Brennan Armstrong will play his final college season just down the road from Charlottesville, announcing Saturday that he has committed to NC State, where he will reunite with his offensive coordinator at Virginia, Robert Anae.
Armstrong, who passed for 4,449 yards under Anae at Virginia in 2021, was not a good fit in the new system installed by Anae’s successor at OC, Des Kitchings, in 2022.
The Pack, meanwhile, had a need for experience at QB with the departure of Devin Leary, who many had assumed to be headed to the NFL Draft, but instead decided to transfer out because of questions about his health, one, and two, the emergence of his backups at State, freshmen MJ Morris and Ben Finley, who took over at QB after Leary went down to a season-ending injury in October.
Leary, who ended up at Kentucky, had put up bonkers numbers in 2021, throwing for 3,433 yards, 35 TDs and just five INTs as State played to a 9-3 finish.
That’s why he was the preseason player of the year.
Morris, in relief of Leary, had strong outings for the Pack in wins over Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, throwing for 200+ and three TDs in each game.
After he then went down to injury, Finley had a middling game in a 25-10 loss to Louisville, going 16-of-35 for 201 yards, a TD and an INT, but he rebounded nicely in the regular-season finale: 27-of-40, 271 yards, two TDs and no INTs in the 30-27 win over North Carolina.
But that was all in the system of Tim Beck, who is now the head coach at Coastal Carolina, part of the coaching merry-go-round that started with Auburn poaching Hugh Freeze from Liberty.
With Armstrong landing at NC State, and Morris and Finley in the system, the Pack have, easily, the deepest QB room in the ACC, and one of the best in the country, with Armstrong able to mentor the rising sophomores in Anae’s system.
And if Armstrong goes down to injury, good news, you’ve got two guys to choose from to insert into the lineup.
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Chris Graham
