WATCH: CJ Bailey Sings Teddy Hoffmann’s Praises After NC State’s Season Opener (with transcript)

Sophomore Quarterback CJ Bailey completed 71% of his passes for 318 yards and a touchdown (with one interception) in NC State’s 24-17 win over ECU last night. The 300-yard outing was the third of his career and his second-highest total. Bailey’s passing efficiency rating was 153.

He also rushed for an 11-yard touchdown.

Bailey met with the media last night after the Wolfpack victory. You can watch the video above, and read the transcript below.

_________________________________________________________________________________

We just got done talking to Wesley (Grimes). What was it like to kind of see him have the kind of game he did? What’s the kind of connection you guys have now? How much has that changed from last year to this year?

It’s great to see Wesley play like that. We all knew he had it in him, since last year.

There have been way more games where he could have had way more yards, but this offseason showed me a lot from Wesley. He grinded. He worked hard, especially when it comes to our time throwing in the offseason. He worked really hard to do what he did today.

I really expected it from him because he’s a Senior. He’s one of our leaders too.

I know we’re only one game into the season, but based off tonight and based off last season, what would you say has been the major difference in your game?

I would say my ability to take a shot downfield. Taking shots and taking risks.

I’m also running the ball better, running the ball a little more this year. I won’t know until a couple more games, to really see the growth from last year.

What is something you hope to improve as time goes on? What do you feel like you need to improve on?

Being more accurate when I’m under pressure. The ball started to sail out of my hand when I was taking hits.

I could be better in those situations. I’ve made those throws plenty of times before. So it was just throwing under pressure.

Y’all have talked about a little bit about Teddy Hoffmann. What was it like seeing a young guy like him make some of the plays he did tonight?

I expected it. I told you guys in an interview before, like a couple of days ago.

I told you I saw a lot of growth in Teddy Hoffmann, and he showed out today. I told you guys, Teddy is a great player.

He’s amazing. Freshman out of Florida as well. So it’s amazing to see what he did today.

He’s another one who came into offseason working hard. He put in a lot of work to do what he did today as well. He made a lot of contact catches and a lot of plays for us, and we needed those.

It was your first game with Kurt Roper as the new offensive coordinator calling plays. Talk about how that progressed throughout the game, and what you felt was different compared to last year.

It’s an explosive offense.

Roper is a very smart guy, and he’s calling a lot of great plays. I love it from him.

He’s pushing the pace, and he’s pushing the tempo.

He’s not just one of those laid back guys. He understands the situations. He calls the right plays in the right times and right moments. It’s really big to have an OC like Kurt Roper.

Obviously, you picked up a big win against an in-state opponent. Conversely, in the second half, you didn’t get as many offensive points maybe as you would have liked. What’s the mindset immediately after this game? Where do you think you go from here towards Virginia next week?

The mindset is really finishing better.

I feel like we started off at a good pace. Offense got it rolling, defense got it rolling. We’ve just got to come out of the half way better than how we did.

Part of it is just me as a leader, getting the offense going. We started to feel comfortable with our lead. We can’t do that.

So it’s me as a leader. I’ve got to get those guys going. You know what I mean?

You mentioned Teddy and the game he had. At the end of the 1st quarter, I think you hit him on four straight passes that moved the ball into the red zone on your touchdown drive. What was that drive like, being able to have that trust in a Freshman like that?

It was a great drive. I got him the ball four times. He’s just a playmaker.

You just get the ball in his hand. He’s going to make a play for us. It’s that trust.

It’s trust from the offseason. Like I said before, he was another one of those guys who came into work, and I trust him. I just gave him the look that we wanted, and I got him the ball in space, and he just kept on making plays for us.