KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee redshirt senior wide receiver Jauan Jennings has accepted his invitation to the 2020 Reese’s Senior Bowl and will join fellow senior linebacker Darrell Taylor in Mobile, Ala., the bowl committee announced Tuesday.
The 71st Annual Reese’s Senior Bowl is set for Jan. 25, 2020 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium and will be televised on NFL Network at 2:30 p.m. (ET). Players will report on Jan. 20 for the week of practices scheduled Tuesday-Thursday. Practices will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPNU and the NFL Network. The NFL Network will also produce hour-long recap shows each evening.
With Jennings acceptance of the invitation, he will become the 126th Vol to participate in the senior showcase (Taylor, who accepted his invite previously, will be the 125th). The 2020 iteration will also mark the first time Tennessee has had a duo play in the game since 2017 when Joshua Dobbs and Cameron Sutton participated.
Jennings led the Vols offense with 942 receiving yards, which ranks fifth in the SEC, 57 receptions, eight-most in the conference, and eight touchdowns, tied for fifth in the league, through the 2019 regular season. He was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week after registering a career-best 174 receiving yards and two touchdowns in UT’s win against South Carolina, which was the first time a Tennessee player recorded more than 150 yards receiving and two touchdowns against an SEC opponent since Donté Stallworth had 169 yards and three TDs at Kentucky in 2001.
An elusive receiver, Jennings also led the nation in forced missed tackles by a wideout with 27 (as of Week 13). The Murfreesboro, Tenn., native also had four 100-yard games this season – vs. Georgia State (108), vs Georgia (114), vs South Carolina (174), and at Missouri (115) and was a four-time PFF College SEC Team of the Week honoree and has been named to the PFF College National Team of the Week once.
With one game remaining, Jennings ranks fifth in program history with 144 career receptions, sixth with 2,126 career receiving yards and tied for fifth in career touchdown receptions with 18.
The Tennessee football team finished 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the SEC during the 2019 regular season, tying for its best mark in conference play since 2007. Led by head coach Jeremy Pruitt and a 13-member senior class, the Vols rebounded from a 1-4 start to win six of their final seven games and will take a five-game win streak into the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on Jan. 2 against Indiana. Tennessee is undoubtedly one of the hottest teams in the nation and collected nine SEC weekly honors during the season, the most since 2004.
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