LOCKER ROOM REPORT: Wolfpack Players
No. 18 NC State's Brennan Armstrong and Sean Brown met with the media following the Wolfpack's 28-19 loss to No. 25 Kansas State in the 2023 Pop-Tarts Bowl.
Armstrong threw for 164 yards on 14-for-28 passing with one interception while leading the Pack’s ground game with 121 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries. Brown recorded seven tackles versus the Wildcats with two pass breakups, one quarterback hurry, and one tackle for a loss.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch the players’ press conference.
On what excites them about the future of the program...
SB: Just we have a lot of guys with experience. We have guys coming in from the portal and we are bringing guys back. I feel like we are going to be more experienced, having more people out there who are not thinking so much and just going out there and play.
On what the leadup to the game was like and getting the Wolfpack’s first 100-yard rushing game of the season...
BA: Throughout the week, I was trying to have my on/off-switch. I kind of said this earlier on in the week before we took off to go to Orlando is, when we are having fun, have fun. Enjoy it, right. It is my last one. When it is on-switch, we are out there having football practice or anything football related, walk-throughs, try to turn the switch back on. That is kind of how I handled it. You look back, I always do this, I look back. It is like, what could I have done different, because we did not get the job done. I feel like I did what I needed to do to be ready and prepared. We just did not get it done. I think Kansas State is a really good defense, and they played hard. We knew we were going to have that and it was going to be a close game. Yeah, we just fell short. We did not make the small plays that we needed to make in the game.
On seeing Kansas State score on a seven-minute drive in the fourth quarter...
BA: We still had a shot, right, and I went out there and threw a pick. We saw the shot. We had to score quick and that was our, obviously, thought – was to start getting aggressive, really aggressive. I threw a pick and that ends the game right there. It wasn't really like -- I was kind of antsy, waiting to get back on the field to see what we can do with the time remaining. We had like 2:40-something or like that left, and it is like, okay, seen a lot of crazier tough happen right. See if we can get aggressive make something happen. Score quick and try to get the ball back. We just did not do that. I threw a pick.
On what NC State needs to do to get that elusive 10th season win in the future...
SB: All I will say, we are going to get it next year.
BA: I tried to get it done and did not get it done. I wish the guys next year, they understand how it feels now, I know there's a lot of returners coming back. Obviously, the transfer portal is going to be huge for the team, too. Man, I can't speak on next year, because I'm not going to be here but I wanted it. I wanted to do it. Ending the way we did with a five a win streak and try to get this Bowl win here. Just fell short. Like I said, I always look back what I did throughout the week, what did I do wrong, what did I do that made us come up short. That is just how I look at it.
On the defense’s mindset during the Wildcats’ seven-minute drive...
SB: We just needed to wrap up, tackle. We missed a lot of tackles in the game. I don't know how many we missed, but we came in saying we needed to tackle. We thought we was going to get off the field but we just missed tackles, blown assignment.