NC State QB Brennan Armstrong reaches 10,000 career passing yards
Brennan Armstrong‘s name will be etched in the history books. During NC State’s matchup with Louisville on Saturday, the Wolfpack QB crossed 10,000 career passing yards.
In his sixth season of college football, Armstrong boasts the 10th-most passing yards in ACC history. Although Armstrong now eats with the Wolfpack, it isn’t where he initially filled his belly. The 6-foot-2 QB spent five seasons at Virginia before transferring to NC State this offseason.
Despite Armstrong’s impressive milestone and long resumé, he’s had a tumultuous start to 2023. Through four games, the QB has completed just 60% of his passes for 859 yards and five touchdowns while throwing four interceptions.
Nonetheless, NC State has burst out of the starting gates with a 3-1 record. The team looks to add another tally in the win column tonight against Louisville. Tune into the game on ESPN.
Greg McElroy endorses Brennan Armstrong
While some fans didn’t buy into the hype, ESPN’s Greg McElroy never doubted the Virginia transfer. Before the season, McElroy rained praise on Armstrong.
“Shouldn’t require a whole lot of explanation,” McElroy said. “Quarterback two years ago at Virginia, All-ACC player. All-ACC player. Quarterback last year at Virginia, one of the worst in the ACC as far as decision-making, as far as accuracy, just never felt like him and Tony Elliott were on the same page.”
Armstrong went from throwing for 4,449 yards and 31 touchdowns in 2021 to throwing for less than half of those totals in 2022.
When the year ended at Virginia, Armstrong had a line that read: 185-of-338 passing for 2,210 yards, with seven touchdowns and 12 interceptions. It was by far the worst completion percentage and touchdown-to-interception ratio of his three seasons as a starter.
“Felt like Tony Elliott was trying to put a square peg in a round hole,” McElroy said. “Brennan Armstrong was doing things and was more comfortable doing things a certain way, just never seemed to mix. So he gets a fresh start.”
McElroy believed Armstrong’s fresh start would make difference, but also his familiarity with his environment would boost his play.
“The good news is he gets a fresh start with a guy he’s already had a ton of success with, and that’s Robert Anae, who was at Syracuse last year, was at Virginia the year before,” McElroy said. “Now they are reunited at NC State. And if there’s one thing we know about Brennan Armstrong… there’s a couple things. One, he can throw the ball very accurately on some of the intermediates. He’s throwing the ball very accurately on some of the underneaths. And he’s going to get the ball out quick.
“But, if nothing’s there, do not sleep on this guy’s athleticism. I think people have kind of forgotten just how athletic Brennan Armstrong is. You listen to some reports out of Raleigh, guy’s hit 20 miles an hour on the GPS, at quarterback, and big quarterback too, I might add. So he is a factor with his legs as well.”