The North Carolina Wolfpack look to bounce back from a forgettable 2013 season in which they failed to win an ACC game for the first time since 1959.
Licking his chops to get into the game the entire time last season, and waiting for his opportunity, was Jacoby Brissett. The Florida Gators transfer student was forced to sit out last season, and he will look to be the next in the line of successful college quarterbacks at NC State.
Philip Rivers, Russell Wilson, and Mike Glennon all enjoyed successful seasons as Wolfpack quarterbacks, and they all took their success to the next level in the NFL. Brissett was highly recruited out of Dwyer High School in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Only Braxton Miller and Brett Hundley outranked Brissett in the 2011 recruiting class as a “dual-threat” quarterback. He was ranked higher than notable names like Teddy Bridgewater, Marcus Mariota, Everett Golson, and a kid by the name of Johnny Manziel.
The potential was there, as Brissett became the first true freshman quarterback at the University of Florida to take his first career snap as the starter, getting the nod against LSU (#1 in the rankings) and Auburn (#24 in the rankings) the week after.
Brissett would go 13-24 for 139 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions combined during both losses for the Gators. Brissett never really had an opportunity to be “the guy,” as even though he was a highly-ranked recruit, Florida was able to nab one ranked even higher – Jeff Driskel.
Even coming off the bench and helping Florida escape an upset against the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns couldn’t propel Brissett over Driskel, so he decided to transfer.
With two years of eligibility left, the Wolfpack faithful will look for a quick turnaround under Brissett, but really there is nowhere to go but up for a program that only won three games last season.
Part of the reason for their struggles was shaky quarterback play, as neither Pete Thomas nor Brandon Mitchell succeeded once they possessed the starting job.
Even with two NFL-caliber quarterbacks like Wilson and Glennon, NC State was barely able to stay afloat in the ACC. They coasted to a 35-29 record in those years, so when they lost a stud at the quarterback position, it became a free fall.
It will be a hard climb up the ACC, but Brissett seems ready to stop the fall, and he is quickly becoming one of the team’s leaders.
Freshman wide receiver Bo Hines confirmed his faith in Brissett, saying, “He’s a true leader. He does the work off the field that he needs to be successful and he really has taken over our team.”
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