WATCH: CJ Bailey’s Postgame Press Conference After Syracuse Loss (with transcript)

Redshirt Freshman Quarterback CJ Bailey met with the media for his postgame press conference after NC State’s 17-24 loss to Syracuse tonight. You can watch the video ABOVE and read the transcript BELOW.

CJ, how tough is it to be able to work the ball down the field multiple times inside Syracuse 30 and just have them be able to take the ball away from you guys? How tough is that, I guess, for an offense?

It’s really tough.

The tough thing about our passing game and our offense is when I drop back, we make plays and we complete passes and move it down the field. We slip on the field and just we got to finish. Like that’s the toughest thing for us and we got to overcome that.

We got to finish. We can’t keep getting flags and turning the ball over in the red zone. We had four trips in the red zone and we didn’t succeed.

Then we had a field goal in our back pocket each time, and we didn’t take it. We fumbled, the interception and we missed a field goal.

It’s fine. But as an offense, we got to get better with finishing drives and that’s that’s really the main thing.

Y’all still finished with some really good numbers. What are you kind of telling yourself and telling your teammates about how to move forward?

I’m kind of telling myself just that’s the game going on. I got to be able to take care of the ball more.

That’s just the main thing. Like that’s what’s killing us. Like we play, we play so well.

Like I said, we’re flipping the field. We just keep turning the ball over. Like even last week I threw that pick at the end of the game.

That’s a problem. We can’t keep turning the ball over. I can’t keep turning the ball over.

Me personally. So that’s what I’m telling myself. And I’m telling the offense keep playing how they play because we playing really good.

We’re doing our job. We’re making plays. We’ve just got to finish drives.

And that’s the main thing.

Dave mentioned earlier when we spoke to him that the fact that turnovers are what’s the most frustrating part of this. He said coveting the football is the biggest thing that this team needs to work on. What types of things do you feel like the team needs to do overall to be able to start realizing that you have to covet the football and not turn it over at this point?

It’s all just mental stuff, like there’s little details and we worked on everything during the week.

We got ball security drills every day of the week, holding the ball and carrying the ball. Even though Kendrick (Raphael) fumbled, I’ve got to take care of the ball as I’m in the pocket.

We’ve got ball security drills the whole week. We still fumbled the ball. So we got to take care of it.

Fumbling is something that shouldn’t happen.

The interception, I’ve got to take care of. I shouldn’t have either. The main thing is we’ve got to take care of the ball.

That’s just the main thing going into next week.

What type of growth and development are you seeing from the skill guys that you’re throwing the ball to handing the ball to? Are they developing and getting better week by week? Do you see separation and do you see roles developing within those groups?

I see a lot, especially at the receiver position, like those guys are getting way more confident and we trust in each other way more.

Like as the weeks going on, as we kept on getting reps and even in practice, like I could see we’re playing with more confidence and we trust each other more. I could be able to take those shots to those guys and I know they will come down with it because we trust each other.

That’s all I see every week, confidence and growth.

I know it wasn’t the outcome that you wanted tonight, but now that you’ve gotten a couple of starts under your belt, do you feel like the game is starting to slow down and simplify for you in a way?

Yeah, coming into this game tonight, it felt really slow.

I really see everything. That interception I just missed. But as the week goes on and Coach Roeper keeps preparing me well, I can get way more confidence. I’m trusting everything I see.

Those reps, and me starting is really crucial for our future. I’m happy that I’m getting a chance right now.

I know the season hasn’t gone how this team wants or how you wanted, but is there anything specific that you’re really proud of that you’ve done or accomplished?

Specifically this week, the main thing I’m proud of is that we kept fighting. We did leave anything out there and everybody had each others back. That’s the biggest thing that I saw this weekend. I want to see that next week and moving forward.

I just keep playing like no matter the score, no matter how we plan, just keep keep playing. That’s what I’ve seen this week and I love it. That’s one thing.

That’s one positive that I love from the team.