MJ Morris reacts to strong performance after leading NC State to comeback victory

With his team trailing Virginia Tech 21-3 in the third quarter, N.C. State freshman quarterback M.J. Morris did not panic. He started spinning some beautiful spirals and the Wolfpack passing attack started to click in the process. The Wolfpack erased an 18-point deficit in around nine minutes to win 22-21, thanks in large part to the beautiful passing from Morris in the second half. After the comeback performance, N.C. State’s quarterback spoke with ESPN’s Harry Lyles on the field.

“I’m feeling great, man. I love this team to death. I love them for believing in me and trusting me enough to go out there and help them come back to a win. And we just kept going every play. Just doing it every time. Just going out there. We have a whole lot of love for each other. And you know, we just played ball. We just played fast and had fun,” Morris said.

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Morris and the Wolfpack only scored three points in the first half. But their offense started clicking late in the third quarter to propel their 18-point comeback. What was the difference in the second half for Morris? “I just wanted to do the best I could for my team. Just wanted to give them the best shot at winning. Because like coaches said my job is to deliver the football to the open guys. So, I knew as long as I did my job, then everybody else was going to do their job. And just, we were gonna take it home from there,” Morris said following the game.

For the game, Morris completed 20 of his 29 passing attempts for 265 passing yards, while tossing in three touchdowns and no interceptions. The 18-point comeback victory for the Wolfpack was the second largest comeback in FBS this season.

N.C. State quarterback M.J. Morris was simply spectacular in the second half

Morris did his job in the second half, and he did it beautifully, especially for a true freshman. A former three-star recruit in the 2022 cycle, he spun some absolutely gorgeous spirals on Thursday night that should get N.C. State fans excited not only for the rest of this season, but for the next few years as well. There were really beautiful passes tossed by both quarterbacks in the second half of this one and it was a highly entertaining second half.

Morris dropped back to the 43-yard line and fired an absolutely gorgeous spiral to receiver Thayer Thomas at the two-yard line. The pass perfectly hit Thomas in stride and even though he was well-covered, it didn’t matter. He scored the touchdown easily. The connection cut the Hokies lead to 21-10 with 1:42 remaining in the third quarter.

Then, in the fourth quarter, Morris dropped another beauty, this time from the 42-yard line, he spun another gorgeous deep ball downfield. Then, receiver Terrell Timmons, Jr. leaped in the air above the Hokie defenders to high point the ball and bring it down at the 12-yard line. That setup a touchdown pass from Morris to tight end Trent Pennix to cut the Hokies’ lead to 21-16 with 12:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. Finally, Morris would deliver the dagger, a beautifully designed screen pass to Thayer Thomas at the 18-yard line. From there, Thomas would make a couple Hokie defenders in the open field miss and find his way to paydirt with 7:18 remaining in the fourth quarter. That touchdown would ultimately be the game-winner and put N.C. State up for good, 22-21.

With the win, N.C. State got their 15th straight home victory, one shy of their school record. Their 15 straight wins are currently the 6th longest active streak in FBS.