‘We just didn’t get it done:’ With 10-win season in reach, NC State comeback falls short
Graduate quarterback Brennan Armstrong trotted back onto the field with 2:42 remaining after Kansas State’s 7-minute drive. He threw an interception – the first since his return to the starting role – sealing the team’s fate.
A second 10-win season slipped away, and it hurt.
The 2023 season looked dead after N.C. State’s 24-3 loss to Duke, dropping it to 4-3, so to turn things around and be in position to make history meant a lot. It stings.
N.C. State (9-4, 6-2 ACC) fell to Kansas State (9-4, 6-3 Big 12), 28-19, in the inaugural Pop-Tarts Bowl on Thursday night.
“I tried to get it done, but I didn’t get it done,” Armstrong said. “I wish the guys next year understand how it feels. I know there’s a lot of returners coming back. The transfer portal is gonna be huge for the team, too. I can’t speak on next year because I’m not going to be here, but I wanted it. I wanted to do it.
“I feel like I did what I needed to do to be ready and prepared. We just didn’t get it done.”
The Wolfpack came very close. It went from a two-touchdown deficit to a two-point game, thanks to graduate kicker Brayden Narveson’s two field goals from 26 yards and 49 yards, and a 60-yard touchdown. Armstrong contributed a 31-yard touchdown in the second quarter, as well.
“I thought when we faked that punt and scored, gained all the momentum, and the way we had been playing prior to that next drive on defense in the second half, I thought we were gonna win this game,” head coach Dave Doeren said.
A missed field goal, failed two-point conversion, the seven-minute Kansas State’s seven-minute and late interception all hurt N.C. State’s chances at finishing its season on top – and eating the edible Pop-Tarts mascot.
There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this season and from this bowl game, but the No. 1 thing to remember is the Wolfpack never gave up on its resiliency and toughness.
It experienced the embarrassing loss to the Blue Devils, then switched quarterbacks and switched back a month later. Injuries plagued the team most of the year, but it never gave up. Even through the disappointment, there’s hope for next season.
Redshirt sophomore safety Sean Brown isn’t down on the program and believes the 10 wins are coming.
The team will look different – that’s already been seen with the roster movement – but the goals and the expectations stay the same. Those 10 wins will be there for the taking.
“With college football, I think every season is anybody’s season,” Doeren said. “Your teams are changing. We’re gonna have 50-plus new guys on our roster next year. The guys coming back are going to be very driven, but each year it’s different than it’s ever been in college football. It’s a new puzzle every year. It’s exciting and challenging and confusing and everything all at once.
“I think right now I just want to think about the kids in that locker room and take a few days to get away. Then, we get back to it.”
This story was originally published December 28, 2023 at 11:37 PM.
