NC State quarterback Ben Finley will always have the victory over North Carolina to remember.
Finley graduated from NC State last December and insisted he would return to Raleigh for his redshirt sophomore year. The younger brother of former NC State star quarterback Ryan Finley will have three years of eligibility remaining at his next school.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pounder started last year buried on the depth chart as the fourth-string quarterback, who played on the scout team. After injuries struck starter Devin Leary and freshman backup M.J. Morris, Finley came off the bench for the last three games of the season.
Finley came alive to go 27-of-40 passing for 271 yards and two touchdowns in the 30-27 double overtime win against North Carolina on Nov. 25. That will forever earn him a spot in Wolfpack lore, plus he had some colorful quotes about the rivalry following the game.
The Duke’s Mayo Bowl didn’t go Finley’s way in Charlotte. He went 22-of-48 passing for 269 yards and two interceptions in a 16-12 loss to Maryland.
Following the season, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tim Beck got hired at Coastal Carolina as head coach. That gave Finley renewed hope going into the offseason. New offensive coordinator Robert Anae was hired, and he eventually brought in his former quarterback at Virginia, Brennan Armstrong.
Armstrong and Morris took all the snaps for the Red team last Saturday, with Finley on the White team. After exiting the spring as the third-string quarterback, he entered the portal Tuesday.
NC State currently has three scholarship quarterbacks with Armstrong, Morris and early enrollee freshman Lex Thomas, who is coming off shoulder surgery from his senior year at Wake Forest (N.C.) Heritage. Thomas didn’t play in the spring game.
NC State had an easy recruitment of Finley due to the success of his older brother. He also stayed solid to the Wolfpack when offensive coordinator Eli Drinkwitz was hired as the Appalachian State head coach.
Rivals.com ranked him the No. 13 overall player in Arizona and the No. 23 pro style quarterback in the country in the class of 2020. He was a three-star prospect coming out of Phoenix (Ariz.) Paradise Valley High. Finley picked NC State over offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Iowa State and Nevada.
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