MJ Morris: NC State plans to soul search during bye week

On Saturday, the NC State Wolfpack took a trip to Durham, NC, to face their ACC rival, the Duke Blue Devils. It was starting quarterback MJ Morris’s first official road start, and things could not have gone any worse for them in Week 7.

The Wolfpack took one square on the chin as the Duke defense dominated them all the way to a 24-3 victory.

This Saturday, NC State will get some time away from game action as it is their bye week. On Monday, Morris revealed what the team has in store to help remedy some of their early season struggles during this off week.

“We’re really going to do a lot of soul-searching and see how we want to finish this season. We want to finish off the right way,” said Morris. “We definitely want to come together as a group; that’s really what we’ve got to do right now. Now, just come together as an offense, lean on one another, (and) watch film together no matter how late at night it is. I don’t care. We will stay till 12 (midnight) watching film at night, if that’s what we gotta do. But we’ve got to do something to fix it. So I feel like this (bye) definitely comes at the right time- definitely a lot of work to be done.

Against Duke, the NC State offense was practically nonexistent. Morris did everything in his power to help his team walk away with a victory, but it was not nearly enough. The sophomore quarterback from Carrollton, GA, was able to complete 24 of his 40 pass attempts for 193 yards, but he did throw one interception in the game. Morris also finished the game as NC State’s leading rusher with 14 carries for 38 yards.

Overall, as a team, there were two statistical categories that greatly impacted NC State’s ability to mount multiple successful drives and put more than three points on the board. Morris and the Wolfpack offense were only able to convert 4-15 third down attempts, and we’re just 1-4 on fourth downs. And as a team, NC State nearly doubled Duke in penalties, 11 to six, with more than double the penalty yards, 87 to 33.

It has been a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-like season for NC State. Currently, the Wolfpack is 4-3 in the regular season with a 1-2 conference record. Despite being just two wins away from being bowl-eligible, this is arguably not the position the Wolfpack envisioned themselves being in after an 8-5 season in 2022. There is still hope for Morris and NC State to eclipse their win total from last season. But in order to do so, their quarterback’s bye week plan of soul searching might be just what the Wolfpack needs to get back on track.