DALLAS (AP) — Kevin Jennings was once a largely overlooked high school quarterback whose only Division I offer was from then-FCS team Missouri State.
That changed when, days after becoming SMU's head coach, Rhett Lashlee and his offensive coordinator saw Jennings play while looking at other recruits in a prep playoff game. He soon after signed with his hometown team to play for what has become a Top 25 program with a College Football Playoff appearance.
Now, nearly five years later, Jennings is the centerpiece of a Heisman Trophy campaign in his senior season with No. 22 SMU (2-1). His final nonconference home game is Saturday night against Missouri State and new Bears coach Casey Woods, the OC who was with Lashlee and in that role with the Mustangs the past four seasons before landing his first head coaching job.
“It's just crazy. ... It'll be a cool experience for sure,” Jennings said of the somewhat full-circle moment that puts his experience in perspective. “It definitely does. ... It's been a long journey. So grateful I got a chance to come to SMU."
The game is also a matchup of longtime friends Lashlee and Woods, who as young coaches together at Auburn were part of Tigers' undefeated 2010 national championship.
Missouri State is now in its second FBS season, and its first game at that level was a 28-10 loss at home over SMU last September.
Jennings stayed with the Mustangs even after finally getting noticed by other big schools who suddenly wanted him, and has been part of their successful transition to a power conference.
The dynamic quarterback is 21-8 as the starter, including an 8-0 league record in their Atlantic Coast Conference debut in 2024 when he became the full-time starter and they made the 12-team CFP field. Jennings' first start was a win in the 2023 American Conference championship game after Preston Stone broke his leg in the regular-season finale.
“He did it the right way. There's very few quarterbacks in college football right now that have come in and stayed the duration of their career, particularly not somebody as high profile as him," Woods said. “To watch his continued progression and development has been a lot of fun.”
Jennings is already SMU's career leader with 9,330 total yards, and second for passing yards (8,698), completions (689) and total touchdowns responsible for at 74. His 64 TD passes rank third. All of the record marks are within reach in the next few games.
While SMU offered the unexpected opportunity to play in Dallas, it was still emotionally difficult for Jennings to call the Missouri State coaches who had put their belief in him. He was verbally committed to the Bears and didn't want to let them down.
“That’s who Kevin is. I mean, he’s so loyal, obviously he’s been loyal to us. And he’s just such a good person. He’s got a lot of integrity. His yes is yes, his no is no," Lashlee said. “We came in late. ... I think within that first week, he knew he wanted to stay in Dallas. This is his home. This was a great opportunity for him.”
As for the coaches, Lashlee was a graduate assistant and Woods a quality control coach for Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn during that title season in 2010. Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz was also a grad assistant there.
When Malzahn got his first head coaching job at Arkansas State in 2012, Lashlee was his OC while Woods coached receivers and Drinkwitz running backs. Drinkwitz took the Mizzou job after the 2019 season, with Woods serving as his tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator before leaving to join Lashlee's staff at SMU.
“I don’t have a closer friend in this business than Rhett Lashlee,” Woods said.
“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. “Just in the business too. I mean ever since I’ve been a coach since ‘09, he and I have either been on staff together, or the years we haven’t we’ve obviously remained close.”
Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here
FILE - SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee talks on his headset before an NCAA college football game against Florida State, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Noah Lantor,File)
FILE - Missouri State head coach Casey Woods claps up his defernse after a stop agaisnt Texas A&M during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Craft,File)
FILE - SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings (7) throws during the first half an NCAA college football game against Florida State, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Noah Lantor,File)
Saudi Arabia's top cleric has issued a rare statement, calling on the kingdom's troops to defend the country from neighboring Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Yemen is deteriorating as fighting escalates, further straining the country's overstretched health sector.
In New York, the wars in Iran and Gaza have dominated the agenda at the U.N. General Assembly, where the leaders of Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt were scheduled to address the United Nations later Friday.
Here is a look at the latest news from the Middle East. More coverage of the U.N. General Assembly is available here.
With Saudi oil facilities, cities and ships off its coast coming under escalating attacks, the kingdom's top religious authority has called on soldiers to be prepared to defend the country from Iran-backed Houthis.
Grand Mufti Sheikh Saleh al-Fawzan, who traditionally avoids weighing in on politics in a country that holds enormous influence among Muslims worldwide, issued the strongly worded statement. Al-Fawzan addressed his message to soldiers defending the kingdom's borders and members of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen, peppering it with Quranic verses and religious edicts.
“Protecting this great nation, guarding its borders, defending against aggression and punishing those who want to harm any inch of it is one of the greatest duties,” he said in the statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency on Thursday.
Israel’s military said two of its soldiers were killed in northern Gaza on Thursday while inspecting an unexploded Israeli drone near a military post. They were the first Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza in months.
The drone exploded as the soldiers, Ofek Moalem and Nadav Kali, approached it, the military said Friday. They were evacuated to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead. The incident is under investigation.
Five other Israeli soldiers have been killed since last October’s ceasefire that attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and the militant Hamas group.
While the heaviest fighting has subsided, the ceasefire has seen almost daily Israeli fire. Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones and have killed 1,408 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
The human toll of renewed hostilities in Yemen has stretched beyond the battlefield, overwhelming a health system already battered by years of war.
More than 130,000 people have fled their homes as fighting escalates between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces. Fewer than 10% of health centers in affected areas are equipped to provide the care that wounded people need, according to the World Health Organization. Years of war have left hospitals with little capacity.
Children share emergency room beds, pregnant women are being turned away from health centers and medical supplies are running low.
The most recent round of fighting began in July after the Houthis declared a blockade on Saudi ships in the key Bab el-Mandeb strait, adding to pressure on global trade already disrupted by the war in Iran and the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.
The U.N. agency for Palestinians has met behind the scenes with officials from the U.S.-created Board of Peace, though the board has declared that the agency — known as UNRWA — will have no role in a future Gaza.
Publicly, UNRWA has not been included in the board's planning for the territory's postwar future. But Philippe Lazzarini, the U.N. agency’s last chief, told The Associated Press that members of a Palestinian technocratic committee are clear they want to work with the agency.
“They know that if you get completely rid of the agency today, it might have a further ... devastating impact on the population,” Lazzarini said.
The dynamic underscores how central UNRWA remains to addressing Gaza’s humanitarian crisis during the fragile ceasefire, even as Israel has sought to marginalize it. Israel alleges the agency has been infiltrated by Hamas militants, claims the International Court of Justice has said have not been substantiated.
Iran's Masoud Pezeshkian discussed efforts to de-escalate regional tensions with Qatar's foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who also serves as the country's prime minister.
The talks took place on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, according to an X post Friday by the Qatari foreign ministry. Qatar has often acted as an intermediary between the U.S. and Iran.
This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
A young man holds a Saudi flag while standing through the sunroof of a vehicle during celebrations marking Saudi Arabia's 96th National Day in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Baraa Anwer)
Palestinians walk amid war-damaged buildings in Gaza City, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
This image taken from undated video released by the Ansar Allah Media Office, the media arm of Yemen's Houthi rebels, on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, shows, according to the group, Houthi fighters firing rifles during clashes with Saudi-backed forces at an undisclosed location in Yemen. (Ansar Allah Media Office via AP)
Men perform the traditional Saudi sword dance known as the ardah during celebrations marking Saudi Arabia's 96th National Day in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Baraa Anwer)
