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CJ Bailey’s Postgame Press Conference After NC State’s Win Over Cal (TRANSCRIPT)

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3 days ago

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True Freshman Quarterback CJ Bailey met with the media after NC State’s 24-23 win over Cal this afternoon. You can read the transcript below.

Just take me through your thinking when you guys were down two scores and how did you stay composed and work through that to just claw your way back into the game?

My thinking, my thought process was to get a drive going and get a score.

Like our first score is going to create many more. Get the first first down because that’s going to make the drive go, and keep those guys up and stay energized because we got two more quarters to play and we still got a chance to win this game. We still got a chance to fight.

So it was a good thing to see those guys battle back.

When you guys are making plays out there, for example, Hollywood (Smothers), he makes the touchdown. At some point he has to make a guy miss. He has to put the wiggle on. When you see skilled guys make plays and you yourself made some passes out there, how does that feel and how important is it to do that, especially late in the game?

It feels really great to know that I got good playmakers and good guys around me that’s going to help the team out and guys like Hollywood Smothers and Justin Joly, KC (Concepcion).

I’m glad to have those guys because they made big plays and they changed the game.

In this journey, you guys now have a bye week. This is new to you, obviously, week by week, but how big is this bye week heading into Stanford and what do you hope to see and what does your team hope to see over the next four games?

It’s really good that we had this bye week because a lot of us, we need some rest.

Our bodies have been beat up for the past couple of weeks and we need time off for our mental health and our physical health. For the next couple of weeks, we’ve got to go win some games and be undefeated for the rest of the season. That’s the plan. That’s the goal. And we’re going to do that.

You were sacked a season high six times today. I know you talked after Clemson that you had fun taking contact, but at the end of the day, it does kind of take a toll on you and your body and just the momentum. When you look at that game, what is your immediate response to those sacks and what kind of contributed to that?

Yeah, I got antsy in the pocket.

I had to stay more poised and be more decisive. I was kind of indecisive on some of those plays and it led me to take a sack. I’ve got to trust those guys up front and deliver a great ball.

And I was just taking sacks that I didn’t have to take, and that was really bad for our offense. And once I learned to just start a quick game, get the ball out of my hand and not take those sacks, it was better for our offense to go.

You obviously have a lot of college football in front of you, but for guys like Davin Vann or Aydan White, this is their last run with NC State. How much does it mean to you to win games like these and make sure, like you said, this season finishes as strong as possible for them as well?

Yeah, it’s really big to win those games for them. Like we said, we told each other, we’re playing for those seniors.

This is their last moment. This is their last time to be out there. We told those guys we’re playing for them.

I told Davin, personally, ‘I got your back,’ and he said he got mine. It’s kind of tough that they’re leaving. They’re getting out of here this year, but we’re going to make the most out of these last couple games.

I love those guys.

Four starts in now. What have you learned about yourself the most through these four starts at NC State?

I learned that I could take a hit. I took a lot of hits and got right back up. I learned a lot about myself.

I’m a tough individual.

 

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Matthew is Publisher and Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He is also the Lead Pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

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NC State Football

NC State’s CJ Bailey Earns Week 8 ACC Rookie of the Week Honors

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21 hours ago

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October 21, 2024

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NC State True Freshman Quarterback CJ Bailey earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors for his performance in the Wolfpack’s win at Cal in Week 8 this past Saturday.

ROOKIE – CJ Bailey, NC State, QB, Miami, Florida
Bailey led NC State to a one-point road victory over Cal, 24-23, as he completed 25-of-36 pass attempts 306 yards. The Wolfpack was down 13 points in the fourth quarter before Bailey led the offense on scoring drives of 75 and 70 yards to complete the largest fourth-quarter comeback by NC State since 2012. The freshman quarterback threw two touchdowns without an interception against Cal’s defense which ranks second in the country in interceptions. (ACC)

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NC State Football

NC State vs. Cal: Defensive PFF Grades Report

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1 day ago

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October 21, 2024

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NC State defeated Cal 24-23 to improve to 4-4 on the season yesterday. Here’s a PFF Grade Report for the Wolfpack Defense in Week 8.

Redshirt Sophomore Nickel Isaiah Crowell – 81.3
Senior Safety Bishop Fitzgerald – 77.5
Redshirt Freshman Nickel Tamarcus Cooley – 74.4
Junior Cornerback Devon Marshall – 73.5
Senior Defensive End Davin Vann – 72.6
Redshirt Sophomore Defensive Back Jackson Vick – 69.7
Senior Safety DK Kaufman – 68.3
Senior Cornerback Aydan White – 67.4
Redshirt Senior Defensive End Noah Potter – 64.7
Junior Nose Tackle Brandon Cleveland – 62.6
Redshirt Freshman Linebacker Kamal Bonner – 60.4
Senior Linebacker Devon Betty – 57.5
Redshirt Sophomore Nose Tackle DJ Jackson – 56.0
Redshirt Freshman Defensive End Isaiah Shirley – 54.0
Redshirt Junior Defensive End Travali Price – 51.9
Redshirt Junior Linebacker Sean Brown – 47.3

Notes

  • Nickel Isaiah Crowell has made the most of the opportunity presented to him with the exodus of Ja’Had Carter, and targeting call on Tamarcus Cooley. He led the team with the highest grade, and this was obviously the highest grade of his career.
  • Bishop Fitzgerald posted his highest grade of the season.
  • Sean Brown posted his lowest grade of the season.
  • Travali Price posted his lowest grade of the season.
  • Isaiah Shirley posted his lowest grade of the season.
  • As a team, NC State had the best coverage grade of the season (87.2).

Top 5 Highest Graded Defensive Players Through 8 Games (adding 1 extra, because Fordham is out for the year)

  1. Nickel Tamarcus Cooley – 76.2
  2. Cornerback Devon Marshall – 76.1
  3. Defensive End Davin Vann – 73.0
  4. Linebacker Caden Fordham – 72.8
  5. Nose Tackle Brandon Cleveland – 71.5
  6. Nose Tackle DJ Jackson – 70.7

Bottom 5 Lowest Graded Defensive Players Through 8 Games (75+ snaps)

  1. Linebacker Devon Betty – 58.5
  2. Linebacker Sean Brown – 59.0
  3. Defensive End Noah Potter – 59.5
  4. Defensive End Travali Price – 60.3
  5. Linebacker Kamal Bonner – 62.7

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NC State Football

NC State vs. Cal: Offensive PFF Grades Report

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1 day ago

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October 21, 2024

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NC State defeated Cal 24-23 to improve to 4-4 on the season yesterday. Here’s a PFF Grade Report for the Wolfpack Offense in Week 8.

Redshirt Senior Center Zeke Correll – 82.1
Freshman Quarterback CJ Bailey – 81.9
Junior Tight End Justin Joly – 75.9
Sophomore Wide Receiver Kevin Concepcion – 73.9
Redshirt Sophomore Right Tackle Jacarrius Peak – 67.5
Redshirt Junior Left Guard Anthony Carter Jr. – 67.0
Redshirt Junior Wide Receiver Dacari Collins – 66.0
Redshirt Freshman Running Back Hollywood Smothers – 65.5
Redshirt Senior Left Tackle Anthony Belton – 65.4
Freshman Wide Receiver Terrell Anderson – 63.3
Sophomore Running Back Kendrick Raphael – 61.5
Junior Wide Receiver Wesley Grimes – 57.1
Redshirt Senior Right Guard Timothy McKay – 56.0
Freshman Wide Receiver Keenan Jackson – 52.9
Redshirt Freshman Wide Receiver Noah Rogers – 46.6
Junior Tight End Dante Daniels – 43.7

Notes

  • Center Zeke Correll posted his 2nd highest grade of the season.
  • Quarterback CJ Bailey had the best grade of his career.
  • Tight End Justin Joly posted his best grade since the season opener.
  • Wide Receiver Kevin Concepcion had the best grade of the season.
  • Wide Receiver Noah Rogers posted the worst grade of his career.
  • Wide Receiver Keenan Jackson and Tight End Dante Daniels both had the 2nd lowest grades of their career.
  • As a team, this was the best Pass (88.6) and Pass Block grade (92.7) of the season.

Top 5 Highest Graded Offensive Players Through 8 Games

  1. LT Jacarrius Peak – 76.4
  2. C Zeke Correll – 75.6
  3. RB Hollywood Smothers – 74.0
  4. QB CJ Bailey – 73.0
  5. TE Justin Joly – 71.2

Bottom 5 Lowest Graded Offensive Players Through 8 Games (50+ snaps)

  1. TE Matt McCabe – 38.4
  2. TE Dante Daniels – 53.8
  3. WR Keenan Jackson – 57.9
  4. WR Wesley Grimes – 59.4
  5. WR Terrell Anderson – 62.9

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NC State Football

NC State vs. Cal: Defensive Snap Count Report

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2 days ago

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October 20, 2024

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NC State defeated Cal 24-23 to improve to 4-4 on the season yesterday. Here’s Snap Count Report for the Wolfpack Defense in Week 8.

Redshirt Junior Linebacker Sean Brown – 75
Senior Cornerback Aydan White – 75
Senior Safety Bishop Fitzgerald – 72
Senior Safety DK Kaufman – 72
Redshirt Freshman Linebacker Kamal Bonner – 69
Senior Linebacker Devon Betty – 69
Junior Cornerback Devon Marshall – 66
Redshirt Junior Defensive End Travali Price – 57
Senior Defensive End Davin Vann – 52
Junior Nose Tackle Brandon Cleveland – 51
Redshirt Freshman Nickel Tamarcus Cooley – 42
Redshirt Sophomore Cornerback Isaiah Crowell – 31
Redshirt Senior Defensive End Noah Potter – 29
Redshirt Freshman Isaiah Shirley – 18
Redshirt Sophomore Defensive Tackle DJ Jackson – 18
Redshirt Sophomore Cornerback Jackson Vick – 15
Redshirt Freshman Linebacker Kelvon McBride – 6
Redshirt Senior Safety KJ Martin Jr. – 5
Redshirt Junior Safety Rente Hinton – 3

Notes

  • Starting Cornerback Brandon Cisse is still out. He was supposedly supposed to play some in the 2nd half, but that didn’t happen. Junior Devon Marshall started again in his place.
  • Even though Redshirt Freshman Tamarcus Cooley had to sit out the first half due a targeting call against Syracuse, he did play 42 snaps at Nickel in the 2nd half.
    • Redshirt Sophomore started at Nickel as a result, and played a career high 31 snaps.
  • Redshirt Sophomore Defensive Back Jackson Vick played a career high 15 snaps.

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