{"id":475736,"date":"2026-10-24T21:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T21:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/475736\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T21:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T21:20:08","slug":"kevin-jennings-breaks-smus-td-passing-record-as-no-23-mustangs-beat-cal-59-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/475736\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Jennings breaks SMU’s TD passing record as No. 23 Mustangs beat Cal 59-20"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SMU<\/p>\n

SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings (7) throws a pass as California linebacker JD McKinley (95) pressures during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n

LM Otero\/AP Photo\/LM Otero\"SMU<\/p>\n

SMU running back Kendrick Raphael (6) runs against California defensive back Cam Sidney (20) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n

LM Otero\/AP Photo\/LM Otero\"California<\/p>\n

California quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (3) throws a pass as SMU defensive end Marques White (16) chases during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n

LM Otero\/AP Photo\/LM Otero\"SMU<\/p>\n

SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee yells from the sideline during the first half of an NCAA college football game against California, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n

LM Otero\/AP Photo\/LM Otero\"SMU<\/p>\n

SMU wide receiver Jalen Hale (2) catches a touchdown pass ahead of California defensive back Isaiah Crosby (23) during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n

LM Otero\/AP Photo\/LM Otero<\/p>\n

DALLAS (AP) \u2014 Kevin Jennings threw three touchdowns to break SMU’s career record, Kendrick Raphael ran for 104 yards against his former team while accounting for three scores and the No. 23 Mustangs beat California 59-20 after trailing at halftime on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Mustangs (6-1, 4-1 ACC) scored touchdowns on their first six drives after the break. The second of those scores was Jennings’ record-breaking 73rd career TD pass<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

\u201cJust all the great quarterbacks that came through here and being able to surpass them, it\u2019s an amazing feeling,\u201d Jennings said.<\/p>\n

Jennings, 25-8 as the starter and already SMU’s career leader for passing yards (9,766) and completions (781), surpassed the 72 TD passes by Tanner Mordecai from 2021-22. Jennings had tied that mark with his 22-yard fourth-down pass to Raphael in the first quarter and finished 16 of 23 passing for 223 yards.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeservedly so,\u201d Mustangs coach Rhett Lashlee said. \u201cHe just continues to do what he does best, which is win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Freshman running back Christian Rhodes had TD runs of 5 and 3 yards in SMU’s scoring surge in the second half, which Cal (3-5, 2-3) opened with three consecutive three-and-outs.<\/p>\n

Raphael, who played for the Bears last season, had another fourth-down touchdown with a 1-yard run that tied the game at 17-17 with 1:57 left before halftime. Towns McGough then made a half-ending field goal to put Cal up 20-17.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t just win one half,\u201d Cal coach Tosh Lupoi said. \u201cTo be winning at half and come out the way we did is really disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n

When California beat SMU 38-35 in last year’s regular-season finale, a loss that kept the Mustangs from making the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game for the second year in a row, Raphael scored a game-winning 2-yard TD run in the final minute for the Bears.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

\u201cI just told him I\u2019m glad he\u2019s in the right jersey this time,\u201d Lashlee said.<\/p>\n

Sagapolutele starting again for Bears<\/p>\n

Cal’s left-handed quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele started for the first time in three games since a concussion late in the first half Oct. 3 at UNLV.<\/p>\n

He completed 27 of 37 passes for 265 yards and a touchdown. He threw for 330 yards and four TDs in last year’s win over SMU.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Sagapolutele missed the win over Virginia Tech two weeks ago, and Jackson Brousseau started again last week, though Sagapolutele threw a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the 41-7 home loss to Wake Forest.<\/p>\n

Finally some separation for the Mustangs<\/p>\n

After so many close games, the Mustangs in the second half had the kind of offensive outburst that they have been waiting for \u2014 42 points and 306 of their 492 total yards after halftime.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we needed,\u201d Lashlee said. \u201cWe felt like it was close, it was coming. It came at a good time for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

SMU had scored a combined 48 points in its previous two games since pulling out a 34-24 win<\/a> over second-year Bowl Subdivision team Missouri State.<\/p>\n

The takeaway<\/p>\n

California: The Bears have lost four of their last five games.<\/p>\n

SMU: The Mustangs, who scored TDs on seven consecutive drives overall, are 11-0 at home and 18-3 overall in ACC games since joining that league in 2024. … SMU is 24-2 in its last 26 home games while averaging 44 points in those games.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Up next <\/p>\n

California is at N.C. State for the second of three consecutive road games next Saturday.<\/p>\n

SMU plays its only road game in a seven-week stretch at Syracuse. The Mustangs also had five home games and an open date in that span.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP\u2019s full college football coverage here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings (7) throws a pass as California linebacker JD McKinley (95) pressures during the first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3267,161128,161126,161127,102196,18312,23681,202,196,42838,42094,197,942,20515,82,84,83,161125,161129,55311],"class_list":["post-475736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-california","tag-christian-rhodes","tag-derek-mcfall","tag-jackson-brousseau","tag-jalen-hale","tag-kevin-jennings","tag-package-100024-ap-online","tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","tag-product-32556-ap-online-college-game-stories","tag-product-32562-ap-online-other-sports-news","tag-product-40776-ap-california-sports-only","tag-product-40815-ap-texas-sports-only","tag-rhett-lashlee","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-smu-california-score","tag-tanner-mordecai","tag-tsn-college"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}