{"id":18667,"date":"2023-10-05T17:30:46","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T22:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=18667"},"modified":"2023-10-05T17:30:46","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T22:30:46","slug":"nc-state-has-good-week-of-energy-after-quarterback-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/nc-state-has-good-week-of-energy-after-quarterback-change\/","title":{"rendered":"NC State has good week of \u2018energy\u2019 after quarterback change\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the beginning of the week, NC State coach Dave Doeren<\/a><\/strong> made a move at quarterback to add a \u201cspark\u201d to the Wolfpack\u2019s offense. So far, sophomore signal-caller MJ Morris<\/a><\/strong> has brought just that ahead of his first start of the season against Marshall on Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a good week of good energy,\u201d Doeren said Thursday afternoon. \u201cGuys on offense are definitely taking on the different things that we\u2019ve asked them to do. It\u2019s a collective healing that needs to take place and obviously there\u2019s a major change at that position, but all the positions are involved in this process of getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The main piece of the move was at quarterback, like Doeren alluded to, and Morris has done his part in working to bring a positive energy to the offense. The 11th-year coach said Morris has done a great job at the energy part \u2014 something he\u2019s always done well \u2014 and the offense knows it needs to \u201cpick up their play around the quarterback as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think MJ did a great job coming in, understanding what we need,\u201d Doeren said. \u201cWe needed to galvanize the guys. Each group has their piece in this thing. \u2026 You saw it on defense a week ago, just guys working together, making it look really good. Same thing on offense.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Wolfpack\u2019s 13-10 loss to Louisville last week, its defense played well, while the offense sputtered. NC State\u2019s offensive line did not give graduate quarterback Brennan Armstrong <\/a><\/strong>much time to throw \u2014 he was pressured on 17 of his 35 dropbacks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Doeren noted that the entire offense has improved this week, including the team\u2019s offensive line, which returns graduate center Dylan McMahon<\/a><\/strong>. The veteran had missed the last two games with what appeared to be a right leg injury, and while he was out, the Wolfpack had to reshuffle the offensive line to make it work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With McMahon back, redshirt sophomore Lyndon Cooper<\/a><\/strong> can slide back to left guard after he filled in at center in the meantime. That change will allow NC State to return to its usual starting offensive line look, which should bring stability to the front with Morris under center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And while Doeren noted Morris has brought positive energy to the team at practice this week, the young quarterback has also improved himself since the last time he played \u2014 a 21-20 loss to Boston College last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Morris made three key appearances a year ago, including two starts, and played well for the most part. He threw seven touchdown passes with just one interception before a knee injury sidelined him the rest of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He learned from his experience last season and has utilized that to his advantage this fall, Doeren said. Morris has matured and has grown as a football player in his second season in Raleigh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what he\u2019s been through to get to this point has been really good for him,\u201d Doeren said. \u201cBeing able to take a breath coming off the injury, and learn and absorb and mature, and understand how important every little thing is. He\u2019s preparing now like a vet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though he backed up Armstrong for the first five games, Morris approached it like he was the starter, while he also supported his fellow quarterback in the tough times. Doeren said the entire position room has each other\u2019s backs, which has been good to see.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the biggest impact this week came from Armstrong, who voiced his support for Morris, even though he was benched as a result.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI know Brennan\u2019s excited for MJ,\u201d Doeren said. \u201cHe told the offense they need to go play their butts off for him. That was a huge moment from a character, leadership standpoint to see that from Brennan. To hear that he did that was a huge thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the type of resolve Doeren is looking to see from his offense, which he noted is the fourth phase that the Wolfpack need in their game between the defense, special teams and sideline energy. All four have been clicking this week, he noted, and is looking forward to this weekend\u2019s game against the Thundering Herd.<\/p>\n

The post NC State has good week of \u2018energy\u2019 after quarterback change\u00a0<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the beginning of the week, NC State coach Dave Doeren made a move at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18667\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}