Jauan Jennings has experience scoring a touchdown in crucial situations.
But the moments are never more significant than the one he experienced on Sunday. And he performed admirably in the most important match in the nation’s most watched sport.
Jennings switched to wide receiver after arriving in Knoxville, yet during his Tennessee career, he still completed four passes. With two touchdowns on his two completions, he made them matter.
One of those touchdown throws occurred during a play that was strikingly identical in the Vols’ 2015 game against Florida, when Jennings found Josh Dobbs for a 58-yard touchdown ball across the field.
The wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, a previous standout in Tennessee football, scored a touchdown pass on a trick play during the second quarter of his team’s 2024 Super Bowl game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas versus the Kansas City Chiefs.
QB Brock Purdy of San Francisco found wide out Jennings with a backward toss on a second-and-10 play from the Chiefs’ 21-yard line. Shortly before being tackled by Chiefs CB Trent McDuffie, Jennings, from the Kansas City 31, threw across the field to Christian McCaffrey.
Even though it appeared as though McCaffrey would intercept the throw, he managed to catch it and run 27 yards into the end zone for an official 21-yard touchdown. Late in the second quarter, the 49ers’ advantage was 10-0 thanks to the score and the subsequent extra point.
In the process, Jennings made Super Bowl history by becoming the first wide receiver to pass for a touchdown since Antwaan Randle El in 2006.
Jennings was a highly sought-after quarterback coming out of Blackman High School in Murfreesboro. According to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings, he was a four-star prospect and the sixth-ranked dual-threat quarterback in the 2015 recruiting class.