Behind the numbers: QB Grayson McCall’s NC State debut

It had been 313 days since NC State quarterback Grayson McCall last took the field for a competitive college football game: Coastal Carolina at Arkansas State on Oct. 21, 2023. He left that game on a stretcher with a concussion, which later called his playing career into question momentarily.  McCall, however, elected to return to the gridiron. He isn’t afraid of what could happen, and he doesn’t play timid. But in his first game since, McCall took some time to settle in and appeared to play through a little bit of rust as he dropped back in NC State’s pocket. The Indian Trail, N.C., native, who entered the game as one of the most accurate passers in college football, was just 26-of-40 passing against Western Carolina, though he finished with 318 yards and three touchdowns — all to sophomore standout Kevin “KC” Concepcion.  McCall noted that he had a little bit of nerves in his NC State debut, but was appreciative to be able to play in front of a sold-out crowd of 56,919 fans at Carter-Finley Stadium.  “It was good to just get out there again,” McCall said. “I don’t think we played our best, but I’m happy we came away with the win.” Let’s take a look at McCall’s NC State debut with some analytics help from Pro Football Focus.