NC State TE Trent Pennix made a good first impression to OC Robert Anae; now he wants to build off of it

NC State tight end Trent Pennix knew it was coming. He ran a 12-yard route, bluffed a defender on the way by, and was wide-open at the Wolfpack logo in the third quarter against Marshall on Saturday. 

He was surrounded by green grass, not a defender within 10 yards of him, so as he turned to look towards sophomore quarterback MJ Morris, the ball was en route. Then came the tough part: catching it in stride. 

Luckily for the Wolfpack, Pennix is a savvy veteran. The sixth-year player waited for the ball once it was released from Morris’ right hand. Pennix was tracking the white stripes on the ball, not focused on anything else but those one-inch lines. He watched it into his hands, tucked it, and turned up field. 

From there, it was smooth-sailing with an open field in front of him. Pennix capped that play in the end zone, which marked a 62-yard score, his second touchdown of the day on just his third reception. 

“It kind of caught me off guard as to why I was so wide-open,” Pennix said Tuesday. “You never know when your chance is, and you have to seize every moment when you’re on the field.”

Boy, did Pennix take advantage of his opportunities on Saturday. 

The Raleigh native had his most receiving yards (99) in a single game during his career with the Wolfpack, slightly surpassing the 97 — also on three receptions — that he had at Florida State in 2021. It was also his first-career multi-touchdown performance in the NC State red and white. 

Pennix’s first touchdown of the afternoon was similar to the second — he found himself open after slipping past the defender. That one went for 39 yards. 

NC State coach Dave Doeren complimented both offensive coordinator Robert Anae and Pennix for the execution of that play.

“They were both well-designed plays,” Doeren said during his weekly press conference Monday. “Coach Anae called them at the right time, and Trent did an excellent job, especially on the first one, of slipping the defender. … The design of these plays matters, the timing of when you call them because they’re better against some looks than other looks, and then the execution. All of those were perfect in every case.”

Those two plays have been installed all season, but the timing had not worked out well until now. Pennix, who entered the afternoon with eight receptions for 37 yards, easily surpassed his season total thanks to the well-timed play calls from Anae. 

Anae, who is in his first year at NC State, said it was good to see the play get executed in the game as the Wolfpack utilized the tight end with a significant role in the pass game for the first time this season. 

“He has a very unique skill set, not Travis Kelce, I’ll tell you that,” Anae said of Pennix. “It was great to see some of the drawings actually get connected in a real game. They’ve always been there, we just haven’t connected with it.”

While the tight ends group have not been a focal point in NC State’s pass game with an injury sidelining Pennix for much of fall camp. But now that he’s back to full speed, Pennix’s role may continue to expand with Morris at quarterback. 

Why? Those two had a special connection when Morris played. In the signal-caller’s last three games a year ago, Pennix combined to catch six passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns. 

“We really started building our chemistry last year — caught a couple touchdowns from him,” Pennix said of Morris. “Really having that chemistry from last summer, all the way through last season, through the offseason, continuing on this year between him and Brennan [Armstrong]. Those two leaders we really look up to as the voice of the offense and the offense really trusts both of those guys to do whatever they’ve got to do.”

While the offense has confidence in its quarterback, Pennix’s big day might instill even more trust in Anae’s eyes. 

But Pennix isn’t content with a two-touchdown performance. While it was nice, he wants to continue to play well this season. And his big day might have caught the attention of Anae to use the tight end in more pass opportunities as the season moves along. 

“Really just keep your head down, just keep working,” Pennix said. “Just because I had two touchdowns, we still have six more games left in the season. That was just the beginning. It’s really just trying to prove my worth to [Anae] that he can really trust me to do whatever he needs to do. That really gave a good first impression on Saturday.”