his South Oak Cliff Bears to a 5A Division II State Championship in 2021 and was recruited by smaller programs like Sam Houston State, Lamar and Missouri State.
This announcement makes it apparent that coach Lashlee and the Mustangs are set on finding some sort of identity on the offensive side of the ball.
SMU is getting a much-needed bye week to regroup and focus on its next opponent: TCU, who they will play on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 4 p.m. on The CW Network.
