How Preston Stone, Kevin Jennings fared vs. HCU, what's next for SMU QBs | SMU Football

the pass protection you know two straight games no sacks Allowed by this offensive line and for these quarterbacks to operate and have the best chance to move the offense up and down the field that's got to be the case and there are times when there's pressures allow pressure pressures allowed and Kevin had an unbelievable scramble on one of those situations but you know for the most part they've been keeping them clean I feel like as a former quarterback most of the time when pressure does eventually get to Kevin or Preston a lot of it is maybe holding the ball too long or or not having the opportunity to get rid of it uh early in some of those those situations so I think the offensive line and pass pro has been really good I think the PFF grades have backed that up the Run game was an adventure in game one game two is much much better uh but these quarterbacks you know they they've got things going in the right direction you know Preston finished the Nevada game exceptionally strong Kevin came in against Houston Christian and got a ton of time and really looked the part keldrick uh did his part bringing a physical Edge in the Run game this quarterback situation that SMU has now that the power four games are here you know this type of a game just builds this guys these guys confidences up uh when they're going to need it here in a big stretch for sure my early games in college my freshman year my first meaningful playing time was against Steven F Austin so this is a great opportunity for guys to go out kind of be able to work their craft a little bit against a little bit of lower level of competition and to gain some confidence I thought Kevin was really fun to watch he created a ton of plays in scrambled drill where he's running around you know and he's able to find an open receiver or he's able to take off with his legs you know the only thing I would like to see a little more of is I'd like to see him get Five Points of contact on the football you know stop running around with a little bit like a loaf of bread but it was really fun to watch him man he has so much upside that's just awesome to to see I thought Preston did a nice job of of bouncing back I think his first series kind of had everybody a little bit shaken you know he threw behind the receiver on the first play and then he air mailed one on third down where you could kind of feel everybody getting a little antsy on the sidelines and in the stands but once he got his first completion in that second series he got rolling I thought he played really well overall you know he threw a pair of touchdown passes you know and he looked more comfortable than he did a week ago he'll continue to be the starter in my opinion and Coach Lashley said it until it proven otherwise so you just have to roll with a guy that you've trusted for the last year plus to go out and get the job done and the the beauty of it is the second that he's having an off game or or he just doesn't have it that night we're able to go to Kevin Jennings and stick him in there and I talked to people close to Kevin on the Boulevard on Saturday and I asked him about his mindset with all of this and they had spoken to him on Friday night and he said as long as the team wins he's happy which is pretty much what I had anticipated that's what we talked about in the very first episode of this knowing that that's the kind of character that Kevin is yeah I I I think you hit the nail on the head and and and I go back to you know sock coaches that I know and and I went out there in Fall camp for them when they were getting ready to start the post Kevin Jennings era and they were like we we have a lot of work to do because we just gave him the offense and said you do what you do best he was basically calling the plays he was doing all these things and he was doing it in a way that just set themselves up to win you know some games Kevin Jennings was an absolute star you could see why he was lightly recruited by by colleges and things like that and then other games he was able to get the balls in Playmakers hands and just move them up and down the field and sock you know w a state championship their first in you know decades uh for for uh Dallas and and sock so you know he's just calm cool collected I think now that the season has started and we've gone through this off seon of all right Preston was recover Kevin got the Reps in the spring they continue to compete all off seon this is just about winning games and helping this team be in the best position that it can be in my opinion at least like people always bring up man this rotating thing somebody's gon to get mad at some point I think if it were to be unfair in some way we would hear at least Rumblings and we might not say anything but you can hear the Rumblings when there's division with something like this it's being handled pretty well I think on all fronts I agree I I think it's a a very balanced deal I think they both just have a lot of character and respect for each other and for the program they both want what's best for the team and at the end of the day that's winning ball games you know I think Kevin can respect that Preston has cut his teeth you know being a backup and he's finally earned a starting role and that this is his team until proven otherwise but I also think that Preston can respect what Kevin brings to the table you know he's a guy that is a raw athlete and is able to create a lot of plays and it's it's never a bad thing to have a great backup quarterback you know you're able to if Preston were to go down again where that's okay we can lean on Kevin and be fine and on the flip side of it as long as Preston's playing great Kevin will be happy too yeah I I I agree it's it's one of those interesting things that I don't know how much long ER rotating goes on and I guess we could spend a a whole pod like thinking about that or or all the different reasons but you know Preston's really strong in practice I think Kevin is a a gamer and that's kind of where it's the hard line to walk you know you when you have a two quarterbacks that are that do different things and then they do their own different things well you're looking for separation in different areas because it's a coach's job to get the best guys on the field and there are certain areas where Preston does better and Kevin does better and it's you know right now it's it's working and and we'll see we'll talk about it you know with regard to BYU later this week but uh against Houston Christian it worked out really well I thought both guys were efficient especially once Preston settled in like you said but you know Kevin had some miraculous plays and and Isaiah Smith he met with the media on on Tuesday and I thought his explanation he was asked about you know jumping up a level and you can kind of apply it to everything you still got to go out there and execute you got to play fast you got to play smart you go to do all those things and there are certain games where you're going to face a higher level of competition and talent but you still got to go out there and make plays out there and and that's what Kevin did a lot of on Saturday for sure super excited to see that