Doeren: Hockman Will Start vs. Miami... A Role For Finley?

NC State played both Bailey Hockman and true freshman Ben Finley in the Wolfpack's road loss at North Carolina, and the duo actually threw the ball well.  Hockman and Finley combined for 361 passing yards and 8.1 yards per attempt, both season highs for NC State.

While Hockman started, Finley entered in the second quarter and played most of the second and third quarters before being replaced by Hockman.  

Hockman had his best passing performance at NC State, throwing for a career-high 215 yards with 9.0 yards per attempt. 

“We’re excited for [Bailey Hockman],” Doeren stated on Monday. “I thought he really did a great job coming in the game and playing at the end of last week’s game. [Ben Finley] will continue to develop and get reps. I’m glad we were able to get him some game reps.”

While some fans wondered if the Pack would shift to the true freshman Finley after the bye week, Doeren confirmed Hockman will remain the starter.

“It’s Bailey’s opportunity,” Doeren added.  “He’s been through a lot. I know he’s excited to lead the football team and he’ll do a great job for us.”

One of the big factors for both will be taking care of the football, and it’s easy to see why after looking back at the first six games of the year.

“Just studying us, on offense, the biggest thing we see is we’ve got to not turn the football over,” Doeren said.  “The last two games, we’ve had seven turnovers. Over the last three years, when we win the turnover margin, we’re undefeated as a football program.”

The big question now will be if NC State will continue to rotate Finley in going forward.  Doeren wouldn’t confirm either way on Monday.

“I think there’s always opportunities to have plays for guys,” he said.  “We’re not necessarily there; we haven’t solidified that. And obviously I wouldn’t want to say that and give Miami any ammo on what we’re going to be doing. But we need Ben to continue to get better. You saw when he had his package of plays, he moved the team. But when things got into a different mode, you could see it was a lot for him.

“So we just have to be smart with Ben and, at the same time, Bailey operates our offense really well. I thought he threw the ball terrific in the game. I think if you’re going to do something like that, you’ve just got to be smart about the flow of the game, and not let one kid get out of rhythm, because rhythm is a big part of playing that position.”

It appears offensive coordinator Tim Beck will have a feel for what both quarterbacks seem most comfortable with heading into Miami.

“I think when you get to the end of the week, Tim always asks them what their favorite plays are, what plays are they least comfortable with,” Doeren said.  “He keeps that in mind on his call sheet. There’s certain things that Bailey may like and Ben doesn’t. Even if you’re not rotating them, you need to know that, because you’re an injury away from the other guy running the show.

“So I think the call sheet does change, not really physically as much as mentally. Both of them can roll out right and left, so that doesn’t limit you. It’s more about where they’re at in the mental part of the game or what they see in the pass game, handling protections, blitzes, and all those things.”