NC State's Brennan Armstrong bounces back in his return as starting quarterback

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Brennan Armstrong is no stranger to throwing touchdown passes at the college level. He had 58 scores during his first five seasons at Virginia, including 31 in his prolific 2021 season. But at NC State, Armstrong went through something he had not before in college: he was benched. 

The 6-foot-2, 212-pound quarterback started the Wolfpack’s first five games, but he had more interceptions (6) than touchdowns (5) in that stretch, and he was replaced by sophomore quarterback MJ Morris.

But four games — and Morris opting to redshirt the rest of the season — later, Armstrong got back in the saddle for the Wolfpack at Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon. Though it was a place NC State struggled to win at over the past 20 years, Armstrong did not appear to be phased by it. 

He looked confident in his first start in 43 days, and he recorded his first touchdown throw in almost two months on the Wolfpack’s third offensive play. The Shelby, Ohio, native rolled out to his left and connected with redshirt sophomore wide receiver Julian Gray on a pass that he threaded the needle between two defenders in a tight window. 

Once Gray caught it, Armstrong was visibly overcome with joy. He jumped up and down and celebrated with the first person he saw near the sideline. 

Of his 63 career passing touchdowns, this one had a unique feeling. Armstrong had overcome a shaky start to the season, and getting benched for a young quarterback. This score was a resemblance of his resilience — and he did it in an impressive way with a pair of defenders nearby.

 “I’ll tell you what, man, I’ve done it a decent amount, but this one felt different just because I feel like I’ve grown,” Armstrong said of the touchdown pass postgame. “Even though I’m a sixth-year in college, I feel like I’ve grown through this time sitting. … It felt like myself. I really don’t have words for it, it just felt different than the other ones. Just that comeback thing. I enjoyed it.”

Armstrong helped lead the Wolfpack to a 26-6 win over the Demon Deacons with an efficient 12-of-17 through the air for 111 yards and the opening-drive touchdown strike. He was also the engine that made NC State’s rushing attack roll past Wake Forest with 15 carries for a season-high 96 yards and a score. 

The Virginia transfer’s success on the ground paced the red and white to its most rushing yards this season with 268 on the ground as the team won its third game in a row and its seventh of the 2023 campaign. 

But at a time where the Wolfpack locker room could fracture with another quarterback change, the opposite happened. Armstrong, who found out he was starting at Wake Forest at the beginning of the week, had his teammates rally around him. 

On Wednesday, it was junior cornerback Aydan White that said Armstrong handled being the backup “like a grown-ass man.” Following Armstrong’s effort against the Demon Deacons, it was another defender with high praise: senior defensive end Savion Jackson. 

“It just tells you the type of person he is,” Jackson said. “I feel like he’s not one of those guys that gets knocked down and just stays down. He always tries to rise up and do what he has to do.”

That is exactly what Armstrong did. He did not sulk in the fact he was benched for someone who entered college football four years after he did. Armstrong took the switch in stride. He was an open book to help Morris and the offense learn Robert Anae’s offense, and that paid off in the long run.

“I don’t think you can say enough about how he is as a teammate.” NC State coach Dave Doeren said. “To see him, and his last year of college football, not pout when things didn’t go his way, he just dug in. He was a good teammate. He worked hard every day.”

Not only did Armstrong work hard on the practice field and in the film room, but he used the break from starting as a way to clear his mind. He struggled down the stretch at Virginia a year ago, where the Cavaliers dropped six of its last seven and he threw nine interceptions in that span. 

This was a chance for him to do something he had not had the chance to do much during a season: take a breath and relax.

“I was living and dying by this sport,” Armstrong said. “It was my identity. It’s all I ever knew, it’s all I ever did. Just being able to take a step back to refresh and reframe it, I wouldn’t have taken myself out of the fire. I would have stayed in it if it wasn’t for [Doeren] making that switch.”

Armstrong said the first thing to do as a quarterback is the player’s mental side of the game. He said physically he was going to be able to play, but the ability to refocus the mental side of the position was useful in the time off. 

He was not just saying that, either. Armstrong, who was still in his full uniform during the postgame press conference, seemed at ease. He was loose, yet focused on the result, and NC State’s next game — at Virginia Tech. Armstrong was not tense, a trait that appeared to show its head at times earlier this season. He was at peace with his chance to finish his collegiate career on his terms, not from the bench. 

“I’ve given myself grace … and just let myself go play and have fun,” Armstrong said. “I’ve only got two of these left in my career, just enjoy them.”

It seemed like he had fun at Wake Forest, and there are a pair of regular season contests with a bowl game left in NC State’s season. Armstrong is focused on keeping the Wolfpack’s momentum rolling.

It is an opportunity for Armstrong to be the “guy” again for NC State. He has been in almost every quarterback’s shoes this season — from the Day 1 starter to being booed on the field by his own fans to the backup and back to starting again. He’s appreciative of that. It’s another chapter in the quarterback’s roller coaster of six years in college football. 

“You always get to write your story, no matter what happens, whether things are going as planned or not, you always get to write your own story,” Armstrong said. “We react to things to put ourselves in different positions. We’re here, and we’re still writing. We got a dub here, we get to celebrate this one and move on.”

Moving on. Armstrong is good at that. He marched on after he was benched following the team’s 13-10 loss to Louisville. He also put his ups and downs behind him against Wake Forest, and he said he is playing with a one-play-at-a time mentality. 

So far, it has worked for Armstrong, and he is likely going to carry that same approach into Lane Stadium next weekend in Blacksburg. 

But for Doeren, the 11th-year coach that sat Armstrong down and made the change at quarterback, he hoped the change would help the veteran signal-caller take a step mentally. Armstrong did, and Doeren could not speak more highly after the game. 

Now Doeren will get to watch as Armstrong gets to write the final three chapters of his collegiate career as the Wolfpack’s starting quarterback. It was not the path to this moment that either of them could have thought of, but Armstrong is in the spot they thought he would be at the end of the season: a chance to win 10 games. 

“I’m glad he’s here,” Doeren said. “He went through a lot. I’m excited to see him finish this thing.”