Quarterback Brennan Armstrong met with the media after NC State’s 24-14 season opening win over UCONN tonight. Here’s what he had to say.

“It was great, are you kidding me [His first game in an NC State uniform]? I’ve played college ball long enough, if you get a win on the road, it’s a big win no matter who you’re playing. Especially your first game. You never know how guys are going to come out and play. It’s just one of those things, right? I’m super proud of it, about getting the W, and getting out of here, and come back home next week. There’s going to be plenty of stuff to obviously learn. I think I was getting a little antsy feet, finally getting hit now. I think I got out of the pocket a little too much. Probably left some guys open down field. It will all come. We’ll get better and we’ll learn from it. Coming out of here with a win is a huge deal.”

“I never know what’s going to happen. I’ve thrown the ball a decent amount. But this game, for whatever reason, I felt like running the ball was the key to winning the game. I knew if I didn’t take sacks, and stayed in front of the chains, we were going to win. We had some great design draw run plays for me in the red zone, to kind of get us in there. They were actually doing a really good job with the goal line stances they had, but I think we were able to overpower them. Having that extra runner as a Quarterback kind of helps you as an offense, right?”

“You get a Quarterback that puts his head down, and gets his team going. It’s a good thing for this team. It’s just kind of how I’ve always played. I just feel like having that mentality, that’s what this sport is about.”

“I’m going to be honest with you. Last year, I thought was my final year too. I’m just trying to play every snap like it’s my last.”

“UCONN’s a better team. They won 5 of their last 7 and went to a bowl. They weren’t going to be the same team they faced last year. We had a new offense. They had a new offense. New everything. First game. On the road. Just coming out of here with a win was a great thing. We’re going to have a lot to learn.”

“It motivated us a lot [the injury to Rakeim Ashford]. Once we realized he was going to be fine and stable, and he was going to be alright, us having the ball where we had it, we were like, “we’ve got to go punch this son of a gun in, right?” And we did, so I think we used that momentum and motivation to our advantage. I’m happy with how the guys responded.”

“I’m super excited. Big time game, coming into our house. What else could you ask for? I’ve never played Notre Dame. This is the one team I never really got to play. So I’m really looking forward to it. They’re going to be a good team.”