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Rising star
Marshall's Pennington emerges from obscurity
Posted: Sunday December 26, 1999 03:49 PM
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Chad Pennington has the brains and the brawn to compete at the next level. Jonathan Daniel/Allsport |
By Sonja Steptoe, CNN/SI
HUNTINGTON, W.Va -- He could be the first quarterback taken in this year's NFL draft. But for now, the only goal of Marshall's Chad Pennington is extending the Thundering Herd's 16-game winning streak -- the longest in Division I-A.
"Anytime we step on the field it's about gaining respect," said Pennington. "And this [Motor City Bowl] game is no different from any other game. We have to go out and if we want to end the season the way we want to and see how good we are, we have to win. If we lose, we are basically the laughingstock of the nation probably. It's a big game for our program."
The No. 11 Herd take on No. 25 BYU on Monday at the Pontiac Silverdome. As the Mid-American Conference champion, this is the third straight year Marshall will play in the game.
Pennington has a knack for exceeding expectations. He wasn't a top high school prospect, which is why the Tennessee Volunteers didn't notice him, even though he played in their back yard in Knoxville. He wasn't even first on the Marshall depth chart until two
signal-callers ahead of him got hurt.
No one knows that any better than the man who snapped him the ball this season, Jason Starkey.
"He's a leader, he leads by example," says the senior center. "He's a competitor and
he tries to be a perfectionist. He tries to be as perfect as possible realizing no one's
perfect."
That burning desire for perfection has left its mark on the Marshall signal-caller.
The Herd hasn't tasted defeat since October 31, 1998, in a 34-13 loss at
Bowling Green.
"It's been a long time since we've lost a game and I can't imagine what that feeling
would be like if we did lose," said the 23-year-old. "I want to stay away from that."
Pennington started showing up on national radar screens two years ago, while
throwing bombs to a receiver named Randy Moss. This season, he became a Heisman Trophy finalist by passing for 3,799 yards and 37 touchdowns while completing 68 percent
of his passes. That was good enough for third best in the nation.
Marshall's head coach, Bobby Pruett, who played at Marshall and who recently turned down a multimillion dollar offer from the University of Houston, says he tried to sell
the NFL on how good Moss would be, and now he's saying the same thing about his
quarterback.
"We were telling the pro scouts when Randy Moss was here he'd be the most-impact player, and 19 of those teams didn't listen," Pruett says. "And I'm telling them they better listen because Chad is very special."
Standing 6-foot-4, weighing 225 pounds and sporting a strong right arm, Pennington appears to have the physical tools to make it in the NFL. But his most valuable asset might be his mental equipment. He's an academic All-America majoring in broadcast journalism who also interviewed for a Rhodes Scholarship.
Says Pruett: "I think he'll be the most impact player in the draft because whoever takes him needs a
quarterback and he's smart enough, has great leadership, commands the respect and
can be a contributor right away."
Starkey says Pennington has the potential to be just like another quarterback who played
football in Tennessee.
"He's going to be someone like Peyton Manning. He'll go in the first year and face lot of
adversity because in the pros the difference is speed. But he's going to bounce back from that adversity."
Having the chance to play at the next level is important to Pennington. But he has some
unfinished business to take care of before he starts thinking about the NFL.
"It's a dream of mine, and I'm trying my best to make the dream become a reality. [But] the first step right now is to beat BYU."
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