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

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.