Lia Assimakopoulos, The Dallas Morning News
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- In the current era of college football, no one's job is safe.
With the transfer portal and NIL, players can easily jump ship, or programs can quickly add someone new, changing the trajectory of a season or the career of someone else.
But after SMU's 38-10 loss to Penn State in the first round of the College Football Playoff Saturday, SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee and offensive coordinator Casey Woods didn't leave anything up to interpretation when it came to quarterback Kevin Jennings' role next season.
"He's our guy," Woods said. "He knows what it looks like to get to this point. Ain't anybody more disappointed than him right now. But he's got a short memory. He's done a great job of that, having that all year long. But it's now the entire team relying on him to be able to continue to handle and move the ball the way that we need to.
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"Now, it's your team."
Jennings threw three interceptions in the first half of the disappointing performance in State College, two of which were returned for touchdowns to put SMU in a hole it never climbed out of.
Backup quarterback Preston Stone was available despite already entering the transfer portal. He still practiced with the team all week and the quarterback, who began the year as SMU's starter, could've relieved Jennings and possibly given the Mustangs a better chance.
But even with Jennings having one of his worst performances of the year, Lashlee said they only considered replacing him with Stone after the game was far out of reach. He said they chose to go with redshirt freshman Keldric Luster instead because they didn't want to risk Stone getting hurt, as he's set to graduate transfer to Northwestern.
If Woods' words weren't clear enough about their thoughts on Jennings, Lashlee's actions backed them up.
"One game, four bad passes today doesn't define him," Lashlee said. "I think everyone's seen what he's capable of, and he knows as we're going into the offseason, there's room to improve."
SMU's 2024 season is one to build on for a number of reasons, but with Jennings just a sophomore and set to return for at least one more season, he's the cornerstone of the team's future and a big reason why the Mustangs believe they can be playing into December and January again next year.
While his poor decisions Saturday showed he still has areas of his game to mature and grow in, Jennings has taken strides in his first season as a starter. He didn't even start the entire season, taking over for Stone after the BYU game in September.
Saturday's performance will be a memorable one, as will his five-turnover game against Duke, but in the long run, his season will be remembered for the 3,000-plus yards he threw for and the way he led a team through an incredibly difficult transition, helping it emerge as a contender.
There's a reason he's been selected as an early candidate for the Heisman for next year. Now, he has an entire offseason to work on it, ensuring Saturday's game is just one chapter in his career under the spotlight that's far from over.
"I'm going to bounce back from this and learn from this next year," Jennings said.
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