New school, new number, same question — and Cole Gonzales's early answer at Charlotte is 661 team passing yards leader.
6′0″ · 200 lb · Ocala, FL · Trinity Catholic
The numbers
passing yards · 2026 · through week 3
3 games into 2026 so far
The play that turned itSwung Charlotte from 63% to 100% to win.The Citadel at Charlotte · 43-41
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Senior quarterback for Charlotte. 2026: 3 games with a box-score line.
How he plays
Operates within the system without forcing anything.
Sack rate: 86th percentile.
The full scouting readBuzz vs Tape
The wider college football conversation reads him warmer than his own fans do — a gap of 50 points in belief.
Cole Gonzales actually sucks, man
Cole Gonzales
Cole Gonzales arrives at Charlotte with a new fit to prove and an old chapter behind him.
TEAM PASSING YARDS LEADER
661
Team leader in passing yards (661).
AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-09-22
His career
The role got bigger.
Career arc
Badges
Where He Ended Up · Transfer
Transferred to Charlotte
| Season | Team | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Charlotte | 64 | 97 | 66.0% | 661 | 6.8 | 3 | 5 | 123.1 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2025 | Pittsburgh | 11 | 22 | 50.0% | 118 | 5.4 | 1 | 1 | 101.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 75 | 119 | 63.0% | 779 | 6.5 | 4 | 6 | 119.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Charlotte | 14 | 42 | 3.0 | 2 | -- |
| 2025 | Pittsburgh | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | -- |
| Career | 16 | 43 | 2.7 | 2 | -- |
Game by game
Point color shows the opponent's defensive strength that week (red = weaker defense, blue = stronger) — dashed line is this player's own season average.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 3 games
| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 41-43vs The Citadel | 28/41 | 322 | 3 | 2 | 7.9 | — | Season-high 322 yds |
| Wk 2 | L 9-41@ Ole Miss | 14/21 | 128 | 0 | 1 | 6.1 | 47.1 | |
| Wk 3 | L 21-26@ App State | 22/35 | 211 | 0 | 2 | 6.0 | 18.1 | |
| Total | 64/97 | 661 | 3 | 5 | 6.7 | 32.6 |
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
Since week 2: +211 passing yards, +2 interceptions.
Season context · Team result + system
Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort
Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles
Elite: sack rate (86th percentile). Strength: rush tds (84th percentile). Concern: interception rate (3rd percentile).
Real play-by-play efficiency
Season trend
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).
Pass Profile · True throw depth (charted plays)
Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from
Adjusted ANY/A
4.94109 of 126 QBsSack rate
2.0%21 of 126 QBsRarely sacked (21 of 126), but Adjusted ANY/A hasn't followed (109 of 126).
Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.
Behind LOS · Negative air yds
Short · 0–9 air yds
Middle · 10–19 air yds
Deep · 20+ air yds
Overall 66.0% completion on 97 attempts · 50% completion on 10 deep attempts (20+ air yds).
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 3 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home1g | 322 | 3.0 | 7.9 | 2.0 |
| Road2g | 170 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 1.5 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 220 | 1.0 | 6.7 | 1.7 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Tim Albin
Pass share
53.6%
104 pass / 90 run
Plays / game
64.7
3 games
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2026
On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.
Play style
Operates within the system without forcing anything.
CFB Index positional classification
Player DNA
Balanced passer who operates within the system, without one standout number carrying the profile.
His 2026 production profile sits closest to Montell Cozart’s 2016 season.
Matches Montell on
Differs from Montell on
Through 4 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Quinn Boyd’s path through Stony Brook.
Matches Quinn on
As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Drew Pyne's graduate season at Missouri (2024).
Matches Drew on
Differs from Drew on
Heisman Trajectory · 2026
Peaked at #177 this season.
Awards and Honors Walter Payton Award, Finalist (2023, 2024) All-SoCon First Team (2023, 2024) FCS National Player of the Week (2024) Roy M. "Legs" Hawley SoCon Offensive Player of the Year (2023) SoCon Offensive Player of the Week, three times (2023, 2024) FedEx Ground National Offensive…