What they’re saying after NC State football’s win at UVA

NC State’s ACC opener wasn’t the prettiest performance from the Wolfpack, but the red and white held on to beat Virginia 24-21 via a walk-off 33-yard field goal from Brayden Narveson as time expired on Friday night at Scott Stadium. 

Here are what those who covered the game are saying about the Pack’s third win of the season.

Noah Fleischman, The Wolfpacker — NC State’s offense knows it needs to be better after tight win at UVA

“Shortly after NC State graduate quarterback Brennan Armstrong sat down at a table in the inner workings of Scott Stadium late Friday night, he had an honest take on his team’s gritty 24-21 win over Virginia. 

“I’m bad at taking wins when the offense doesn’t do their job,” Armstrong said. 

NC State’s offense, when given two opportunities to close the door on UVA in the fourth quarter, couldn’t finish the job. Its defense played with its back against the wall multiple times in the period, and made the plays it needed to, but the Wolfpack offense handed the ball right back to the Cavaliers both times.”

Ethan McDowell, The Wolfpacker — Cooler heads prevail: NC State makes critical plays, leaves UVA with win

“NC State finished strong — a theme that developed from the second quarter on. The Pack scored on its final drive before the end of each of the final three quarters. 

“It says a lot about the grit of the team,” head coach Dave Doeren said.  “And we’ve always been resilient. It’s just good to see those guys be able to play well in clutch situations like that.”

Converting on those momentum-shifting, game-defining drives helps decide contests like the Pack’s 24-21 win. NC State won 4 games by 3 points or less last year. To do that again this year, the program needs to make the plays in the most critical moments.”

Jadyn Watson-Fisher, The News & Observer — Why NC State football’s win over Virginia left the Wolfpack with mixed feelings

“There was one overarching message from the N.C. State football program (3-1, 1-0 ACC) on Friday night: it’s happy for the 24-21 win over Virginia (0-4, 0-1 ACC), but it’s not happy about the way it happened. 

The team left points on the board and gave up too many explosive plays. It struggled on third down and long in the red zone. Things shouldn’t have come down to a couple of UVA penalties and a second-chance field goal.”

Greg Madia, The Daily Progress — Late penalties prove costly in Virginia football team’s loss to N.C. State

“And on this night, Colandrea had every reason to be excited. In that instance, he provided the Hoos a path to potentially earn their first win of the year and a chance to beat their former signal-caller Brennan Armstrong, who was on the other side playing the role of a red-helmet-wearing enemy.

It didn’t last, though.

Colandrea admittedly committed another first-year error as the score-evening, 2-point play finished.

“I ended up falling back,” Colandrea said, “and my chinstrap was up, and I pushed my helmet up. I can’t do that and it was a young mistake.”

Mike Barber, Richmond Times-Dispatch — What we learned from Virginia’s 24-21 loss to North Carolina State

Lack of discipline crushed UVa at the end

“Virginia had only been penalized four times for 24 yards going into the final minute of play Friday night. And then, it appeared to lose its poise, committing three 15-yard violations that helped hand North Carolina State a chance to pull out a win

First, guard Ty Furnish was flagged for retaliating during a skirmish with a Wolfpack defender, backing UVa up to the 18-yard line for its game-tying 2-point conversion. Still, Colandrea got it done, thanks to a great jumping catch in traffic in the end zone by Malachi Fields.

After that play, Colandrea drew a 15-yard penalty for taking his helmet off. On the play, Colandrea’s chinstrap came loose and helmet began to flop off. He knocked it the rest of the way off, then flexed in celebration. The penalty was enforced on the kickoff and that, combined with lousy coverage, helped give State great field position at the Virginia 48.”

David Teel, Richmond-Times Dispatch — Teel: Brennan Armstrong, N.C. State walk-off winners at Virginia

“Charlottesville — For all his accomplishments as Virginia’s quarterback, Brennan Armstrong endured some ghoulish finishes at Scott Stadium. There was the last-ditch drive against Virginia Tech in 2021, doomed by a baffling call from offensive coordinator Robert Anae. There were the hapless overtimes versus Miami a year ago.

In his wild UVa homecoming Friday night, wearing an N.C. State uniform for his last college season, Armstrong walked off a 24-21 winner after Brayden Narveson’s 33-yard field goal as time expired.

“I didn’t know what to expect, the emotions,” Armstrong said. “Felt like I handled it fine. It was surreal, pretty weird coming back and playing on the other side.”