– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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DALLAS — The last two home games for the SMU Mustangs ended with the result they wanted at the end, but left an unconvincing stamp on those affairs, and it only got worse during the first half of Saturday’s contest.
The second half, however, was what the Atlantic Coast Conference has seen since the Mustangs arrival — an explosive offense that can turn contests into routs in a blink of an eye.
Kevin Jennings threw for two of his three touchdowns in the second half as No. 23 SMU scored 42 unanswered points to begin the second half in their 59-20 win over California inside Gerald J. Ford Stadium. Kendrick Raphael ran for 104 yards and two scores as the Mustangs extended their undefeated run at home in conference play to 17 games, with 11 of those coming in ACC games.
After the Golden Bears kicked a field goal on the last play of the second quarter to take a 20-17 lead into the locker room, the Mustangs (6-1, 4-1 ACC) scored touchdowns on their first six drives after the intermission. The second of those scores was Jennings’ record-breaking 73rd career touchdown pass, a 21-yarder to Derek McFall, and the third-year starting quarterback added to that with a 17-yarder to Jalen Hale with 6:29 left.
Jennings, who already holds the school record for passing yards and completions, surpassed former Mustang Tanner Mordecai, who played at SMU from 2021-2022, for the touchdown mark.
“Just all the great quarterbacks that came through here and being able to surpass them, it’s an amazing feeling,” Jennings said.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by ALOST photo editor Ross James. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 30 pictures in total.
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