POP-TARTS BOWL: KANSAS STATE VS NC STATE

December 28, 2023

Sean Brown

Brennan Armstrong

Camping World Stadium

NC State Wolfpack

Press Conference

Kansas State Wildcats 28, NC State Wolfpack 19

Q. Obviously it didn’t end the way you guys wanted it to, but based on everything you've seen from this team over the past few months, especially, what makes you excited about the future of this program and everything to come in your career here?

SEAN BROWN: Just we have a lot of guys with experience. We have guys coming in from the portal and we are bringing guys back.

I feel like we are going to be more experienced, having more people out there who are not thinking so much and just going out there and play.

Q. What has this game been like all week for you, and with everything that's gone on this year and what was it like to get NC State's first hundred-yard rushing game of the year?

BRENNAN ARMSTRONG: Throughout the week, I was trying to have my on/off-switch. I kind of said this earlier on in the week before we took off to go to Orlando is, when we are having fun, have fun. Enjoy it, right. It is my last one. When it is on-switch, we are out there having football practice or anything football-related, walk-throughs, try to turn the switch back on. That is kind of how I handled it.

You look back, I always do this, I look back. It is like, what could I have done different, because we did not get the job done.

I feel like I did what I needed to do to be ready and prepared. We just did not get it done. I think Kansas State is a really good defense, and they played hard. We knew we were going to have that and it was going to be a close game.

Yeah, we just fell short. We did not make the small plays that we needed to make in the game.

Q. Curious for you guys as an offense, as Kansas State goes on that drive at the end and they hold the ball and hold the ball and hold the ball. You're down two, thinking if you can get back out there, if you have a chance. How hard was it to see the time tick away and know that your chances were getting smaller?

BRENNAN ARMSTRONG: We still had a shot, right, and I went out there and threw a pick. We saw the shot. We had to score quick and that was our, obviously, thought – was to start getting aggressive, really aggressive. I threw a pick and that ends the game right there.

It wasn't really like -- I was kind of antsy, waiting to get back on the field to see what we can do with the time remaining. We had like 2:40-something or like that left, and it is like, okay, seen a lot of crazier tough happen right. See if we can get aggressive make something happen. Score quick and try to get the ball back. We just did not do that. I threw a pick.

Q. For both of y'all, it's been a very, very long time since NC State has gotten that double-digit winning figure. Now that you've been through this game and been through the season, what do you think the program needs to get over that hump?

SEAN BROWN: All I will say, we are going to get it next year.

BRENNAN ARMSTRONG: I tried to get it done and did not get it done. I wish the guys next year, they understand how it feels now, I know there's a lot of returners coming back. Obviously, the transfer portal is going to be huge for the team, too.

Man, I can't speak on next year, because I'm not going to be here but I wanted it. I wanted to do it. Ending the way we did with a five a win streak and try to get this Bowl win here. Just fell short.

Like I said, I always look back what I did throughout the week, what did I do wrong, what did I do that made us come up short. That is just how I look at it.

Q. What was going on or what was the mindset of the defense during that long drive at the end of the game? I know Kansas State had two touchdowns taken off the board. What was the defense's mindset, or looking back on it, what did you guys need to do defensively to get them off the field?

SEAN BROWN: We just needed to wrap up, tackle. We missed a lot of tackles in the game. I don't know how many we missed, but we came in saying we needed to tackle. We thought we was going to get off the field but we just missed tackles, blown assignment.