C.J. Riley Hoping To Get His First Win At Wake Forest

NC State graduate wide receiver C.J. Riley met with the media to discuss his recent play and the upcoming matchup with Wake Forest.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.

Devin Leary has spread the ball around a lot this year.  Just for you guys as a receiver room, how much confidence does that instill in you? How much has that helped you to know that he's going to find that open man, that he's going to spread it around like that?
With us having a deep room, it really helps out him. Doesn't matter who's in the game, he knows we're going to get a job done no matter what.

As a receiver, we had to get open for him. So when we just know when the ball's in the air, we got to make the play for him, make the job easy.

Tanner Ingle said Devin was an artist, Pitts said he was a magician, Toudle just said he was stellar. What's your one word to describe Devon Leary and what he's playing in quarterback this year?
I'd have to go Houdini. Just magically he can do it all. You never know what to expect with him. Any type of ball, I know he can make any type of throw on the field.

As a receiver we just got to make the play for him.

When he was a redshirt, was it something you saw in him in practice? You were like, “Okay, once he gets this chance and plays a lot of reps, he's going to be really special for us?”
Yeah, definitely just his arm strength. He can make any throw on the field, whether it be from the left hash to the right, down the field. It doesn't matter where the ball was, he could make that throw. So I just knew early on he would be special as his career went on.

When did it kind of switch over him being like - having the physical talent to him taking over vocally and becoming the leader of this team? When did you see that transition for him?
Probably had to be last year before he got hurt. As an offense, we were really moving, things were going well when he was on the field. Then when he got hurt, we took a little downfall, but we bounced back.

I think last year it really showed when he began to step up again, began being a leader.

How's it been for you coming back from injury? How you feeling every week; is it like a step forward for you? What's your situation?
I'm healthy a hundred percent. But coming back from injury, last year, my first year back from an injury from 2019 season, I struggled a little bit but I got through it. This year I feel good every week going in and out. Body feels good, just happy to be out there playing again.

Chris Toudle said when he first got to school, guys were picking on him saying he's going to eventually switch to tight end, just because how his body type was. Were you one of those guys? Now that you've seen him make that switch, him and Trent, just talk about their play and how big of mismatches they are for opposing defenses.
They're definitely helping us a lot as a receiver. They can't really focus on anybody on the field because there's two weapons that you have to take into account [when] they're on the field. So they really help us a lot.

Trent, you know him, we call him Jay - that's another Jay Sam, really. Just what he brings to the field with running the ball, catching the ball in the backfield.

Chris, obviously he was a receiver, but he has a receiver mindset... it makes him a lot easier to get open because he understands how to run routes and how to do all those things.

They really help us a lot on the offense.

Do you ever line up and look at the defense and kind of can just tell by the formation that Chris or Trent is going to have a really good matchup with a linebacker?
Yeah, definitely. I don't think any linebacker in the country can guard those two. They're really different, it's hard to cover them and then cover us on the outside. So you can't really pinpoint who to play straight up.

You guys have played a lot of tight, exciting games with Wake Forest during your time here. Obviously this one's a pretty big one with the top 20 matchup and all that's on the line with the ACC Championship game. I know you guys focus on the week ahead and it's just that 1-0, but how excited are you guys for this opportunity this weekend to play a game that's so big against an in-state opponent?
Every game we take as 1-0, but it's always the next game up is the most important. But it's always a good feeling to play an in-state rival.

Me personally, since I've been here I've never won down there, so I'm looking forward to going back down there and trying to get a victory this year just to finish it out.

It's always a great opportunity to play another Top 25 opponent, and then we just got to do our part, and I feel comfortable coming into this game.