Where does NC State quarterback MJ Morris fit after Wolfpack added Brennan Armstrong?

Raleigh
MJ Morris says he never considered entering the NCAA transfer portal and leaving N.C. State after last season.
The Pack’s offensive coordinator, Tim Beck, left to be head coach at Coastal Carolina. Robert Anae replaced Beck, and Brennan Armstrong, Anae’s former quarterback at Virginia, soon followed him to N.C. State.
Quarterback Devin Leary left, transferring to Kentucky. Quarterback Ben Finley left, transferring to Cal.
But Morris, despite the changes, stayed put.
“That thought was never in my mind,” the sophomore quarterback said Thursday. “I like to compete. And at the end of the day, I committed here for a reason. It’s a place I want to be for the next three to four years of my life.
“When I committed here, I said I wanted my name to be up on that stadium one day.”
Saying that, Morris motioned with his left hand toward Carter-Finley Stadium. Among the former Wolfpack quarterbacks honored, their names on the facing of the stadium’s upper deck, are the likes of Philip Rivers, Russell Wilson and Roman Gabriel.
A year ago this time, Morris showed up for N.C. State’s preseason fall practice not sure how things would unfold.
He was a freshman. Leary was the Pack’s starting QB and had been selected the ACC’s preseason player of the year. For Morris, there was much to learn, so much to absorb.
But since last August, Morris has gone from third-string quarterback to starting quarterback to injured quarterback to backup quarterback again.
Morris came off the bench to lead a comeback win over Virginia Tech in a Thursday night game, earning him the start against Wake Forest, then ranked No. 20. After the Pack won, 30-21 at Carter-Finley, Morris took a turn — his big smile lighting up the set on the stadium concourse — on the ACC Network’s postgame show.
It was such a special game and night that Morris said he watched the replay of the broadcast again just a few weeks ago.
“I watch films of my old games to see how I can improve and the stuff I did wrong,” he said.
Morris, the first true freshman to start for the Pack at QB since Rivers in 2000, did little wrong that night, throwing for three touchdowns. But he was injured the next game against Boston College, missing the final two games of the regular season and then the Duke’s Mayo Bowl against Maryland.
He’s stronger for it, said Morris, who finished the season passing for 648 yards, with seven touchdowns and one interception.
“I’m becoming a man,” Morris said. “Coming out of high school I had to grow up quick, just put my faith in God knowing it’s a long process. Just take each day one by one, knowing it will all come into play as long as I’m patient.”
The Pack finished the season 8-5. Anae was hired. Armstrong arrived, a proven commodity in the ACC ready to rejoin his old offensive coach and be the Pack’s QB1 while saying all the right things about the friendly competition at quarterback.
When fall practice began Wednesday, Armstrong took the first snaps and Morris was with the second-teamers. That doesn’t figure to change before the season opener Aug. 31 at Connecticut.
“It’s like having another coach,” Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said of Armstrong. “He can get guys in the right spots. He can talk to players from a coach’s point of view because he has had all those conversations with Coach Anae.”
Asked Wednesday about working with Morris, Armstrong said it has been “really good.” Morris, in turn, said the same.
“I’ve always tried to be an open door for him,” Armstrong said. “I think he’s picked up on the offense pretty quick. Not really too many questions from him.
“Just being an older guy and knowing the offense, I just wanted to be that open door for people. That’s what I try to be for him, but we’re also competing. It’s a good dynamic, and I think it’s going to bring the best out of us.”