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09/27 00:31 CDT Kevin Jennings becomes SMU's career passing leader as No. 22
Mustangs overcome Missouri State 34-24
Kevin Jennings becomes SMU's career passing leader as No. 22 Mustangs overcome
Missouri State 34-24
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
DALLAS (AP) --- Kevin Jennings threw for 464 yards to become SMU's career
passing leader as the No. 22 Mustangs overcame an early 10-point deficit for a
34-24 win over Missouri State and the coach who used to be his offensive
coordinator.
"Absolutely fantastic," SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said of the third-year starter.
"He was awesome. He made us go."
Jennings finished 33-of-39 passing, including a school-record 21 consecutive
completions, with three touchdowns and an interception. Tight end Theo Melin
Ohrstrom had two of the scores, while Yamir Knight had 11 catches for 164 yards
with a late 28-yard TD. Jalen Cooper caught eight passes for 125 yards.
"Kevin doing Kevin things," Knight said.
"You can see why their quarterback is a Heisman Trophy candidate," said Casey
Woods, the first-year Missouri State coach who was SMU's offensive coordinator
the past four seasons.
With his 722 career completions and 9,162 yards passing, Jennings surpassed the
9,081 yards and 718 completions Ben Hicks had from 2016-18. Jennings also had a
1-yard TD run and his 78 TDs responsible for (67 passing, 11 rushing) broke
Tanner Mordecai's previous school record of 76 in that category.
"Got a lot more to be done, but this is a blessing," Jennings said.
While Jennings already had 291 yards passing and Knight 125 receiving by
halftime, the Mustangs (3-1) had two turnovers in the first quarter that
Missouri State (1-3) converted into a 10-0 lead.
A 19-yard TD pass from Jennings to Ohrstrom with 4 seconds left in the first
half finally put the Mustangs ahead 14-10. Jennings' scoring run ended their
first drive after the break.
"A little adversity came early, but we knew we had to respond. ... That's what
we did," Jennings said. "Feel like we played a pretty good game in the second
half. You just can't start that slow again."
Joel Boamah's 60-yard interception return for a touchdown, on a pass when
Jennings was hit and threw it right to the cornerback, put Missouri State up
10-0 with 41 seconds left in the first quarter. That came only four plays after
Yousef Obeid's 35-yard field goal set up by Martavis Blackmon's recovery inside
the Bears 10 when Knight fumbled at the end of a 23-yard gain.
"The reality of it is, four games in we're 3-1. We're thankful for that, but if
you're just honest, we don't make ourselves hard to beat," Lashlee said. "I've
looked at the stat sheet every game, and it looks like we should have won by
three or four touchdowns."
SMU outgained Missouri State 592 total yards to 239, with a 29-14 edge in first
downs.
Kendrick Raphael had 98 yards rushing for SMU, including a 1-yard TD run early
in the second quarter to cap a 78-yard, 11-play drive.
The coaches have not been on opposite sides often Woods and Lashlee recruited Jennings soon after they got to SMU nearly five years ago. The coaches are longtime friends who also were on staff together at Arkansas State after being low-level assistants at Auburn when the Tigers won the 2010 national championship.
The takeaway Missouri State: Just like last September when hosting SMU in its first home game as an FBS team, Missouri State jumped to a 10-0 lead. The Bears, who opened this season with a 50-0 loss at then-No. 8 Texas A&M, now go into Conference USA play. "I think we have the makings of a good team," Woods said. "This entire time we've said we wanted to be playing our best football by time we get to conference play, and certainly want to be playing meaningful games in November." SMU: The Mustangs rebounded from their 41-31 loss at Louisville, but were far from sharp as a more than four-TD favorite in their last non-ACC game. Along with the two early turnovers, the Mustangs' opening drive of the game ended with an incompletion on fourth-and-3 from the 30. They also missed two field goals and had 12 penalties for 106 yards.
Up next SMU plays its first ACC home game against Boston College next Saturday. Missouri State has an open date before its C-USA opener Oct. 8 at Western Kentucky. ___ Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here. Visit the Top 25 here and see AP's full college football coverage here.
The coaches have not been on opposite sides often Woods and Lashlee recruited Jennings soon after they got to SMU nearly five years ago. The coaches are longtime friends who also were on staff together at Arkansas State after being low-level assistants at Auburn when the Tigers won the 2010 national championship.
The takeaway Missouri State: Just like last September when hosting SMU in its first home game as an FBS team, Missouri State jumped to a 10-0 lead. The Bears, who opened this season with a 50-0 loss at then-No. 8 Texas A&M, now go into Conference USA play. "I think we have the makings of a good team," Woods said. "This entire time we've said we wanted to be playing our best football by time we get to conference play, and certainly want to be playing meaningful games in November." SMU: The Mustangs rebounded from their 41-31 loss at Louisville, but were far from sharp as a more than four-TD favorite in their last non-ACC game. Along with the two early turnovers, the Mustangs' opening drive of the game ended with an incompletion on fourth-and-3 from the 30. They also missed two field goals and had 12 penalties for 106 yards.
Up next SMU plays its first ACC home game against Boston College next Saturday. Missouri State has an open date before its C-USA opener Oct. 8 at Western Kentucky. ___ Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here. Visit the Top 25 here and see AP's full college football coverage here.
