UC Davis Aggies @ SMU Mustangs
Jennings tosses 5 TDs as No. 17 SMU routs UC Davis 56-10 in scorching Texas heat
DALLAS -- — Kevin Jennings threw for 337 yards and a career-high five touchdowns while playing just the first half, and No. 17 SMU rolled to a 56-10 victory over lower-division UC Davis on a scorching Saturday in Texas.
The teams agreed to play two 12-minute quarters after halftime with SMU leading 42-0. The temperature for the midafternoon kickoff was 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) with a heat index of 107.
Yannick Smith had a 44-yard catch and run to cap the first-half scoring for the Mustangs (2-0) when he attempted to leap two defenders at the 10-yard line but came down between them, and ran through them on the way to the end zone.
Derrick McFall was all alone down the middle on a 52-yard touchdown, and Theo Melin Ohrstrom had two scoring catches. McFall also had a 40-yard run.
A week after throwing for five TDs in a win over San Diego, Treynor Cleeland was 11 of 25 for 83 yards with an interception. The Aggies (2-1), who qualified for the FCS playoffs each of the past two seasons, pulled Cleeland when trailing 49-0 late in the third quarter.
Jennings was 14 of 16 without an interception a week after the Mustangs overcame his two second-half picks in a 27-24 victory over Florida State.
UC Davis: The Aggies had the ball on second down at their 4-yard line at the 2-minute timeout of the first half, trailing 28-0. Just 96 seconds later, SMU had two more touchdowns while using one timeout. Cleeland's interception on the second-down play gave the Mustangs the ball at the UC Davis 20. A three-and-out with two incompletions on the next possession was followed by Smith's highlight reel TD.
SMU: Jennings' school-led Heisman campaign is off to a strong start. He has 767 yards passing and eight touchdowns in two victories. He broke Ben Hicks' decade-old school record of 8,977 total yards. Jennings finished the game at 9,073. On this season's pace, Jennings would break Hicks' record for passing yards in Week 4.
The SMU sideline had eight air-conditioned benches with shade coverings, plus the shade of the press box in the second half. No such relief for UC Davis on the east sideline, where a half-dozen misting fans had to do all the work. The stands behind the UC Davis bench were virtually empty after halftime. Almost all of what was left of the crowd was in the shady west stands.
UC Davis: After three consecutive road games to start the season, the Aggies play the first of three in a row at home next Saturday against Stetson.
SMU: A second Atlantic Coast Conference game in the first three of the season is at No. 24 Louisville next Saturday.
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