NC State QB Brennan Armstrong 'inspired a lot of people' in final season

ORLANDO, Fla. — NC State graduate quarterback Brennan Armstrong‘s jersey appeared to be battered as sat inside the interview room at Camping World Stadium. The signal-caller might not know any other speed than full speed ahead, and in his last college football game ever, he showed it — and so did his jersey. 

While the scoreboard at the end of the contest — a 28-19 Kansas State win in the Pop-Tarts Bowl — and his final pass being an interception didn’t go Armstrong’s way, he still seemed to be the relaxed version of himself. 

That was a complete 180-degree turn from his first five games of the season, but since he retook the starting job after being benched, Armstrong’s demeanor has been one of confidence. Sure, he’ll knit-pick his performance in the coming days, but he could live with it because of his preparation in the 15 bowl practices leading up to the game.

“You look back, I always do this, I look back and it’s ‘What could I have done different because we didn’t get the job done?’” Armstrong said. “I feel like I did what I needed to do to be ready and prepared, we just didn’t get it done.”

The quarterback might not have thought he’d be in this position after the Week 5 benching following the 13-10 loss to Louisville at Carter-Finley Stadium, but he was. He made his first bowl start because of the type of the way he handled being benched for an underclassman — like a team player.

Armstrong was the first to stand in front of the team in late-September to tell them to play hard for his replacement, sophomore MJ Morris, and that turned some heads in the Wolfpack’s meeting room. 

He won over his teammates — and his head coach. 

“To see what he went through, and the kind of teammate he was, it inspired a lot of people,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said. “He won the locker room the day that he got benched because [of] how he handled it. Full circle, he gets the job back and the team went crazy for him. I think it says a lot about just the type of teammate you can be when things don’t go your way.”

Armstrong, a quarterback with more than 10,000 career passing yards, took his benching in stride and soon became an impact player within the locker room. The team rallied around him, and quite frankly, he was the glue that helped keep the team together through the tumultuous time with Morris’ decision to redshirt when he returned to the huddle. 

The Shelby, Ohio, native was able to keep the Wolfpack’s winning ways going in his reemergence to the offense. He helped the Pack to three straight victories to close the regular season on a five-game winning streak. 

Ironically, it appeared he was going to have to will the Wolfpack offense into the Pop-Tarts Bowl in the first half as the unit had a slow start. He accounted for more than 80% of the first 100 offensive yards with 86 rushing yards in the opening 30 minutes. 

Armstrong’s legs were a luxury for an offense that struggled to find a rhythm and he made plays. He wasn’t afraid to run directly through the Kansas State linebackers, and he was able to turn broken plays into positive gains on the ground. 

Armstrong finished the night with 17 carries for 121 yards and a touchdown as he became the Wolfpack’s first 100-yard rusher in the 2023 campaign. He also was 14-of-28 passing for 164 yards and an interception through the air. 

Doeren, who raved about Armstrong’s impact all week leading up to the game, was impressed by his quarterback’s effort to make plays with his legs. 

“[He’s a] tough guy, man,” Doeren said. “The kid plays relentless football, and obviously has the skill set to run, he’s tough. The guys blocked hard for him and he did some good things on some designed runs and some runs that he created on his own with some passes. You love his heart, you love his character, you love his toughness. He wanted to win that football game, he did.”

Armstrong was invested in the Wolfpack’s road to 10 wins even though he was in his lone season in Raleigh. It was his goal in college to hit the double figure wins, and in his last season, he came up 9 points short. 

So close, yet so far. But his effort this season was second to none. Armstrong finished the season with 1,785 passing yards with 11 touchdowns, while he rushed for 665 yards and seven scores for the Wolfpack.

Though it was his only campaign with NC State, Armstrong’s impact on and off the field was a near-perfect example of what a one-year transfer player could be. 

He set a tall bar for the future incoming short-term transfers with the Wolfpack, and Doeren hopes this isn’t the end of Armstrong’s football journey — one that has already been a winding road with challenges in almost each one of his six seasons. 

“He inspired a lot of people, including me, with how he handled that adversity,” Doeren said. “I have the utmost respect for him and I don’t know what awaits him. Is he going to be a Taysom Hill type guy in the NFL. … But man is he a competitive dude and he is a great teammate. I would love to see him get a shot.”