Defensive Back | Letters 1975, 76
The Bearcats enjoyed one of the the few bright spots between the Sid Gilman years and the coming of Brian Kelly under coach Tony Mason. in the early to mid 70's. Mason built his team around an excellent defense and an effective offense. Two of the five best team defensive performances came in the Mason era including a 70 yard outing by Louisville against a Jenkins featured defense in 1976.
Jenkins made this list for his defensive play which was consistently excellent. He led the Bearcats in interceptions in 1975 and 76, one of only a handful of players to notch the most interceptions two years running collecting 5 in 1975 and 4 in 1976.
Jenkins was also a big threat with the ball in his hands either on interceptions where his 173 yards ranks 8th all time but also in the return game. His 8.73 yards per return is still among the top 10 for career punt return average. He also excelled returning kick offs and the 99 yard TD against Houston is still the 4th longest in school history.
Jenkins was named honorable mention All America following his 76 season. He was taken in the 6th round of the 1977 NFL draft by the Falcons but never played in an NFL game.
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