CHARLOTTE, N.C. — SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings said he spent the first month of the offseason rewatching game film from his disastrous performance in a playoff loss to Penn State in December.
Jennings was the centerpiece of a 38-10 defeat, throwing three interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns, putting an abrupt halt to a magical first season in the ACC for the Mustangs.
But after immersing himself in the loss, Jennings came away focused on earning some redemption in 2025.
“It was really hard,” said Jennings, who led the Mustangs to a regular-season ACC championship after taking over as SMU’s starter in Week 4. “I watched it over and over and over again. But I feel like I needed that game. Having that adversity and being able to move on, I think that’s going to be a key to this season.”
Jennings said the team views this season as a “revenge tour” after SMU dropped its last two games — a defeat to Clemson on a 56-yard field goal as time expired in the ACC championship game and a run of turnovers that cost it a chance at toppling Penn State.
The lesson from that experience, said safety Isaiah Nwokobia, is that SMU wasn’t outclassed by either opponent.
“I went away from those two games fully believing we can play with anybody in the country,” Nwokobia said. “When we play our brand of football, play our best, there’s nobody in the country we can’t beat.”
If SMU hopes to prove itself on those big stages again in 2025, it will need Jennings to return to the form that made him one of the ACC’s top quarterbacks throughout the regular season. But coach Rhett Lashlee said that, at the end of spring practice, he was concerned Jennings hadn’t quite shaken off the frustrations of the Penn State loss.
Lashlee and quarterbacks coach D’Eriq King sat down with Jennings in April and delivered a simple message: “Just be you.”
“Kevin is such a competitor and such a winner, and he expects a lot of himself,” Lashlee said. “I could feel like he was shouldering a lot of internal disappointment based on how the season ended, and I think he took that harder than he needed to. He didn’t lose any confidence but what you worry about is someone pressing, trying to prove that’s not me all at one time.”
Jennings insists he’s not still carrying that weight, but he is eager to prove some doubters wrong.
“We don’t feel like we did good enough last year,” he said. “It’s definitely a revenge tour to get back to those moments and actually come away with wins.”
