It’s no secret that it’s been a rocky season for NC State football, with a pressing concern on who will lead the offense.
The season began with five rough games from graduate quarterback Brennan Armstrong. After the red-and-white scored just 10 points against Louisville, head coach Dave Doeren heeded the calls of Wolfpack fans and declared sophomore quarterback MJ Morris the starter.
In his first game, Morris threw four touchdowns and three interceptions en route to a 48-41 victory over Marshall. However, when NC State faced Duke the following week, the Wolfpack scored just three points, and Morris threw an interception. Now, heading into homecoming week, questions about the offense still remain.
Before the quarterback debate can begin, it needs to be established that the offense doesn’t just revolve around the quarterback. While he’s the most important piece, you can’t put all of the blame on the quarterback — that goes for winning and losing.
The Wolfpack has had a slow offense for a multitude of reasons besides the quarterback situation, including lack of separation and catching ability from receivers, lackluster blocking from the offensive line and questionable playcalls from offensive coordinator Robert Anae.
The biggest advantage that Armstrong brought to NC State was his rushing ability. There are few quarterbacks who can match his speed and elusiveness on the ground. The Virginia transfer tallied almost 100 rushing yards against UConn and still leads the team in rushing through the first seven weeks of the season with 281 yards.
Against the Huskies, Armstrong had two rushing touchdowns and was a great weapon in the read option. However, Armstrong’s biggest downside was that he seemed to lack both the confidence and skill to consistently throw the ball well. He threw more interceptions than touchdowns and made some questionable throws in pivotal moments.
Armstrong struggled to throw the ball under pressure, a fact evidenced by his final throw against Louisville. While it does appear that he was looking to throw the ball out of bounds, you have to fully commit to the throw or simply take the sack. This throw ended up costing the Wolfpack the game and, as of right now, it was Armstrong’s last pass in the red-and-white.
Through five games, he completed just 58.8% of his passes and threw for 971 yards. Another key issue was his inability to remain in the pocket. While he is a great rusher, his tendency to tuck the ball and run when under the slightest bit of pressure led to a lot of unproductive drives.
Meanwhile, Morris is not a new face for the Wolfpack. He was thrust into the spotlight last season after quarterback Devin Leary was injured and quarterback Jack Chambers was benched. In his time on the field last season, he completed 60.5% of his passes for 648 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception.
Many thought Morris would be the starter this year, but that was before Armstrong transferred to NC State. Morris does not have the pure rushing talent of Armstrong, but he isn’t completely immobile either. He has shown that he can scramble outside of the pocket when needed, but Anae has lowered the number of designed quarterback runs he calls with Morris now at quarterback.
Although two games is a small sample size, Morris appears to be a better passer than Armstrong. He averages 229 yards per game and has the confidence that Armstrong seems to lack. In this clip, you can see Morris remaining inside the pocket, even as an incoming blitzer charges at him. He throws an accurate pass to graduate tight end Trent Pennix as he gets hit, resulting in a touchdown. While Pennix was wide open, it is still extremely difficult to make a throw under that kind of pressure.
Previously, in those types of situations, Armstrong tried to do it himself by running with the ball, which proved to be ineffective. However, Morris isn’t perfect by any means — he has four interceptions, three of which are solely on him.
While Morris is now the starter, it is important to remember what Armstrong also did for the team. The Pack won three games with him as the starter, and the team wouldn’t be two games away from a bowl game appearance without him. Doeren has also commended him on his leadership, as he still rallies the team and makes sure everyone is locked in.
As of right now, Morris has the reins of the offense and has proven that he deserves it. The rest of the schedule consists of games against ACC opponents, including big games against Clemson, Miami and UNC. It’s hard to tell if the Wolfpack can recover from its shaky start, but Morris has the skills and tools to turn the season around.
