NC State quarterback Bailey Hockman to transfer. What that means for the Wolfpack.
N.C. State was going to have a crowded quarterback room next season one way or another. A seat just opened up in that room.
Bailey Hockman, the Georgia native who started nine games in the 2020 season, announced on Twitter Wednesday morning he was entering the transfer portal.
“This university and program has done so much for my life as (an) athlete and man,” Hockman wrote. “I want to personally thank coach Doeren and coach Beck for helping me become a better person on and off the field.”
In 10 games, Hockman led the team in passing with 2,088 yards and 13 touchdowns. Hockman also threw 11 interceptions this season, including three in the Wolfpack’s 23-21 loss to Kentucky in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 2.
In 17 career games at N.C. State Hockman passed for 2,185 yards.
It’s been an up and down two seasons in Raleigh for Hockman, who started his career at Florida State. He was beat out by redshirt sophomore Devin Leary in fall camp for the starting job, but it was Hockman, not Leary, who started the opener against Wake Forest.
Hockman led the team to 45-42 win over the Demon Deacons, snapping the Wolfpack’s six-game losing streak dating back to the previous season, with 191 passing yards and one touchdown. He also threw a pick-six in that game in the second half.
The following week against Virginia Tech things started to unravel. Hockman threw two interceptions in a 45-24 blowout loss to the No. 20 Hokies, finishing with just 82 passing yards before being pulled for Leary, who started the next three games for N.C. State.
The Wolfpack quarterback battle
But Leary broke his leg in the Duke game on Oct. 17 and Hockman was once again the starter.
Hockman played well in the second half of a 48-21 loss to No. 14 UNC and passed for 248 yards the following week in a 44-41 loss to No. 11 Miami, a game N.C. State led up until the fourth quarter. Hockman said it was actually the game versus the Tar Heels, when he got pulled in the first half for freshman Ben Finley, that served as the turning point of the year for him.
“I had really studied hard for that game, was ready and was really prepared,” Hockman told the media one day before the Gator Bowl. “Things just didn’t roll my way and that’s how it goes sometimes, and you just keep working, keep your head down. But in the second half of that game, I ended up throwing two touchdowns and ran one and kind of just realized, ‘Look, I can do this. I can be a college quarterback and I can be successful.’”
After the close loss to the Hurricanes, Hockman led the team to four straight wins, which included a career-high 314 yards and four touchdowns at Syracuse on Nov. 28.
Hockman struggled early versus the Wildcats in the bowl game, throwing an interception on the Wolfpack’s first possession of the game.
He threw two more, the most costly in the fourth quarter with N.C. State down 13-7.
With Leary set to be back, Finley returning and four-star quarterback Aaron McLaughlin on the way, Hockman will seek an opportunity elsewhere.
Hockman said Leary has been a big help while rehabbing from his injury.
“It’s been good having him around and having an extra pair of eyes on you,” Hockman said in November. “It’s like having another coach out there, it’s definitely been good.”
WHAT IT MEANS FOR NC STATE IN 2021
Leary passed for 890 yards and eight touchdowns in four games, exciting the fan base about the possibilities of what he can do healthy with a full 2021 season. Finley, the younger brother of former N.C. State quarterback Ryan Finley, also created a buzz, passing for 143 yards and one touchdown in his lone appearance of the season at UNC.
McLaughlin should come in and push Finley for the backup spot. The Denmark High graduate passed for 7,637 yards in his prep career with 101 touchdowns. He went 33-11 as a starter. Leary has played in only 12 games in two seasons and Finley was in for only 33 plays this season, all at North Carolina. Finley’s brief performance was enough to convince fans that he deserved more snaps this season. But it was Hockman who took every snap moving forward.
Hockman is the second quarterback to transfer since the end of the regular season. Ty Evans announced he was entering the transfer portal shortly after the regular season finale against Georgia Tech.
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 10:57 AM with the headline "NC State quarterback Bailey Hockman to transfer. What that means for the Wolfpack.."
