Kevin Jennings threw for 278 yards as SMU beat No. 21 Arizona 24-19 in the Holiday Bowl on Friday night at Snapdragon Stadium.
Jennings completed 21 of 32 passes during the game, highlighted by one for 80 yards on a razzle-dazzle play on the second play from scrimmage. He also set up touchdown runs by T.J. Harden and by Stone Eby for the Mustangs (9-4) who snapped a five-game postseason losing streak that included a 38-10 defeat to Penn State in the opening round of last season’s College Football Playoff.
Arizona also finished 9-4 to fall short of their second 10-win season in three years. SMU won a postseason game for the first time since 2012, when they beat Fresno State 43-10 in the Hawaii Bowl.
SMU was up 24-0 at halftime, a big enough lead to overcome three interceptions by Jennings in the second half and three touchdown passes by Arizona’s Noah Fifita. And unlike its last visit to the Holiday Bowl, the Mustangs didn’t blow the big lead.
Led by the “Pony Express” backfield of Eric Dickerson and Craig James in the 1980 Holiday Bowl, the Mustangs took a 45-25 lead over BYU with about four minutes left. But in one of the wildest finishes in college football history, Jim McMahon led a comeback capped by a 41-yard Hail Mary to Clay Brown as time expired. BYU won 46-45.
Fifita threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Barmore with 33 seconds left but SMU recovered the ensuing onside kick.
The Mustangs didn’t wait for the halftime fireworks to put on a show. On second-and-8 from the SMU 19, Jennings handed off to Harden, who pitched it to wide receiver Yamir Knight, who then tossed it back to Jennings.
The QB hit tight end Matthew Hibner, who was tripped up at the 1. Harden scored on the next play.
SMU scored on four of its first five possessions. Harden scored on a 3-yard run late in the first quarter to cap an 87-yard drive, Eby scored on a 1-yard run midway through the second quarter to finish a 94-yard drive and Sam Keltner kicked a 24-yard field goal on the next possession.
Jennings’ pass was intercepted by Michael Dansby at the Arizona 4 early in the third quarter, and Fifita capped the drive with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Javin Whatley. The two-point conversion attempt failed.
Jennings threw another interception on SMU’s next possession, this one by by Riley Wilson, giving the Wildcats a first down on the Mustangs 14, but they gained just 4 yards and turned it over on downs.
Fifita threw a 10-yard scoring pass to Tre Spivey to close the score to 24-12 midway through the fourth quarter.
Wilson intercepted a pass again, but the Mustangs got the ball back a few plays later when Alexander Kilgore intercepted Fifita’s pass.
Fifita was 28 of 43 for 265 yards.
In a rare showing of loyalty in the era of NIL and the transfer portal, the two redshirt junior quarterbacks, Jennings and Fifita, have chosen to remain at their schools and appear set to finish their careers where they started.
