Kevin Jennings can eclipse 10,000 yards of total offense for his career when No. 24 SMU hosts Virginia in Atlantic Coast Conference action on Saturday afternoon in Dallas.
The Mustangs’ fifth-year quarterback enters with 9,925 yards, one of his many school records along with passing yards (9,297), pass completions (742) and touchdowns responsible for (81).
Jennings and the Mustangs (4-1, 2-1 ACC) are rested after a bye week and ready to face the Cavaliers (4-2, 2-1), who are 0-2 this season away from home. SMU is 3-0 at home and won the only previous meeting 33-7 in 2024.
Both teams are coming off victories. Jennings threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score in SMU’s 25-16 home win against Boston College on Oct. 3, while Jekail Middlebrook rushed for two fourth-quarter touchdowns as Virginia overcame a 10-point second-half deficit in a 28-25 home win against Syracuse last Saturday.
Jennings ranks third among FBS quarterbacks with 317.6 passing yards per game this season. Recently named one of 15 finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, he has thrown 14 touchdowns and five interceptions in five games.
Jennings said his production comes from the trust that head coach Rhett Lashlee and the other coaches place in him.
“They just let me be free out there, not try to control me or let me be a robot and all that stuff,” Jennings said Tuesday. “That’s the main thing.”
He will be taking aim at a Virginia defense that is allowing the fewest passing yards per game (161.8) in the ACC, racking up more interceptions (seven) than passing touchdowns allowed (four) through six contests.
“They’re excellent on defense. One of the best defenses in our league,” Lashlee said. “They’re great at takeaways, they’re great against the pass and they’re really good at limiting explosive plays — three things you’ve gotta do if you want to be a good defense.”
There is no margin of error for both teams if they hope to make it back to the ACC championship game, where the Cavaliers lost to Duke last season and the Mustangs lost to Clemson the year before.
Virginia has alternated wins and losses in its last five games and is facing a ranked opponent for the first time in more than a year.
Beau Pribula has completed 66.4% of his passes for 1,074 yards with 13 touchdowns and just one interception in his first season with the Cavaliers.
Eleven of Virginia’s 17 touchdown passes this season came against outmanned Norfolk State (six) and Delaware (five), and the offense has been outgained in three of the last four games, including 430-282 by Syracuse.
“We’re not going to apologize for winning games, and there’s no such thing as an ugly (win),” Cavaliers coach Tony Elliott said. “There’s a lot of teams in the country that aren’t 4-2. There’s a lot of teams that lost to teams that they were favored to beat.
“This is college football. It’s hard, week in and week out. And man, I’m damn proud of my team that had a choice to make at halftime, and I feel like they made the right choice. So we’re not going to apologize if they outgained us.”
