Kevin Jennings threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another to lead the host SMU Mustangs to a season-opening 42-13 victory over East Texas A&M on Saturday night in Dallas.
Jennings completed 22 of 30 passes for 260 yards and one interception in addition to his two scoring tosses to lead SMU (1-0), ranked No. 16 in the AP Top 25, to its seventh consecutive season-opening win.
SMU struck on its third offensive play when Jennings found Romello Brinson wide open downfield for a 63-yard touchdown. Brinson caught seven passes for 121 yards overall.
Alexander Kilgore came up with a wild interception for SMU that he returned 10 yards for a touchdown with 5:32 left in the first quarter. Cameron Robertson appeared to intercept the pass from Will Madonna, but had the ball popped loose as he began to secure it. The ball bounced off Kilgore’s foot and up, allowing him to corral it and take off to the end zone.
Unfortunately for the Mustangs, Kilgore appeared to hurt his left ankle during his scoring play. He immediately exited to the locker room and did not return. SMU receiver Jordan Hudson was also lost to injury as he appeared to hurt his left shoulder area while being tackled on the first play of the game.
Ahmaad Moses returned an interception 95 yards for a touchdown for the Mustangs on defense.
East Texas A&M (0-1), which is coming off a 3-9 season and is now eligible to compete for the FCS playoff berth, got its first points from Ozlo Rigby’s 29-yard field goal with 5:20 left in the second quarter. Rigby also made a 32-yarder as time expired in the fourth, and missed a 22-yarder in the first quarter.
Eric Rodriguez entered at quarterback in the second quarter in relief of Madonna and completed 14 of 30 passes for 191 yards and an interception. Rodriguez scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 2:55 left in the game for the Lions’ only touchdown. East Texas A&M ran for 107 yards collectively.
