There may never be a cooler eight-yard gain than the one SMU had early on in its game against Stanford on Saturday.
On a first-and-10 near midfield with just over six minutes left in a scoreless first quarter, Mustangs quarterback Kevin Jennings took a shotgun snap, faked a handoff to a receiver coming across on a motion and hit tight end RJ Maryland, who was running behind the line in the other direction, with a behind-the-back pass.
Maryland rumbled for a nice eight-yard gain—one that should be at the forefront of any highlight package from today's game.
SMU QB Kevin Jennings broke out the BEHIND-THE-BACK pass 🔥
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 11, 2025
(via @TheCW_Sports) pic.twitter.com/fsVKann0wQ
A perfect little bit of entertainment for an 11 a.m. local kickoff on The CW.
Stanford has largely limited SMU's rushing attack, but Jennings has had a strong start against the Cardinal, completing 13-of-19 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown as of publication. The Mustangs lead Saturday's game 10–0 with less than two minutes before halftime.
Jennings, who despite a rough College Football Playoff performance against Penn State last December has been one of the steadier quarterbacks in the country over the last two seasons, has clearly been grinding some Patrick Mahomes film. There are very few QBs outside of the future Hall of Famer in Kansas City who are brave and creative enough to pull off a move like this.
More College Football on Sports Illustrated
Listen to SI’s new college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SMU Quarterback Channels Patrick Mahomes With Wild Behind-the-Back Pass vs. Stanford.
