NC State’s Armstrong braces for flood of emotion in return to Scott Stadium

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Brennan Armstrong holds 15 Virginia football program records, but on Friday night he’ll be wearing Wolfpack red as the former Cavalier quarterback returns to Scott Stadium with his new team, NC State (7 p.m., ESPN).

UVA is a 9-point underdog and Armstrong is one big reason why, as he plays a major role in State’s offense with his dual-threat capabilities as a passer and a runner. As Virginia coach Tony Elliott — who coached Armstrong last season in a Cavaliers uniform — said this week, when Armstrong takes off on the run, he doesn’t slide, but rather runs like a running back and is adept at keeping plays alive with his feet and picking up first downs.

While Armstrong had a less-than-memorable final season at UVA in 2022 — his fifth as a Cavalier — Wahoo fans fondly remember his 2021 campaign when he spent most of that year leading the NCAA in passing categories and total offense under former coach Bronco Mendenhall. When Elliott came in last season and introduced a more pro-style offensive system, it never clicked with Armstrong, who later transferred.

At NC State, the fiery, red-headed QB has been reunited with offensive coordinator Robert Anae’s “Air-Raid” system in which Armstrong flourished in ‘21. Anae left UVA after the coaching transition and spent last season as OC at Syracuse before landing at NC State in the offseason.

The former Virginia quarterback isn’t sure what to expect from the crowd upon his return to Scott Stadium, but is hoping for a warm reception from his longtime fans.

“Oh, man, I don’t know,” Armstrong said when asked about the reaction he might receive. “I mean, I put blood, sweat and tears in that place [Scott Stadium and UVA] for five years.

“Hopefully they’re not too hard on me, right? If they are, it’s no big deal. I’ll be ready for it. I really don’t know. Maybe they’ll like me, maybe they’ll boo me. You don’t know what you’re going to get. But that’s not why I’m there. I’m there to win a game, so that’s where my focus is.”

Armstrong expects to experience a range of emotions upon his return and once he steps into the stadium, where he was once considered one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the nation.

“When we hit the field, I’m just going to refocus, do my job, and my job is to go in there and win and take it one play at a time,” the QB said. “It’s a unique opportunity for me and the best feeling would be just coming out of there with a win. I think that would be the best feeling for me. So that’s my goal.”

After a rocky ‘22 season, Armstrong hasn’t been fast out of the gate so far in his first three games with the Wolfpack. The sixth-year quarterback is ninth in the ACC so far this season in passing with 679 yards (only about 25 yards ahead of 10th-place Anthony Colandrea, UVA’s true freshman), while completing 62.9 percent of his passes and tossing three interceptions.

He hopes to get off the schneid versus a Virginia secondary that he used to practice against daily. Armstrong has been watching a lot of video of the Cavaliers to learn tendencies, strengths and weaknesses, and realizes they have been doing the same in scouting him.

During those practices at UVA, this defense wasn’t allowed to hit the quarterback, but now the gloves are off.

“They’re going to come after me, finally,” Armstrong chuckled.

Last year’s setback, which helped lead to a 3-7 season at UVA, is in Armstrong’s rear view. While he and the new offensive system never clicked, he believes it helped widen his scope as a quarterback. The 2022 campaign was not one he’ll look back on fondly, throwing for a mere 2,210 yards, 7 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, while completing only 54.7 percent of his pass attempts. Those numbers pale in comparison to his 2021 season when he threw for 4,449 yards (and missed one game due to injury), 31 TDs and 10 interceptions, completing 65 percent of his passes.

“I’ve never had that type of offense,” Armstrong said of his last season at Virginia. “I didn’t understand the terminology of an NFL offense. I think a lot of that stuff was super beneficial to me and just getting that experience. I think I learned a lot last year and it has helped me.”

Comfortably back now in Anae’s system, Armstrong has picked it back up quickly.

“They did stuff [during Anae’s year at Syracuse] that was unique, and he brought the stuff that we did at Virginia, and Syracuse to NC State,” Armstrong said. “We’ve kind of got both of those in place. It’s not all the same, but most of it is.

“Besides all the other things they’ve done with the motions and all the craziness they have in the offense to begin with, it’s cool to see what they’ve come up with. It’s not hard to learn. It’s not hard to pick up once you know basically 98 percent of the offense. The other two percent is some of the funky stuff that they want to throw in there or that they learned throughout the course of coaching at Syracuse.”

The offense takes advantage of Armstrong’s ability to run the ball, part of the job that he loves.

“I think we do a good job with that in this offense, just being a playmaker and just playing free, playing confident,” Armstrong said. “I play with a little physicality, so when I do get out and run, I run hard. It helps me just not think and just go play.”

Armstrong plans on paying tribute in some manner to his three former teammates who were slain last November, which ended Virginia’s season prematurely.

“I have some stuff in mind, but we’ll see,” he said. “I’ll keep it for Friday or Thursday and Friday.”

Those thoughts will also add to the quarterback’s flood of emotions when he walks into Scott Stadium for the first time since last November.