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Kurt Roper, NC State athletes praise starting QB MJ Morris

On3 imageby:Ethan McDowell•10/03/23•

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MJ Morris
(Larry Blakenship/On3)

NC State quarterback MJ Morris will take the field at Carter-Finley Stadium Saturday afternoon for his third career start. The sophomore is quickly taking on an increased leadership role, but those are not new responsibilities for the underclassman.

Quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper, redshirt sophomore wide receiver Julian Gray, redshirt freshman offensive tackle Jacarrius Peak and defensive lineman Savion Jackson all spoke in support of the Wolfpack’s new starting signal-caller. 

Peak, who signed with NC State in the 2022 class just like Morris, said he saw the signal-caller establish his voice in the locker room and on the field last year. 

“He’s been a leader, and he has that mindset to work hard no matter what situation he’s in and keep positivity with him.”

Morris threw for 648 yards and 7 touchdowns across 5 games last fall, emerging as a spark plug for the Wolfpack offense late in the fall. Now, the Pack puts him back in a starting role hoping for the same result. 

After taking over quarterback coaching duties in January, Roper began working daily with Morris and complimented his approach to the game Tuesday. 

“He’s a thinker,” Roper said. “I tell him all the time— this is a thinking man’s game, and this is definitely a thinking man’s position, and he is working at it. He’s smart, he understands the game and he put in the time.”

Moving forward, the Pack assistant would like to see the sophomore speed up his feet and make decisions quicker. 

Both Roper and Gray said the offense does not change much with Morris under center instead of graduate student singal-caller Brennan Armstrong. The Wolfpack receiver pointed out that he has worked with both quarterbacks in practice, which makes this transition easier for the players. 

NC State’s game plan will look similar moving forward as well. 

“We’ll keep doing the things that we’ve done,” Roper said. “Obviously, we think MJ has a really good skill set to throw the football, so we’ll keep pushing it down the field.” 

The Wolfpack quarterbacks coach chose to keep any details of the decision to start Morris over Armstrong private, but he did share that the graduate student is handling the news as well as possible.

“After all of the conversations that I’ve had with him just in the last two days, I’m even more impressed with who he is,” Roper said. 

Gray reflected on his time playing with Morris last year and said he remembered the Virginia Tech game fondly because of how the quarterback stepped into the QB1 role that the receiver knew he could fill. 

Looking towards the upcoming matchup with Marshall, he said the team is adapting quickly with Morris as the starting signal-caller.

“Everybody’s adjusting well, from the receivers to the offensive line,” Gray said.

The confidence from his teammates extends to the defense as well. Jackson, a veteran lineman who has practiced against plenty of Pack quarterbacks in his time with the program, praised Morris’ growth from last year to now.

“He’s not a young freshman anymore, a guy that hasn’t played football,” Jackson said. “So, when he steps on the field, he knows what he’s doing. He’s not scared. He’s past all the shyness. I feel like he’s going to step in and do what he’s capable of.”

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