Brennan Armstrong flexes for four touchdowns as NC State overpowers Virginia Tech, 35-28

By Raza Umerani

Staff Writer

November 19, 2023

BLACKSBURG — In five seasons as the signal-caller at Virginia, Brennan Armstrong faced Virginia Tech twice. Despite two excellent performances, he was never able to beat his bitter rival.

Facing a familiar foe with his new team, the third time was the charm.

Behind 292 total yards and four total touchdowns from their southpaw signal-caller, NC State (8-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast) largely dominated Virginia Tech (5-6, 4-3) from start to finish for a 35-28 victory that never felt particularly competitive, despite the one-possession final score margin and yardage totals.

“Obviously not the outcome we hoped for,” Tech head coach Brent Pry told reporters after the game. “[We] didn't play well enough in the first half, particularly on defense. We got behind far too much.”

The Pack were also paced offensively by their freshman receiver and swiss army knife KC Concepcion who did a little bit of everything on Saturday afternoon, catching seven passes for 63 yards and a touchdown, gaining 44 yards on nine carries and even tossing a 17-yard touchdown to tight end Trent Pennix in the third quarter to put State up three scores. 

“We tried to match up with Concepcion,” Pry said. “He's a good weapon. … They got us yinging and yanging with the motions…you don't know where [he] is going to be. Is he in the slot? Is he in the backfield? They do a lot with him, they do a nice job with him. We didn't get our cleats set like we needed to. We weren't lined up enough where we needed to be to give those guys a chance.”

Concepcion’s brilliance — and plenty of pre-snap eye candy from the Wolfpack offense — allowed plenty of rushing lanes to open up for Armstrong, who ran circles around Tech’s defense to the tune of 89 yards and two touchdowns.

“Quarterback runs are a problem, but it's magnified when you’ve got a guy like [Concepcion] that you're worrying about on sweeps and getting the ball to him out of the slot receiver position,” Pry said. “They do a nice job of making you defend both of those things.”

Armstrong has been a more prolific runner than passer in 2023, but he still diced up the Hokies defense for an impressive 203 yards and two touchdowns on 18-of-26 attempts. 

“Brennan's a good quarterback,” Pry said. “He's big, he's got good speed, he's tough. He was gonna have some yards running the ball. Certainly didn't expect him to have that many. But that's a big part of their offense. I thought that I was more impressed with the way he threw the ball. I think that kept us off balance as much as anything.”

The Wolfpack also got major contributions on defense from their star linebacker Payton Wilson — one of the best defenders in not just the ACC, but all of college football this season — who racked up 11 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack.

“You'll have to show me a better linebacker right now out there,” Pry said. “He's long, he can run. … He’s a very good football player.”

NC State won the time of possession battle 40:37 to 19:23 — the fourth-most lopsided difference by a Hokies opponent since 1997. 

“[In] the first part of the game, they were able to control the ball,” Pry said. “That kept us off balance defensively. [They] ate the clock up, kept our offense off the field. And when we got some touches offensively, we were behind enough where we were kind of forced to throw the football.”

After a scoreless first quarter and a pair of punts from both teams, NC State imposed its will with five consecutive touchdown drives. The Wolfpack were able to convert seven consecutive third downs in that stretch.

“That's the heartbreaker right there,” Tech linebacker Keonta Jenkins said. “We have to get off the field on third down, give our offense a chance to go out and score. And third down determines a lot of the drive and the game and how long we’re gonna be on the field. So if we get off the field on the third downs, it would be a different outcome.”

Tech, meanwhile, didn’t convert on third down until the fourth quarter. By then, the game was well out of reach. 

The Hokies were able to get a couple of sparks here and there. After going down 14-0, a 50-yard kick return from Tuten set up a beautiful 47-yard touchdown run on a reverse by wide receiver Xayvion Turner-Bradshaw — a play which fooled nearly the entire NC State defense, almost all of which was on the other side of the field. 

“I remember grabbing the ball and I just looked left, turned up and I saw three guys and they're just looking around shaking their heads and there was nobody to block,” Turner-Bradshaw said. “I just knew there was nothing but green grass.”

While that felt like a massive momentum swing, State punched back with a methodical haymaker of its own, driving 75 yards in 11 plays and just over four minutes to take a 21-7 lead on a 28-yard catch and run from Concepcion just before halftime.

“Critical series in the game to me,” Pry said. “We got some momentum back, it's a one possession game. ... We were sloppy. We weren't ready on one, they got behind us, I think it was a gimmick play. So, not good enough. … I think that was probably the biggest drive of the game.”

The Wolfpack got the ball first coming out of the break and embarked on yet another touchdown drive punctuated by Armstrong’s second rushing touchdown to increase the lead to 21 and essentially put the game out of reach. 

The flow of the game limited Tech’s ability to establish its usual offensive identity. Perhaps no statistic reflects that better than running back Bhayshul Tuten — who has been the Hokies’ primary offensive playmaker this season — getting just two carries for negative three yards in the whole game. 

“They had too many points on the board,” Pry said. “You know, we were behind too much and felt like we needed to throw the ball to get back in the game. And then you can be more balanced.”

As a whole, Hokies tailbacks only totaled three carries on the day as Malachi Thomas only toted the rock once for a 16-yard gain. Quarterback Kyron Drones was able to pour in a team-high 51 yards on the ground to go along with 225 passing yards and a career-high three touchdown tosses — two of which went to Da’Quan Felton, who had a game-high 87 yards on seven catches. 

But much of that came with the game not really being in question. NC State essentially turtled after their fifth consecutive touchdown drive, perfectly content to let the Hokies chew up free yards. Eventually, Tech got back within a score when Drones found Stephen Gosnell in the corner of the endzone to make it 35-28 with 100 seconds left.

“Proud of the way the guys continued to fight [and] battle,” Pry said. “After all of that and some bad stuff, we're still in it at the end kicking an onside kick to try to tie the thing up and potentially win it. Resilient effort. We've got to do some things better as coaches and players.”

Alas, the failed ensuing onside kick locked up a loss that means the Hokies will have to wait another week to clinch an appearance in a bowl game. 

“[The players] all want to be bowl eligible,” Pry said. “So we have to handle our business all week long to give us the best chance to do that, to extend our season and have a chance to go play in a bowl game.”

Rivalry matchups are up next to close out the regular season for both the Hokies and the Wolfpack as Tech heads to Charlottesville for the Commonwealth Clash (3:30 p.m. ET, ACC Network) against UVa (3-8, 2-5) and NC State hosts No. 20 North Carolina (8-3, 4-3) next Saturday night (8 p.m. ET, ACC Network). 

“We can't hang our heads and feel sorry for ourselves,” Pry said. “It hurts. We didn't play our best. Give them credit. We've got to watch the film, correct the things that need correcting. We've got to be better about winning our one-on-ones at each and every spot. How do we do that?

“We've gotta be an improved team when we go over [to Charlottesville] on Saturday. ... They're an improved team as well. We're gonna have to make some strides this week.”