SMU QB Stone, benched in Sept., entering portal

SMU quarterback Preston Stone will enter the NCAA transfer portal, but he is planning to remain with the No. 11 Mustangs through their College Football Playoff run, he announced on social media Tuesday.

"It has been an incredible ride playing for this school, and I'm very grateful for every blessing SMU has provided me," Stone wrote in a post announcing his decision.

He added: "The goal set out at the beginning of this season was to win a national championship, and that goal is still within reach. I plan on keeping my commitment to my teammates to finish the remainder of this season as a Mustang and doing whatever I can to help us win it all."

SMU will face No. 3 Penn State in the first round of the playoffs on Dec. 21.

Stone started the first three games of this season, though SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said he planned on playing both Stone and Kevin Jennings this season. After a 18-15 loss to BYU in which Stone went 2-of-4 for 4 yards and was sacked three times as the offensive line struggled, Lashlee made the move to Jennings for the remainder of the season.

"It wasn't one game or osne moment," Lashlee said in September. "Both guys have had a lot of success and won a lot. We're not performing well offensively, but if you watch, we've moved the ball better when [Kevin's] in there as a team, and that's not always on the quarterback. ... We feel like it gives us the best chance to win with this team."

A 6-1, 214-pound junior from Dallas, Stone started 12 games for the Mustangs last season, throwing for 3,197 yards with 28 touchdowns to six interceptions as SMU won the AAC title last year before moving to the ACC this year.

Stone, from Paris Episcopal School in Dallas, threw for more than 13,000 yards with 145 touchdowns in high school, and was the No. 121 player in the 2021 ESPN 300. He was the highest-ranked player to sign with SMU in the modern era.

Jennings credited much of his success this season to the time spent behind Tanner Mordecai and Stone in his first two seasons.

"I think I waited behind some great quarterbacks," Jennings told ESPN recently. "Preston, he's a great quarterback. Just learning from those guys, being able to pick up things those guys do and translating it to my game helped me out a lot."