With solely 77 gamers in the historical past of the program granted the alternative to play in the NFL, Marshall boasts a reasonably spectacular alumni community.
Among these who performed for the Thundering Herd and ventured into skilled territory are two of the most outstanding gamers of the early 2000s: Chad Pennington and Randy Moss. Playing collectively in West Virginia for two seasons, the quarterback-receiver duo finally performed towards one another in the large leagues for over a decade.
With each Marshall legends leaving soccer behind a number of years in the past, it is no surprise faculty soccer followers have skilled a little bit of déjà vu watching the program the final couple of seasons. Another Pennington quarterback has appeared in the NCAA panorama and simply so occurs to attend the similar college as his predecessor.
As many assumed, it is not a coincidence.
Here's every little thing to know about Cole Pennington's relation to Chad Pennington, together with how the Marshall third-string slinger is following in his NFL dad's footsteps.
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Is Cole Pennington related to Chad Pennington?
Yes, Cole Pennington is considered one of Chad Pennington's three sons with his spouse Robin Hampton.
They raised their household in Versailles, Kentucky, the place Chad coached Cole's highschool soccer crew. As the Sayre School's quarterback for three seasons, Cole notched a 16-4 document below his father, throwing for over 4,000 yards and 56 complete touchdowns with a 70 p.c completion price.
The duo led Sayre to the playoffs in 2020, a formidable feat contemplating it was the similar yr the college introduced again its soccer program because it was eliminated in 1977. Chad helped to begin the varsity crew again up which now options Cole's youthful brother, Luke.
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Cole Pennington stats
Cole Pennington is the third-string quarterback for the Thundering Herd, backing up Braylon Braxton and Stone Earle. He redshirted his freshman season in 2022 and performed in 4 video games the subsequent yr, together with Marshall's loss to UTSA in the Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl. Pennington performed properly regardless of falling 35-17, compiling 258 yards on 15 completions.
So far in 2024, he is solely performed in one recreation — Marshall's blowout 45-3 win over Stony Brook. The redshirt sophomore led the crew's last landing drive late in the fourth quarter and seemed stable regardless of not having seen the area a lot in his profession.
Here's a have a look at how he is fared below heart:
| Year | GP | CMP | ATT | CMP% | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | LNG | SACK |
| 2023 | 4 | 64 | 112 | 57.1 | 695 | 6.2 | 0 | 6 | 65 | 9 |
| 2024 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 80.0 | 52 | 10.4 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
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Chad Pennington NFL profession
Chad Pennington began below heart 4 of his 5 seasons at Marshall between 1995 to 1999, the place he helped declare the college's first bowl recreation victory and went undefeated his senior season with future NFL Hall-of-Famer Moss as his high goal.
As a end result, Pennington was taken 18th general by the Jets in the 2000 NFL Draft forward of future all-time nice Tom Brady. Pennington earned the beginning spot in his third season in the league, reversing a yr in which the crew misplaced 4 of its first 5 video games right into a 9-7 marketing campaign ending with a Divisional Round loss. To get there, Pennington shut out then-Colts quarterback Peyton Manning 41-0 in his first playoff win. He additionally led the league in completion proportion and passer ranking after solely having began 12 video games.
His 11-year profession didn't come with out setbacks, together with a significant damage that ended his 2005 season and being benched eight weeks into his last yr as a Jet in 2007. Pennington by no means gave up, although, and earned NFL Comeback Player of the Year the seasons following each incidents, turning into the solely participant ever to win the honor a number of instances.
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After eight seasons with New York, 5 of which he started the yr as the crew's starter, the Jets acquired veteran quarterback Brett Favre from the Packers and launched Pennington in the course of. He spent his last three seasons with Miami however grew to become plagued with accidents after his first marketing campaign in 2008. That yr, he broke Dan Marino's document single-season completion proportion mark with a price of 67.4 p.c and likewise grew to become the first Dolphins quarterback since the Hall of Famer to throw for 3,500 yards.
The following season, Pennington re-injured his shoulder — which he had beforehand had two surgical procedures on — and was positioned on injured reserve. He was set to begin once more for the Dolphins in 2010 however suffered the similar destiny on the first play of the season. This time, it was thought-about doubtlessly career-ending.
He tried to make a comeback the subsequent yr, however quickly after the conclusion of the 2010 season, he tore his ACL enjoying a recreation of pick-up basketball. Pennington formally retired in February 2012, ending an extremely profitable NFL profession.
