NC State football: What they're saying about Virginia Tech win
NC State football pulled off a second big comeback during the month of October, rallying for a 22-21 win over Virginia Tech Thursday evening. Here is some of what those who covered the game are saying.
Matt Carter, The Wolfpacker — Column: NC State turned ugly performance into memorable rally
About midway through the third quarter, one was wondering if there was any way that NC State football could put lipstick on this pig. The Pack was down 21-3, looking more hapless than ever on offense, if that was even conceivable going into the game.
The defense was burned on big plays by an anemic Hokies offense that scored touchdowns on 3 of 4 drives to start the second half.
Even sure-handed receiver/punt returner Thayer Thomas nearly fumbled away on a runback.
Then freshman quarterback MJ Morris got the makeup ready, and turned an ugly performance into the second biggest comeback by a Power Five team this season in college football.
Three unanswered touchdown passes from Morris sparked NC State to a 22-21 win and in the process gave a little much-needed optimism for a season that was teetering on the edge.
Ethan McDowell, The Wolfpacker — NC State ushers in the MJ Morris era with dramatic comeback win
Morris played in garbage time against Charleston Southern and sparingly against Syracuse. Then, the true freshman played almost every snap of the second half against Virginia Tech, finishing the game 20 of 29 for 265 yards and 3 touchdowns.
“I feel like a kid in a candy store,” Morris said after the game “I’ve never had this feeling before, first college time. I feel like I got hit by a freight train out there, my body hurts so bad, but I do feel great. I feel happy for this team, I feel happy for myself. We put a lot of work in to get here.”
After arriving at NC State this summer as a highly-touted quarterback prospect from Georgia, Morris hit the ground running and immediately competed for the Pack’s backup quarterback job. Now, it will likely be difficult for the coaching staff to keep him off the field for the rest of his true freshman season. Doeren was super complimentary about his performance after the game.
“The way that MJ sparked us and brought us back and made plays, and guys started making plays for him,” Doeren said. “Pretty impressive for a true freshman to do that.”
N.C. State quarterback MJ Morris was sporting a new T-shirt late Thursday night.
On the front: “2022 season, BOWL BOUND.”
There’s no telling where those tees were late in the third quarter as N.C. State trailed Virginia Tech by 18 points at Carter-Finley Stadium — maybe headed to storage in an equipment room in the Murphy Football Center.
But that was before a wild comeback, and a finish that Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren called “surreal.” Trailing 21-3 in the third, the Wolfpack clawed its way back to earn a 22-21 victory over the Hokies, scoring 19 consecutive points.
It was a team effort in every sense, one that made the Pack bowl eligible. But it was a freshman from Carrollton, Georgia, who led the way — the one wearing No. 16, the one that defensive back Cyrus Fagan would playfully refer to as “Superman” as he was leaving a postgame interview.
“I don’t know if I feel much like a super hero,” Morris said, smiling. “I do feel really great right now. I feel like a kid in a candy store. I’ve never had this feeling before.”
Just when all was lost, when the rest of this season stretched out before N.C. State like a long, dark void, when tens of thousands had left for the parking lots and no one could blame them, the Wolfpack came back from the football dead.
Again.
If that 16-0 run to come back against Florida State wasn’t enough, N.C. State managed to up the ante against Virginia Tech, closing out the Hokies with a 19-0 run for a 22-21 win that was an utterly improbable finish given the way the Wolfpack started.
Most teams would be lucky to produce that kind of late comeback once in a season or two, if not longer. N.C. State has done it in consecutive home games.
This team may not have Devin Leary — although it may have his successor at quarterback, the way true freshman M.J. Morris played Thursday night — but it does apparently have deep reserves of resolve that enabled it to avoid a nationally televised disaster against the fifth-best college football team in Virginia and extend a home winning streak that dates back to November 2020.
“Not many teams,” N.C. State coach Dave Doeren said, “can do what we just did there.”
Credit has to be given to coach Dave Doeren and company for the adjustments that were made during this game. Giving Morris a chance to be the outright leader on the offense paid off big-time and offensive coordinator Tim Beck made some smart play calls to get the unit into a visible rhythm during the second half.
Aaron McFarling, Roanoke Times — Virginia Tech blows 18-point lead, falls to Wolfpack
Virginia Tech’s fifth straight loss was its most crushing to date.
Failing to capitalize on a rare offensive spurt, the Hokies blew a 18-point second-half lead and lost 22-21 to 24th-ranked N.C. State on Thursday night at Carter-Finley Stadium.
True freshman quarterback M.J. Morris threw the go-ahead touchdown pass to Thayer Thomas with 7:38 remaining, completing a stunning comeback that took the Wolfpack only a little more than 9 minutes of game time to engineer.
“It’s hard to believe that it feels like we’re closer than we’ve been, but yet we didn’t win the game,” Tech coach Brent Pry said. “Because we’ve been awful close. And to me, you’ve got to have a closer’s mentality in the fourth quarter. You’ve got to play your absolute best. And we just needed a play or two to change the outcome.”
The Hokies (2-6, 1-4 ACC) went backward on their only possession that followed. N.C. State (6-2, 2-2) picked up two first downs and ran out the clock, giving Tech its longest losing streak since 1992.
The brain cramps began on their first series with three false starts. They had seven by halftime and 10 for the game.
Ten false starts! Two on punts. By nine players, including all five offensive linemen.
Understand this wasn’t a raucous crowd disturbing o-line communication. This was, yet again, a startling lack of discipline.
“That’s just the worst possible thing you can do right there, those penalties that are killing yourself, pretty much killing the drive,” said Smith, who committed one of the false starts. “That’s something that’s inexcusable.”
The rich irony was that Jordan’s false start halted what could have been a crippling play for Tech. He had snapped the ball past Wells on a first down from the Hokies’ 17-yard line, sending Smith back near the goal line to retrieve the loose ball.
The Hokies ran a meager 19 plays on five opening-half possessions, gaining two first downs, both on their first series, and 46 yards.
“We can’t lay an egg like we did in the first half,” Pry said.
The pessimistic need only to look at an offensively challenged first half reminiscent of another scoreless game from Virginia Tech’s past in the state of North Carolina. The hopeful need only point to as explosive of a third quarter as the Hokies have played this year. And the despondent need only sigh about what felt like an inevitable collapse for a program that’s cratered, with an 18-point lead evaporating in less than nine minutes of game time.
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In the end it was the same result that Tech’s grappled with since the leaves started changing colors — another loss, the Hokies’ fifth in a row, something that hasn’t happened in Blacksburg since 1992.
If it happened any other way, perhaps the feeling is different. A one-point loss on the road to the No. 24-ranked team is a result most Hokies fans would have accepted as a step forward going into the game, but to lose it this way, collapsing in all three phases, felt like an unnecessarily cruel twist of fate for a team in need of a positive outcome.
“Everybody’s just trying to keep their head up, keep pushing, keep that mindset of we still have more work to do,” cornerback Armani Chatman said. “The season’s not over. You have more games left on the table. You definitely have to play for one another and coach (Brent) Pry’s definitely making us, as a team, stick together and keep our heads up. It’s not dead in there, it’s not bad. It’s just not what we want.”
What’s it like being an NC State fan, you ask?
It’s an exercise best described by the immortal words of Michael Corleone in The Godfather, Part III.
“Just when I thought I was out,” he says after realizing his attempt to leave the mafia and become a legitimate businessman has failed, “they pull me back in.”
The full range of those emotions were on display Thursday night at Carter-Finley Stadium during a 60-minute drama that featured more ups and down than a roller coaster at the recently concluded N.C. State Fair across the street.
There were plenty of reasons to give up hope.
Morale that was already lagging after the loss of quarterback Devin Leary and a pair of on-the-field defeats that ended the Wolfpack’s ACC championship hopes, dipped even lower as the game wore on and the home team fell farther behind.
But just as it seemed as though coach Dave Doeren’s team might not score another touchdown this season, let alone win another game, it found a way to pull its faithful back in again.
In the most unlikely fashion.
Associated Press — Morris, No. 24 Wolfpack rally past Hokies for 22-21 win
For the second straight home game, North Carolina State found itself down double figures after halftime. And just as before, the 24th-ranked Wolfpack responded with grit and resilience.
First-year quarterback MJ Morris threw for three second-half touchdowns to help N.C. State rally from 18 points down in the third quarter to beat Virginia Tech 22-21 on Thursday night.
“The kids just don’t quit here,” Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said.
Morris took over for starter Jack Chambers to lead an unexpected comeback for the Wolfpack (6-2, 2-2 Atalntic Coast Conference), who trailed 21-3 after Grant Wells’ 20-yard TD keeper with 4:02 in the third quarter.
Instead, N.C. State somehow found a way to make its biggest comeback since rallying from 27 down to beat Maryland in 2011. It also marked the Wolfpack’s second comeback from a double-digit deficit after halftime this month, going back to a rally from 17-3 down at the break against Florida State on Oct. 8.
This one was arguably more critical for a team that had been reeling offensively since losing quarterback and preseason ACC player of the year Devin Leary to a season-ending injury in the Florida State victory. But after looking like every yard was a struggle, Morris and the Wolfpack started pushing the ball downfield and connecting to suddenly change momentum.
“There was a lot of things going in my head, but the one thing I tried to focus on was doing my job for the team,” Morris said.
In addition to Morris’ strong play, the defense shut out the Hokies during the fourth quarter. The Pack’s pass rush came alive, tallying four sacks by the end of the game, including two from redshirt junior linebacker Payton Wilson. The secondary also did a nice job of shadowing receivers. As a result, the Hokie offense sputtered to a poor finish, failing to keep up with a surging NC State attack.
“We just went back to doing the old stuff, just doing our job and doing it physical and fast,” said graduate safety Cyrus Fagan. “That’s what coach harps on — doing our job; hearts up and together on defense.”
The Wolfpack deserves plenty of credit for rallying, but it received its share of help from the Hokies. Virginia Tech shot itself in the foot with 13 penalties for 69 yards, including 11 false starts. The Hokies couldn’t execute on special teams, muffing two kickoffs, which left its offense with poor field position. They also struggled to protect the quarterback, leading to several broken plays. Despite the Hokies’ efforts to hang on, the Pack capitalized on Virginia Tech’s mistakes and escaped with a win.
NC State’s defense disrupted Hokies quarterback Grant Wells frequently. Wilson accounted for half of the Wolfpack’s sacks and junior linebacker Drake Thomas led the unit in tackles with eight. As a whole, the Pack racked up nine QB hurries, disrupting the pocket and stifling the Virginia Tech offense.
“[Defensive coordinator Tony] Gibson called a couple of timely blitzes and beat their protection twice,” Doeren said. “[Wilson] finished two plays there in the backfield, got two sacks. It was awesome to see him play like that, excited for him to make those plays. He was super happy in the locker room. He just had an ear to ear smile.”
