Kavanaugh was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from Little Rock Central High School in 1936.  Kavanaugh arrived at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1936 and joined the LSU football varsity team in 1937. As an end, he was quickly able to fill the void in the offense left by the departure of two-time All-American Gaynell Tinsley. At 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m), Kavanaugh was a large receiver for his time, and used his size to outreach defenders. Bernie Moore, Kavanaugh's head coach at LSU, said Kavanaugh "was a pass completer rather than a receiver, simply because he'd catch passes no one else could get to." He was named to the Associated Press (AP) All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) second alternate team after the 1937 season. In 1938, the AP named him a first-team All-SEC selection, and he was a second-team selection by the United Press.  In 1939, in a game against Holy Cross, Kavanaugh caught four touchdown passes in the 26-7 win. According to Kavanaugh and teammate Young Bussey, Kavanaugh found four rusty nails on the sideline during the game. The next week against Rice, he found another nail and scored another touchdown to give LSU a 7-0 win. The pattern continued against Loyola and Vanderbilt, as Kavanaugh found two nails before each game and in each scored two touchdowns. A sportswriter for the Baton Rouge Advocate claimed he saw coach Bernie Moore at a local store stocking up on nails before LSU's game against No. 1 Tennessee. Kavanaugh failed to score in the game, however, as the Tigers lost 20-0.  The Nashville Banner named Kavanaugh co-MVP of the Southeastern Conference for 1939 along with Bob Foxx of Tennessee. Kavanaugh was a consensus All-America selection for the 1939 All-America Team, being named to the team by five of the nine official selectors. He was also awarded the Knute Rockne Memorial Trophy by the Washington D.C. Touchdown Club as the nation's lineman of the year, and finished seventh in Heisman Trophy balloting.

Answer this question "What was a highlight of his college career?" by extracting the answer from the text above.
He was named to the Associated Press (AP) All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) second alternate team after the 1937 season.