Jauan Jennings throws Super Bowl touchdown pass on wild trick play
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has long been known as one of the best play callers in the National Football League. Well in the Super Bowl on Sunday night against the Kansas City Chiefs, it didn’t take long for Shanahan to dive into his bag of tricks.
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy threw a backwards pass to Jauan Jennings, who stepped up and tossed a pass across the field to Christian McCaffrey before getting leveled by a Chiefs defender.
McCaffrey then took the catch, followed his convoy of blockers down the right sideline, 25-yards to the end zone.
It was without a doubt one of the cooler-looking trick plays in recent memory in a Super Bowl. Credit to Shanahan for dialing it up in a big-time moment and credit to the 49ers players like Jennings, Purdy, and McCaffrey on executing it. There’s very little error for timing on that kind of play and Jennings just barely got his pass off.
The play paid off in a big way, with the 49ers leading the game 10-0 late in the second quarter. Unfortunately, San Francisco would lose in a heartbreaker in overtime, losing 25-22. It was a well-played game by both teams and kept the drama in it until the very end. That will provide very little solace and comfort to Kyle Shanahan, who once again ended up in the Super Bowl, but came away with heartbreak.
More information on Jauan Jennings NFL and college career
Jauan Jennings best season with the 49ers came in 2022, when he hauled in 35 catches for 416 yards and one touchdown.
Back in the 2020 NFL Draft, the 49ers made Jennings the No. 217 overall selection. His time at Tennessee was enough to peak their interest, when Jennings accumulated 2,153 receiving yards and 18 receiving touchdowns on 146 receptions. He earned second team All-SEC honors in 2019 after he hauled in 59 catches for 969 yards and eight touchdowns.
He wrapped up his career there as one of the most dominant receivers in Tennessee football history. Jennings played in 50 career games and 30 starts. He also tossed two touchdown passes in college. Fighting through contact and breaking tackles has always been his strong suit (like the catch above). In 2019, he led all wide receivers in the country with 30 broken tackles, according to PFF College.
Without a doubt, one of his biggest moments as a Volunteer came when he caught a 43-yard Hail Mary touchdown from Joshua Dobbs to beat the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens in 2016. He didn’t have a bad season that year, either, hauling in 40 catches for 580 yards and seven touchdowns.
As a high school prospect coming out of Blackman High School (Murfeesboro, Tennessee), he was highly touted. Jennings was ranked as a four-star prospect and the No. 151 overall recruit in the nation, according to the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2015 cycle. He actually played quarterback in high school, but didn’t convert to wide receiver until college.
On3’s Steve Samra also contributed to this article.