CFBTalkDaily

By @cameronleehaywood

Last year’s Wolfpack would’ve given Doeren his first 10-win season in Raleigh had the offense been even somewhat competent for most of the season. I suspect some fans haven’t truly grasped how much of a cluster last year’s offense was. Beginning the season with a shaky win against UConn should’ve been somewhat of an indicator to onlookers. Starting quarterback Brennan Armstrong was brought in to try to recapture his Heisman-hopeful campaign from earlier in his career at Virginia. His early struggles in Robert Anae’s offense, who engineered Armstrong’s Virginia success, began to spread discontent among the Wolfpack faithful with Armstrong AND Anae. Anae’s offense was so bland, there were even online rumors from the UConn game attendees that there were whispers of trying not to “show too much” ahead of Notre Dame. If that was the intention, they forgot to follow-through, as the Irish brought a beatdown into Carter-Finley to the tune of 45-24.

The struggles continued for Armstrong, Anae, & the offense until it came to a head during the 13-10 home loss against Louisville. Armstrong mustered a putrid 112 yards with 13 completions on 25 pass attempts, coupled with a pair of interceptions with no touchdowns. The offense as a whole only logged 201 total offensive yards. The performance sparked an outpouring of boos and chants for MJ Morris to be subbed in at quarterback. Things started to look as though they were trending up, until the Duke game where a field goal was the only scoring the Pack pulled off. Then as quickly as it went sour, it became sweet again with consecutive wins against Clemson and Miami.

Then it happened. Multiple reports, stories, and excuses exploded into every crevice of NC State football content. MJ Morris would sit out for the remainder of the season, using a redshirt year to maintain maximum eligibility moving forward. People with opinions from both sides of the argument quickly started brainstorming the most logical explanation: “this year is a wash, we need him next year with a clean slate”, “the plan was always for him to redshirt this season”, “he helped us out by stepping into a few games, now he’s returning to his redshirt status so he can help us for an extra year”.

No. He quit. It became increasingly apparent with each press conference given by players & coaches that MJ deciding to return to his redshirt status was not the most recent plan initiated by Doeren & his staff. MJ Morris abandoned his team when they *seemingly* needed him most. I say seemingly because of what transpired next, Brennan Armstrong became a cult hero. His leadership and maturity were emphasized by a teammate’s press conference quote “he’s handled this situation like a grown ass man”. And he didn’t look back.

Armstrong and the Pack rattled off consecutive wins against Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, & UNC. State fans know how much of a pain Wake Forest can be, no matter how wide the talent discrepancy is between the two schools. Virginia Tech was starting to gain some momentum coming into their matchup with the Pack but Doeren & Co. took care of business in Blacksburg, a venue that needs no introduction. State put a bow on the season with a Senior Day beatdown of the hated Tar Heels. For yet another year, State took down Brown & his highly touted quarterback. One of these years they’ll stop overrating Carolina.

All that quarterback turmoil. Constant questions surrounding the most important position on the field. Nine-win season. If we could’ve just got end-of-year Armstrong at the beginning of the year or during the Louisville game, we would’ve faced Florida State in the ACC Championship. Which makes MJ’s actions even more infuriating.

I digress. There are no excuses in 2024. Bringing in collegiate-pro Grayson McCall to lead the offense has been kind of lost in the shuffle amid an offseason full of impact additions. The veteran signal-caller spent five seasons at Coastal Carolina where he amassed 10,005 passing yards on 710 completions with a completion percentage of 69.9% (nice); adding 88 touchdowns against 14 interceptions & a QBR of 178.4. For reference, Ryan Finley finished his collegiate career between Boise State and NC State with a 138.4 QBR & 11,147 passing yards, 140 QBR & 10,501 passing yards in his three years at NC State.

McCall is the opposite of what we had last season. A steady presence who has played on big-ish stages already. The Indian Trail native is essentially a hometown kid for the Wolfpack. He’s made a career out of executing when given the chance, considering the style of offense Coastal Carolina ran for much of his time there. His time in the Coastal offense lends itself to being able to play without being the focal point of the offense. He’s going to be asked to hand the ball off a lot to State’s stable of runningbacks. He’s going to throw most of his passes within 15 yards of the line of scrimmage, so the outside weapons can make things happen in the open field, namely KC Concepcion. But when necessary, he’ll be afforded the opportunity to sling it downfield to Noah Rogers, Wesley Grimes, & Dacari Collins. Don’t forget newcomer Justin Joly.

The weapons McCall has this year are head & shoulders above anything he’s ever experienced. Used correctly, the sky is the limit for the Wolfpack. Robert Anae showed down the stretch last season that he can create opportunities for playmakers. It’s not easy scheming open one guy every play like he did for KC. With a full offseason of the unquestioned starting quarterback and all the skill position starters present for most of the offseason, there shouldn’t be another get-right game like last year’s UConn matchup. State should hit the ground running. Early momentum with a possible win against Tennessee will make NC State the talk of college football.