Kevin Jennings breaks SMU's TD passing record as No. 23 Mustangs beat Cal 59-20

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Cite

Hawkins, S. (2026, October 24). Kevin Jennings breaks SMU's TD passing record as No. 23 Mustangs beat Cal 59-20. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/kevin-jennings-breaks-smu-s-td-passing-record-as-no-23-mustangs-beat-cal-59-20/article_ee4ff5e0-9450-570f-b89a-09cb729607a5.html

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Toronto Star · collected 2026-10-24 · by Stephen Hawkins

Quick Summary

Kevin Jennings broke SMU’s career touchdown passing record with his 73rd TD pass during the No. 23 Mustangs’ 59-20 win over Cal on Saturday. Jennings, who already holds records for passing yards and completions, surpassed Tanner Mordecai’s mark of 72 in the first quarter and added two more touchdowns later in the game. Kendrick Raphael also contributed significantly with 104 rushing yards and three total scores, including two on fourth-down plays. SMU overcame a halftime deficit by scoring touchdowns on their first six drives after intermission, securing their sixth win of the season.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-24, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Kevin Jennings broke SMU's career record for touchdown passes with his 73rd TD throw in the Mustangs' 59-20 victory over California on October 21, 2026. The No. 23 Mustangs trailed at halftime but rallied to score touchdowns on their first six drives after intermission. Jennings threw three total touchdowns and completed 16 of 23 passes for 223 yards in the win. Meanwhile, Kendrick Raphael contributed by running for 104 yards and accounting for two scores, including a fourth-down play that tied the game at halftime. The Mustangs improved to 6-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play with their dominant performance against Cal (3-5, 2-3).

Written for “Smu Mustangs Break Record” on 2026-10-24, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
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Story

📰 Smu Mustangs Break Record
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
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1
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Publisher

Toronto Star · 9572 article(s) · 26 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 26 correction(s)
2026-10-24
Correction
2026-10-07
Correction
2026-09-24
Correction

Who wrote this

Stephen Hawkins
17 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 Hintz had been denied a tying goal at the end of the second period after he got his stick on a puck from the side of the net behind Stuart Skinner, who made an incredible save reaching back with his glove to smother the rolling puck before it could cross the line.
🔮 The loss answered that, and they will find out Sunday how far they drop in the new poll.
🔮 After just missing the College Football Playoff last season as the Big 12 runner-up, the Cougars could start 4-0 for the third year in a row.
🔮 I know the (last) game didn’t go well, but we also wouldn’t have been there without some of the performances Jacob gave us over the course of the season.” Such as when deGrom exited his start at Seattle on Sept. 10 after six scoreless innings because of groin tightness.
🔮 “I don’t have brothers, but if I did, he would be one of the few guys in my life that’s like a brother,” Lashlee said.
🔮 In this season when it will never be more than three games out of the division lead, Texas has to try to finish one game ahead of Houston.
🔮 The ball ricocheted off the heel of Nimmo’s glove when it appeared center fielder Ezequiel Duran might crash into him.
🔮 The Dallas Stars had deals in place this offseason that would have sent high-scoring forward Jason Robertson and young standout defenseman Thomas Harley to other teams.
🔮 Edge rushers Trey White (19 1/2 sacks the last three seasons at San Diego State) and Adam Trick (13 sacks in three seasons at Miami, Ohio) are also expected to fill big holes.
🔮 Returning receiver Jordan Dwyer (54 caches, 730 yards and seven TDs) will have an even bigger role after the departure of 1,190-yard receiver Eric McAlister.
Also by Stephen Hawkins
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 17 articles by Stephen Hawkins →

Topics

ACC Cal California Mustangs SMU

Subjects

SMU ORG · 9× Mustangs ORG · 5× California ORG · 4× Jennings PERSON · 4× Cal ORG · 3× Raphael PERSON · 3× ACC ORG · 2× Bears ORG · 2× Sagapolutele PERSON · 2× DALLAS GPE · 1×

Narrative

DALLAS (AP) — Kevin Jennings threw three touchdowns to break SMU’s career record, Kendrick Raphael ran for 104 yards while accounting for three scores, two on fourth-down plays, and the No. 23 Mustangs beat California 59-20 on Saturday.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-24

Claims (20 extracted, 0 hedged)

DALLAS (AP) — Kevin Jennings threw three touchdowns to break SMU’s career record, Kendrick Raphael ran for 104 yards while accounting for three scores, two on fourth-down plays, and the No. 23 Mustangs beat California 59-20 on Saturday. asserted
Mustangs → throw → Saturday
The Mustangs (6-1, 4-1 ACC) trailed at halftime before scoring touchdowns on their first six drives after the break. asserted
Mustangs → trail → break
The second of those scores was Jennings’ record-breaking 73rd career TD pass, a 21-yarder to Derek McFall, and the third-year starting quarterback added to that with a 17-yarder to Jalen Hale with 6:29 left. asserted
quarterback → break → 6:29
Jennings, already SMU’s career leader for passing yards (9,766) and completions (781), surpassed the 72 TD passes by Tanner Mordecai from 2021-22. asserted
Jennings → surpass → 2021
Jennings had tied that mark with his 22-yard fourth-down pass to Raphael in the first quarter and finished 16 of 23 passing for 223 yards. asserted
Jennings → tie → yards
Freshman running back Christian Rhodes had TD runs of 5 and 3 yards in SMU’s scoring surge in the second half, which Cal (3-5, 2-3) opened with three consecutive three-and-outs. asserted
Cal → have → outs
SMU had 306 of its 492 total yards after halftime. asserted
SMU → have → halftime
Raphael’s other fourth-down touchdown came on a 1-yard run that tied the game at 17-17 with 1:57 left before halftime. asserted
1:57 → come → halftime
Towns McGough then made a half-ending field goal to put Cal up 20-17. asserted
McGough → make → Cal
When California beat SMU 38-35 in last year’s regular-season finale, a loss that kept the Mustangs from making the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game for the second year in a row asserted
that → beat → row
, Raphael scored a game-winning 2-yard TD run in the final minute for the Bears. asserted
Raphael → score → Bears
Cal’s left-handed quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele started for the first time in three games since a concussion late in the first half Oct. 3 at UNLV. asserted
Sagapolutele → start → UNLV
He completed 27 of 37 passes for 265 yards and a touchdown. asserted
He → complete → yards
He threw for 330 yards and four TDs in last year’s win over SMU. asserted
He → throw → SMU
The Bears have lost four of their last five games. asserted
Bears → lose → games
Sagapolutele missed the win over Virginia Tech two weeks ago, and Jackson Brousseau started again last week, though Sagapolutele threw a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the 41-7 loss to Wake Forest. asserted
Sagapolutele → miss → Forest
The Mustangs, who scored TDs on seven consecutive drives overall, are 11-0 at home and 18-3 overall in ACC games since joining that league in 2024. asserted
who → score → 2024
... SMU is 24-2 in its last 26 home games while averaging 44 points in those games. asserted
SMU → average → games
SMU plays its only road game in a seven-week stretch at Syracuse. asserted
SMU → play → Syracuse
The Mustangs also had five home games and an open date in that span. asserted
Mustangs → have → span
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