The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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MAY 2019 ■ 41 opens the season against East Carolina. The Kay Yow Spring Game April 6 gave away some hints, with McKay exiting the contest with a slight lead. He completed 14 of 24 passes for 182 yards with a touch- down and also rushed for a score while playing with the first-string offense. Hockman and Leary rotated between the first- and second-string units, and both com- pleted 12 of 23 passes. Hockman threw for 135 yards with a 61-yard touchdown pass to redshirt sophomore Max Fisher, while Leary passed for 104 yards with one score and one interception. Doeren said McKay's experience in the NC State system was obvious this spring. "He's just comfortable, and that is the easiest thing to see," the coach said. "He's not pressing. He has been through this. He was a backup and went through a ton of reps last year. "Devin and Bailey have to catch up be- cause they aren't as comfortable." McKay said he could see the difference from last year's spring game to this year's. "Film study and preparation have helped me a lot," he explained. "It is just all the experience and reps. I have figured it out. I'm just playing football. You've been do- ing it your whole life — just have fun and play free." Leary forced a few throws in the spring game, but also displayed his live right arm. Doeren fully expects the former four-star recruit to continue to develop. Leary said all the quarterbacks have cer- tain traits that make them special, and he points to arm strength as his. However, it's a delicate balance on trying to use that to get the football into tight windows and doing what the coaches want. "Our offense is to take what the defense give us," Leary said. "That is what coach always says. Whatever is open, be able to take it and take the completion." Hockman will use the rest of the spring and summer to get comfortable with the offense. Attending Florida State and going through the 2017 season with them helped him develop the right mindset. "Every game, every practice is going to be important, but one day is not going to decide a starter," Hockman said. "If you have a terrible practice that doesn't mean you are never going to play, if you have a great practice that doesn't mean you're a starter. It's up and down. "You just try to stay as consistent as pos- sible, have a good time and be a leader on the field for other guys." Statistics and analytics will be part of the decision-making process in picking a quarterback, which played in Finley's favor in 2016. "From an analytics standpoint, you look at their completion rate," Doeren said. "You look at how they operate the offense. Are they getting guys lined up and in the right formations? Is their cadence creating issues with the snap count? "Then as you get into the football aspect, how many first downs are they getting and moveable drives? What is their touchdown- to-interception ratio? How many third-down conversions do they have? "How many drives do they score on if we are in a move-the-ball situation? How do they handle the end-of-game situations?" New NC State quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper has also overseen his fair share of competitions, since joining the coaching ranks as a graduate assistant in 1996. His most recent battle was between Bran- don McIlwain, Perry Orth and Jake Bentley in 2016 at South Carolina. McIlwain and Orth split the job for the first six games before Bentley, a true freshman at the time who had graduated a year early from high school, started the final seven contests. Roper moved on to Colorado last year, In the Kay Yow Spring Game, Florida State transfer Bailey Hockman — who is a redshirt sopho- more — was 12-of-23 passing for 135 yards, highlighted by a 61-yard scoring toss to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Max Fisher. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN