Sports

QB Jennings gets second — and final — chance with Cajuns

Photo by Steve Franz/LSU Athletics

Former LSU starting quarterback Anthony Jennings has the arm — and the feet — to be a top collegiate quarterback. He’ll get the chance to prove it when he competes for the starting position with UL’s Ragin’ Cajuns.

The university announced Thursday that Jennings signed a grant-in-aid to play for the Cajuns for the upcoming season. The 2016 campaign will be his final year of NCAA eligibility.

Jennings, who is expected to earn his degree from LSU this summer, played only sparingly for the Tigers during 2015 season. That summer he was arrested on a charge of unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling, evidently to retrieve from a Baton Rouge apartment items that had been stolen from him. Those charges were later dropped, although Jennings and three other LSU players were briefly suspended by coach Les Miles.

Cajuns fans should be excited: Jennings has two productive seasons in (arguably) college footballs toughest conference, the SEC, under his belt, and the Cajuns have no other quarterbacks on the roster who have taken a snap at the collegiate level.

According to a press release issued by the university on Thursday:

Jennings started in 12 games in 2014, completing 111-of-227 passes for 1,611 yards and 11 TDs. He added 292 yards on the ground during the season and directed LSU to fourth-quarter comebacks against Wisconsin, Florida and Ole Miss. Jennings rushed for a career-best 119 yards in a Thanksgiving Night win over Texas A&M, becoming the seventh quarterback in school history to rush for 100 yards in a game.

He opened the season throwing for a career-best 239 yards and two TDs in a comeback win over 14th-ranked Wisconsin in Houston. Jennings tossed a career-best three touchdown passes a week later in a win over Sam Houston State, firing a 94-yard TD to Travin Dural on LSU’s first play from scrimmage.

After coming off the bench in an SEC game against Auburn, Jennings returned as LSU’s starter the following week against Florida and accounted for 73 of his 110 passing yards during the fourth quarter as the Tigers rallied for a 30-27 win over Florida in Gainesville.

He added 142 yards passing and a TD in a 10-7 win over third-ranked Ole Miss and closed the season with 151 passing yards and a 75-yard TD strike to John Diarse against Notre Dame in the Music City Bowl.

Jennings earned his first career start against Iowa in the Outback Bowl, passing for 181 yards and a touchdown in a 21-14 victory.

A consensus four-star prospect by all of the major recruiting websites, Jennings was named the named the MVP of the Elite 11 Atlanta Region over 86 quarterbacks from 19 states. He earned Georgia Sportswriters Association first-team all-state honors as an athlete his junior season and Atlanta Journal Constitution honorable-mention all-state honors as a quarterback his senior season.

Jennings was rated as the fifth-best dual-threat quarterback by Rivals.com and the eighth-best by ESPN.com. He passed for 2,187 yards and 19 touchdowns through the air and 500 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground his junior campaign.