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NC State had the chance to upset a top 10 team at home, in position to score the tying touchdown near the end of the third quarter. They failed to convert and missed the ensuing field goal before the Irish boat raced them in the final period.
Did QB Brennan Armstrong play his best game? No, three interceptions makes that clear. Many of his passes were not accurate enough to cleanly move an offense down the field. Conversely, his receivers could have done more to make passes, even in tough defensive coverage.
Let's go through some examples of the passing game, piggybacking off of Alec's post game analysis.
Not everything is Brennan Armstrong's fault
To give Armstrong the benefit of the doubt, he did throw some passes right to the hands of his receivers and they weren't able haul them in. Here, Porter Rooks couldn't convert a needed third down. He ran a good route, got open on the inside lane, Armstrong had good protection and hit Rooks on time in stride, but he just dropped it.
I've been looking forward to seeing Rooks step up this year after playing behind fan favorite and IG heart throb Thayer Thomas. He had two disappointing drops in this game, I hope this won't lead to his demotion down the depth chart as it seems there's younger players ready to fill in.
The Notre Dame defender may have also gotten a hand in there to poke it out, so maybe it's not all on Rooks. I was really impressed with the Irish secondary, they had so much speed to keep up with the Wolfpack receivers.
Rooks, part deux
Not quite a drop
TOUGH, tough throws
Back breaking drop
Not just drops, but missed passes too
Miss part 2
There were good passes too...
Stop quitting on the play
Comparison to Sam Hartman
Best play of the game
Miserable
Despair
Conclusion
I just think we haven't found "that go to receiver" yet. Some of the highly touted ones are just having trouble finding their place. Rooks just can't get into a rhythm and I was expecting more from Timmons to be honest. I really think that something happened that has affected Armstrong. He doesn't look remotely like he did during the record setting year. I watched him several times that year and I was thinking wow this guy is good. He just seems slower to recognize his open receivers and his throws are just not crisp or accurate. Don't know what the answer is, but the question is very clear.