Jacobs accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Steve Spurrier and coach Ron Zook's Florida Gators football team from 1999 to 2002. In 1999, Jacobs was the only true freshman wide receiver to play, appearing in ten of twelve games including the Citrus Bowl. As a sophomore in 2000, he played in all twelve regular-season games with five starts, and recorded seventeen receptions for 198 yards and two touchdowns. As a junior in 2001, Jacobs played in all twelve games with three starts including the Orange Bowl, and posted thirty-eight catches for 712 yards and seven touchdowns. As a senior team captain in 2002, Jacobs was Florida's most productive receiver—he finished with seventy-one receptions for 1,088 yards, an average of 98.8 receiving yards per game, and had four 100-yard receiving games. He started all eleven games, was one of ten semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection, and played in the Senior Bowl and the Hula Bowl all-star games.