An interception cost him 12 points, a set of butterfingers, and an ugly goose egg in the box score.
Overall, the first half was brutal for SMU.
There was little margin for error for the 10th-ranked Mustangs, who will face the No. 4 Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday in State College, Pennsylvania.
But the first half was full of them.
Penn State led 28-0 as each team headed to the locker room for the second game of the expanded College Football Playoff.
The Lions' offense wasn't great, but it wasn't great either. Quarterback Drew Allard did a good enough job, but Penn State's MVP in the first half might have been their opposing quarterback.
All season, the 11-2 Mustangs lived and died on the play of sophomore signal-caller Kevin Jennings.
They hung on hard Saturday at Beaver Stadium.
Things seemed to go a little too quickly for Jennings, who completed 9 of 19 passes and had three interceptions.
However, the sophomore didn't get much help from his receivers either.
The Mustangs offense got off to an inauspicious start with a touchdown falling in the end zone on the first drive of the game.
Jennings was on fourth-and-1 from Penn State's own 19-yard line when the Mustangs pulled off a play-action pass.
The quarterback had a clear path to his marker and could have easily secured a first down with his legs, but instead chose to fly a pass while running.
His throw was slightly derailed, and wide receiver Matthew Hibner should have had plenty of space to make the catch and try to score, but he was forced to turn to the oncoming defender.
The ball went out of reach and the Mustangs didn't have to do anything.
Jennings' second drive of the game, like his fourth, ended in a pick-six.
The quarterback threw his third interception on the fifth drive, but Penn State's Dominic DeLuca returned the interception, his second of the day, just 14 yards.
