WATCH: CJ Bailey Praises O-Line & Hollywood Smothers After NC State’s Win Over UVA (with transcript)

Sophomore Quarterback CJ Bailey led NC State to a 35-31 victory over UVA this afternoon in Carter-Finley Stadium.

For the 2nd straight game, Bailey completed 70% of his passes. Today, he threw for 200 yards and a touchdown, and the Florida native also rushed for 44 yards (7.3 yards per carry) and 2 touchdowns.

Bailey met with the media after the game. You can watch the video above, and read the transcript below.

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What was it like, especially in the second half, when you can just hand the ball to Hollywood (Smothers) and let him do a lot of the work?

It was great to see Hollywood get in the mix and do a lot for this team. Hollywood’s been a guy that’s been grinding hard all camp, and he showed this game, and last game, he’s one of our most important players on offense, and we need him for the rest of the year.

What was the biggest difference you think today in run blocking, being able to open up holes for him to get through?

We just knew we had to get physical, creating lanes and holes for Hollywood Smothers, so I just credit the whole line for everything…pass protection, run blocking…they did it they did it all.

I congratulate them boys, salute to them boys, they did an awesome job with blocking and protection.

This is I think your 9th career game with at least 200 yards passing, but you looked so much more confident than some of your games last year. How do you feel after game 2 of this season, and where do you think this offense can really go?

I’m feeling good. Of course, you’ve got a lot of things to work on, but we’ve seen a lot of explosive plays in the last two weeks, and it’s going to get better throughout the year. I’m very excited to see it, and I’m going to keep spreading the ball around to everybody, finding the open guys, getting the run game going more. It’s going to be great the whole year, and I feel comfortable and confident going into each game. Since last year, I’ve been building my confidence, being more poised every game. It’s been good for me.

You went to the locker room down 10 at halftime. Talk about some of the adjustments you made in the second half. What was said in the locker room?

Really, it was just our leaders coming together, our captains coming in and leading the locker room. The really big thing was playing good football. We just need to be better, be more aggressive and smarter with everything. We were just drilling that into their heads. We’ve got to keep playing like it’s never over. It’s four quarters of football, and it showed in the game.

As soon as y’all came into the 2nd half, y’all started scoring on a whim. Can you talk about the tide and the emotion, not just with you, but the entire team, as y’all got closer and closer on closing that deficit?

This was our first time being down as a team. Last week, we didn’t even go down, so this was our first time. We wanted to see how we would battle through adversity. We were ready to go back on that field, and change the trajectory of the game. Our team wanted to fight. That’s the biggest thing, we weren’t laying down. There was another half to go, and our team battled back in that second half. We got stops. We scored touchdowns. We did a lot of things.

Did you make a conscious effort to expand your game this season with running the ball, because you’ve made some nice runs in both contests?

With my ability to run, it showed this game, and I think my legs are going to help me out during the season, but I really enjoy scoring points, doing whatever it takes for the team to win.

Will (Wilson) got in there today. What was it like seeing him on a 4th and 1, deep inside his own territory?

Will’s a great player man. His toughness showed today, and I’m really proud of him. We’ll use him more. He’s a really great player. He’ll do whatever he can for the team, and I just want to keep seeing him succeed.