NC State football redshirt sophomore quarterback Matthew McKay was confident throughout the competition this spring and summer about winning the starting job, and it paid off Monday.

McKay was publicly announced as NC State’s starting quarterback on Monday for Saturday’s season opener against East Carolina at Carter-Finley Stadium. NC State coach Dave Doeren had previously hinted he’d wait until kickoff, but instead he elected to explain during his press conference that McKay had edged out redshirt sophomore Bailey Hockman.

The next step for McKay is to solidify his hold on the position with some strong early season showings. He went 7-of-8 passing for 87 yards and rushed 13 times for 36 yards and a touchdown in limited playing time last year.

“I just put it in my mind that I wanted to be the starter and spoke it into existence and put my head down and worked,” McKay said. “There was a lot of joy. I couldn’t tell anybody until the next day.”

NCSU first-year quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper wants McKay to concentrate on certain aspects during his first start and not get overwhelmed with the moment against the Pirates.

“You try and keep him focused on the process,” Roper said. “You try not to ride the emotions of the game.

“We only get 12-to-14 possessions a game, and we need to maximize them.”

McKay, who moved from Long Island, N.Y., to Raleigh while in middle school, credited his parents for developing the leadership skills he used to help win the starting job.

“They are big role models in my family and in the community,” McKay said. “When Ryan [Finley] left, someone had to step up, and I felt like it was me.”

The last extensive action for McKay was at Raleigh's Wakefield High. The former Rivals.com three-star prospect was the No. 41 overall player in the state of North Carolina for the class of 2017. He committed to NC State early in the process over offers from Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Temple and Old Dominion.

Since McKay has always been young for his grade (he turned 17 in October of his senior year in high school), it perhaps made him a little harder to project as a prep prospect.

McKay completed 53.6 percent of his passes for 1,553 yards and 15 touchdowns, but also tossed 10 interceptions his senior year. He added 152 carries for 767 yards and nine scores on the ground for Wakefield.

The field general, who clocked at 4.79 seconds in the 40-yard dash while in high school, tallied 1,909 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns in his career.

Fast forward to being a redshirt sophomore at NCSU, and he’s added 30 pounds to now check in at 6-4 and 214 pounds. His mobility could give the Wolfpack various play-calling options.

He also never shied away about his ambition to win the starting job.

“I always had the confidence and I was strong about my faith,” McKay said.

He used his first two years at NC State to better understand the offense and adjust to the speed of the game. The result is McKay has slowed things down and enhanced his decision-making.

“I definitely [improved] with knowing with where to go with the ball," McKay said. "I thought I knew where to go with the ball last year, but even now, I’m quicker with my decisions to keep the defense off guard.”

Roper also emphasized that McKay is playing “fast."

“Matt has had the advantage of being in the system a long time and being comfortable at the line of scrimmage,” Roper said. “Everybody rallied in the right direction, and he made a lot of plays.”

McKay’s teammates eagerly watched the quarterback competition not knowing the outcome, but now that it’s over, it’s time to settle in and form a higher level of chemistry.

The Wolfpack now know they’ll be rallying behind McKay.

“Matt is a great guy and has really stepped up and been a leader,” NCSU redshirt junior left guard Joe Sculthorpe said. “The quarterback competition this year was like my freshman year with Jalan McClendon and Ryan Finley.

"I thought it was just as good as that, if not better.”

Winning the starting quarterback job was not the only big news in the McKay family this week.

McKay was also happy that his younger brother, true freshman Timothy McKay, opened up as the second-string right tackle. The 6-4, 306-pound Timothy always ensures his older brother has a “bodyguard” when in public together.

“I’m in a lot of online classes and he’s a freshman, but when I see him, he holds it down,” Matthew McKay said.

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