Justin Witt Expects NC State To Be Explosive On Both Sides Of The Ball

NC State junior tackle Justin Witt touched on a variety of topics with the print media at the 2019 ACC Football Kickoff.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.

“We’ve got a big group of guys right now that can play quarterback for us. We’ve just got to find who’s going to be the right fit for our offense, who’s going to be the best leader, and who’s going to be able to win games for us. That’s where it’s at right now.”

“The running game’s going to be explosive. We’ve got a lot of guys who can step on the field and make plays. Between Ricky [Person], Trent [Pennix], Zonovan [Knight], and other freshmen that came in, they can all step out on the field and play for us if they had to.”

“I think the best thing is that everyone has their own type of personality, and when you get that together, we bond like a special feeling with each other. That’s like our whole group as an identity. We like to be a bunch of different guys, but when we come together, we’re all the same. We all are unique in our own way.”

“The serious guy would be Tyrone Riley. It’s hard to get two words out of him, but he definitely takes his job seriously. Someone who definitely breaks us up is Bryson Speas. There’s not a dull moment with him where I’m not laughing when he’s talking.”

“I would say we’re going to be an explosive team from offense and defense. On defense, we’re going to force turnovers, and on offense, we’re going to be making plays. We’re going to be running the ball and throwing the ball. We’re going to be able to do it all, really.”

“One thing that’s going to be slept on is probably the youth. We’ve got a lot of young guys that haven’t been on the field, and a lot of people don’t know what they are, but they’re going to figure out what they are real quick.”

“I feel like everyone in that quarterback room is very different, but in the same way, they’re the same. They all want to go out there and compete and be leaders, but they all have their own ways of doing it which is great. I feel like that’s really good for our offense to have different guys with different backgrounds and different ways of attacking the game, but when it comes down to it, it’ll be who’s going to be able to make the best plays for us.”

“It’s not always the most talented. I feel like it’s who’s going to win us the most games. There’s going to be pressure situations, and sometimes the best guy can make those plays, but I want the guy that can win us the game in the fourth quarter, not the guy who can make the most spectacular play in the first quarter.”

“As an offensive lineman, Ryan Finley definitely made our job easy last year. He definitely got the ball out quick, but this year, I feel like it’ll be more in our hands since we have younger guys back there. We have to give them more time to make more reads, and with the group that we have, we can definitely give them more time.”

“A few names come to mind. Grant Gibson and Joe Sculthorpe. You all saw [Sculthorpe] a lot last year. And then we’ve got Emanuel McGirt, Tyrone Riley, and Bryson Speas. Those are guys that haven’t really made it on the field that much, but when they make it on the field, they’re definitely going to be able to make plays for us and be great.”