The following year, he won the Maxwell Award after leading the NCAA in passing yards en route to an appearance in the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship.
[1] Penix attended Tampa Bay Technical High School and started at quarterback for the Titans for two seasons, passing for 4,243 yards with 61 touchdowns and only six interceptions.
[3] As a true freshman for the Hoosiers in 2018 at Indiana, Penix played in three games, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), and was redshirted.
[5] Named the starter entering the 2019 season,[6][7][8] Penix, however, only played in six games due to injury, completing 110 of 160 passes for 1,394 yards, with ten touchdowns and four interceptions.
[29] The pick was seen as a major surprise because the Falcons had signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract earlier in the offseason.
On October 20, Penix made his NFL debut late in the fourth quarter during the Falcons' blowout loss to the Seattle Seahawks, completing his lone pass for 14 yards to Casey Washington.
[37] In Week 17, on Sunday Night Football, against the Washington Commanders Penix completed his first touchdown pass, to Kyle Pitts, to tie the game with 1:19 left in the fourth quarter.
[39] This loss would eventually eliminate the Falcons from Playoff contention, following a win the following week by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.