Ex-Virginia QB Brennan Armstrong commits to NC State for final season

Brennan Armstrong is staying in the ACC.

After five years at Virginia, the veteran quarterback announced Saturday that he will play his final season of college football at NC State. At NC State, Armstrong will reunite with Robert Anae, his offensive coordinator for his first four years at Virginia.

Anae spent the 2022 season as the offensive coordinator at Syracuse before being hired by NC State last month.

Armstrong arrived at Virginia in 2018 but has another year of eligibility because he took a redshirt in 2018 and has the COVID exception for 2020.

In his career, Armstrong has thrown for 9,034 yards with 58 touchdowns and 35 interceptions while completing 60.6% of his passes. He also has 1,267 yards and 20 touchdowns on the ground during that span.

Armstrong’s best season came in 2021 when he threw for 4,449 yards and 31 touchdowns while adding 251 yards and nine scores rushing.

Armstrong was recruited to Virginia by former head coach Bronco Mendenhall, who stepped down after the 2021 season. Armstrong stuck with the program in 2022, Virginia’s first season under former Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott.

Playing behind an inexperienced offensive line, Armstrong threw for 2,210 yards, seven touchdowns and 12 interceptions while completing just 54.7% of his attempts. Virginia went 3-7 as it did not play its final two games following the tragic shooting deaths of three players on Nov. 13.

NC State went 8-5 this season despite having to start four different quarterbacks over the course of the season. Longtime starter Devin Leary suffered a season-ending injury in the Oct. 8 win over Florida State and ended up transferring to Kentucky after the season. Jack Chambers, Ben Finley and MJ Morris also started games over the course of the season.

Morris, a true freshman who took over after Chambers was ineffective, showed a lot of promise when he saw the field but was injured late in the year. Finley opened the year as the fourth-stringer, but ended up making three starts late in the year. He helped NC State beat North Carolina, but struggled in losses to Louisville and Maryland in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Morris and Finley are both expected to return next season with Armstrong surely the favorite to win the starting job as a sixth-year senior.

Comments are closed.