SMU's Kevin Jennings is a QB rarity in the ACC: Finishing his career where it started

DALLAS (AP) — Kevin Jennings is about to play his final home game as SMU's quarterback in a somewhat unexpected five-season journey with his hometown team that has made him a rarity in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and really throughout college football.

Jennings is finishing his college career at the same place it started.

In this transfer portal era when players are constantly on the move, Jennings is one of only four current starting quarterbacks in the 17-team ACC still at his initial school. He is 26-9 in his starts for the No. 25 Mustangs during a time when they moved into the power league in 2024 and made the College Football Playoff that same season.

“It's definitely gonna be a sentimental moment, but it's a good opportunity to play a good game,” said Jennings, going into a home finale Saturday against No. 11 Wake Forest that could determine if SMU makes another ACC championship game. "We don't lose many games here.”

The league's only other starting QBs with their original teams are North Carolina State junior third-year starter CJ Bailey, sophomore second-year starter Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele at California and Clemson true freshman Tait Reynolds.

This is at least the third college stop for six ACC quarterbacks, including the starters for the top two teams in the league standings — Darian Mensah for No. 5 Miami and Gio Lopez for Wake Forest. Both started for different ACC teams last season, Mensah leading Duke to a conference title and Lopez at North Carolina.

Jennings just happened to be playing for the other team in December 2021 when Rhett Lashlee, days after becoming SMU's coach, went to watch other recruits at a local high school football playoff game.

Even though the SMU campus is only about 20 minutes from South Oak Cliff High School, which Jennings took to a state championship, the only NCAA Division I offer the dynamic quarterback had at the time was from Missouri State. Jennings had verbally committed to the Bears, then still a Football Championship Subdivision team.

Now Jennings is the ACC active leader and SMU career record-holder with 10,473 yards passing and 11,164 total yards. His 834 completions and 80 TD passes are also school records.

Jennings is 16-1 in home games for the Mustangs, including 12-0 against conference opponents in their three ACC seasons. Now it's time for his home finale, when he will be among the seniors recognized before kickoff Saturday.

“What he has done for this school, this program, and this city, it’s going to take decades for us to be able to see kind of what that legacy did,” Lashlee said. “The best part, he’s the best human being you’ll ever meet. I’ve got to stop talking or I’m going to start crying.”

Jennings has consecutive 350-yard passing games and is the ACC leader with 307.1 yards per game, along with 25 touchdowns. He has 13 TDs the past five games and his only interception in that span was a deflected pass Friday in a 51-28 win over Virginia Tech.

Mensah has a league-high 28 TD passes, second nationally, after throwing three in Miami's 31-24 loss at No. 2 Notre Dame . He has 300.1 yards per game with only two interceptions, ahead of Lopez at 272 yards with 18 TDs and one pick.

Reynolds, the ACC's only freshman starter, took over in the third game for Clemson, the earliest in a season since 1975 that a true freshman quarterback started for the school. Reynolds joined Deshaun Watson (2014) and Trevor Lawrence (2018) as the only true freshman QBs to win each of their first two starts for the Tigers.

They went to an even fresher level in a 18-13 win over Syracuse last Saturday. Reynolds took snaps from Grant Wise, marking the first time in 83 years that Clemson won a game started with true freshmen at quarterback and center.

SMU is one of three ACC teams playing their home finales Saturday. The others are Bailey and North Carolina State, in their third game since longtime coach Dave Doeren was fired , and Pittsburgh.

Fifth-year player Holden Geriner, who previously played at Auburn and Texas State, has three starts for Pitt since sophomore Mason Heintschel's season-ending knee injury on Oct. 2. Heintschel had 14 TDs with only one interception in his five games.

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