When the NCAA instituted the 4-game redshirt rule in 2018, the intent was to alleviate depth concerns.
At NC State, it's created one.
MJ Morris, a second-year player and the Wolfpack's starting quarterback, has elected to sit out the remainder of the season to preserve his redshirt.
After the news leaked out throughout the week, NC State head coach Dave Doeren confirmed it on Thursday.
"Our plan was at the beginning of the year to try and redshirt MJ, to give him a chance behind an experienced quarterback to develop and grow. As the season unfolded and we struggled offensively, I felt it was time to reassess that plan. The team needed a spark," Doeren said.
Morris did not see action in NC State's first five games, but after a 13-10 loss to No. 11 Louisville on Sept. 29, Doeren inserted Morris into the starting lineup.
Morris got every rep in the four ensuing games, three of which resulted in Wolfpack wins.
But now that the 4-game count is up, Morris is sticking with his plan. The Carrollton, Ga., native appeared in five games as a true freshman in 2022, tossing seven touchdowns against one interception.
"I met with MJ, Coach Roper and I, and I asked him if he wanted to play because I thought he could help our offense, and he agreed. We pushed forward with that plan in place and him playing. As games progressed and time went on, MJ came to me and let me know he was still thinking about preserving his redshirt. I was surprised by that because he was our starter and really didn't expect for a starting player to want to sit back down," Doeren said.
"After the fourth game he was very decisive in telling me it was important to him and his family to preserve his redshirt, and so we're honoring that decision. With that, Brennan (Armstrong) is our starter. Our team has embraced him in this role and we're rallying around him."
The natural inclination is to wonder if Morris shut things down to have another season to play elsewhere. While we should never rule out the Portal Possibility these days, Doeren didn't raise option on Thursday (and let's note here Morris was at least up-front with Doeren enough to warn him he was thinking about sitting out before he ultimately did so). If Morris ultimately does transfer, one has to wonder how hard NC State will fight to keep him.
The silver lining for NC State here is this: Morris wasn't exactly setting the world on fire as the starter.
In his four games, Morris completed 55.8 percent of his 113 passes for 719 yards (6.4 per attempt) with seven touchdowns against five interceptions. His 120.79 rating would be 93rd nationally if he had enough attempts to qualify.
Doeren's team will now turn to Armstrong, a 6th-year player who threw for nearly 4,500 yards at Virginia in 2021 but has struggled to recapture that production in Raleigh. In one and a half seasons at NC State, Armstrong has tossed 12 touchdowns against 18 picks.
At 6-3 on the season with wins over Clemson and Miami in their last two games, NC State is still on the fringe of the ACC Championship hunt with winnable games at Wake Forest and Virginia Tech in the next two weeks before closing with No. 24 North Carolina in Raleigh.
Armstrong and the rest of the Pack will fight to make 2023 a successful season for NC State; it remains to be seen if Morris is on the team for 2024.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.