Kevin Jennings threw three long touchdown passes in the first quarter, leading No. 21 SMU to a 40-10 victory over Stanford on Saturday night.
The Mustangs (6-1, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) started strong, winning their eighth consecutive road game and securing bowl eligibility before the end of October.
“That’s something you got to check off every year,” said coach Rhett Lashlee. “That’s your hope. If you want to go somewhere, you got to get to that point. Our guys do know we’ve just put ourselves in position to play for stuff continually down the stretch. But I don’t think we’re going to sit around and be satisfied with that’s the end result that we want. But it is a big deal.”
Jennings kicked off the scoring with an 87-yard pass to Moochie Dixon on the very first play. He then connected with Key’Shawn Smith for a 45-yard touchdown and later threw a 38-yarder to RJ Maryland, putting the score at 21-0 before the first quarter ended. He finished with 322 yards passing.
In four starts since taking over as the starter after a loss to BYU on September 6, Jennings has accounted for nine touchdowns with only two turnovers, averaging 294.5 yards per game of total offense.
“We’ve really been working hard on hitting some deep balls,” Lashlee said. “We haven’t had the balls this year as well as we have maybe in the past.”
That offensive effort was more than enough to defeat the Cardinal (2-5, 1-3), who have not won at home against FBS opponents in coach Troy Taylor’s two seasons. Stanford has lost 11 consecutive home games against FBS teams and 16 straight against ranked opponents since beating No. 3 Oregon 31-24 on October 2, 2021.
“It’s tough. It’s painful for everybody to lose when it’s not close at the end,” Taylor said. “You’re always concerned about it. But these are the most resourceful men I’ve been around. They continue to battle. I know they will continue to compete and we’ll bounce back from it for sure.”
Elijah Brown took over for Ashton Daniels at quarterback in the first half and threw for 153 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown to Elic Ayomanor. Brown also had two interceptions.
“We were down 21-0 and wanted a spark,” Taylor said. “He was ready to go, and I wanted to see what he could do for an extended time.”
