So, what does Devin Leary do for an encore? NC State football at Virginia this week.
It’s been quite the week for redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary.
Last Saturday at Pittsburgh, Leary led N.C. State on an 80-yard drive with 1:44 remaining, throwing the game-winning touchdown with 23 seconds left.
Since his career day Leary was named one of the ACC Players of the Week. He was selected as Manning Award Star of the Week as well as a Davey O’Brien Great 8 choice. All for good reason. Leary completed 28 of 44 passes for 336 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. The last Wolfpack player to throw for more than 300 yards with four scores and no interceptions was Russell Wilson in 2009, maybe you’ve heard of him.
The game against Pittsburgh was Leary’s sixth career start, but just his first career win. Finally armed with a healthy offensive line, all his top receivers and a stable of running backs, it’s easy to get excited about the possibilities moving forward with Leary behind center.
In less than a week, Leary’s performance has lifted the hopes of even the most morose N.C. State fan. But make no mistake about it, nobody has higher expectations for the rest of the season than the man getting all the praise.
“It starts with myself,” Leary said this week. “I hold myself to a very high standard, a very high expectation for myself, personally and it just carries over to the team.”
In only a small sample size, Leary has thrown five touchdowns, more importantly, he hasn’t turned the ball over. When times got tough, down to Pitt with 80 yards in front of him, Leary “was nails” as Dave Doeren put it, never blinking in the face of adversity.
“If you would have seen his face he didn’t even flinch, it was like alright let’s go win,” junior center Grant Gibson said. “That’s just how he is though, he’s always calm and he’s always trying to stay even the whole game. He doesn’t get too high, he doesn’t get too low either. That’s what you need from a quarterback.”
NC State at Virginia up next
With Virginia (1-1, 1-1) up next for N.C. State (2-1, 2-1), the question is how does Leary follow up that performance against Pittsburgh?
He was good against the Panthers, but not perfect. He’ll tell you that much and so will Dave Doeren.
“As good as Devin was, there were some things in the RPO (run-pass option) game he needed to take advantage of,” Doeren said. “He did at times, but just being consistent.”
After having a chance to watch the film, Leary saw room for improvement. Echoing his coach, Leary said there were plays he could have read better or tricked the defenders with his eyes more. He admitted he could have done a better job identifying pressures and could stand to have better communication with the offensive line.
That will come with time, and more reps in practice. Leary is still a young guy in offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s new system, and missing nearly a month of fall camp didn’t help. With just six career starts under his belt, those snaps on the practice field count.
“You can’t ever say that reps don’t matter for a guy who’s 18, 19, 20, 21 years-old,” Doeren said. “They are a critical, critical part of their development.”
Trust the process
Leary was handed the keys to the car back in the spring, but due to COVID contact tracing, lost time in fall camp, and eventually his starting job to Bailey Hockman in the opener against Wake Forest.
Leary missed 20 days of camp and watched as Hockman led the Wolfpack to its first win of 2020. Even as he watched, he carried himself the right way, according to his teammates. Gibson said Leary never pouted, and cheered on his teammates, especially Hockman, until his turn arrived.
He made his season debut late in a blowout loss to Virginia Tech and led the team on two scoring drives. That scoring drive streak continued right into Pittsburgh, his first start, and Leary was finally seeing his work, and patience, pay off in real time.
Leary was always confident in his abilities, even when he first arrived on campus as a top prospect out of Timber Creek High School in New Jersey. When he showed up he had to redshirt and was beat out by Matt McKay in 2019. Leary eventually saw the field, starting the last five games, all loses, of 2019. But that was enough to build his resume and be named the starter in the spring.
COVID-19 derailed spring practice and knocked Leary out for a lot of fall camp. Because of contact tracing Leary couldn’t practice. He never tested positive and neither did his roommates, wide receivers Thayer Thomas and Emeka Emezie. Leary still watched film every day even though he could be on the field, but because he lived with Thomas and Emezie, the trio found time to get out and throw it around. It wasn’t game, or even practice, speed, but it was enough work to keep Leary in a rhythm, it also helped to be working with two of the top receivers on the team. Leary called it a “blessing in disguise.”
As Hockman took starters snaps the first two games, Leary was patient, knowing he had to be prepared when his number was called.
“Something that I have to learn and embrace was trusting the process,” Leary said. “Not everything can happen at one moment, not everything can happen in one year. Everyone is going to make mistakes, but really it’s all about how you respond. I just think a lot of adversity that not only I went through, but our whole team went through, being able to see it pay off a little bit versus Pitt was very rewarding.”
