11/11/2020 football Edit

Bailey Hockman ready to face his old team, Florida State, again

Matt Carter • TheWolfpackCentral

Editor

NC State redshirt junior quarterback Bailey Hockman’s backstory is not only well familiar to the Wolfpack fanbase, but also to the followers of the Pack’s opponent Saturday — Florida State.

Hockman originally signed with the Seminoles in the 2017 class and enrolled after graduating from McEachern High in Powder Springs, Ga. It did not work out for the 6-foot-2, 200-pound lefty, and he decided to transfer to a junior college, Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, before the 2018 season began.

That fall, Hockman announced that after his detour ended he would matriculate at NC State.

Hockman noted Tuesday, while reflecting back, that a coaching change in Tallahassee, Fla., from Jimbo Fisher to Willie Taggart, loomed large in his decision.

NC State Wolfpack football quarterback Bailey Hockman — Hockman threw two touchdowns and caught a score in the start Friday vs. Miami. (Ethan Hyman/News & Observer)

“There’s a lot that went into it,” Hockman explained. “Obviously, I went there to play for Jimbo … and when he left that was kind of hard. Me and Taggart just kind of ended up having a little bit of a disagreement on things.

“Ultimately, I just felt like it wasn’t where I was supposed to be at, and I felt like I just needed a change. Ended up working out pretty good.”

Fast forward to the present day, where Hockman is preparing for Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Carter-Finley Stadium on the ACC Network. This, however, will not be an overly emotional game for Hockman, he implied.

For starters, Hockman’s true collegiate debut came a year ago against this same team. He relieved starter Matt McKay after McKay’s slow start and would complete 21 of 40 passes for 208 yards and a touchdown in a 31-13 FSU win in Tallahassee.

“It’s good to see all the guys,” Hockman confessed. “I don’t know nearly as much of the players as I did last year just because they’re younger. A lot of the guys left.

“It should be a lot of fun to see those guys, play against them.”

More important to Hockman is building off the success he had in his first start after the bye week. Hockman is getting his third opportunity as a starter at quarterback. After that FSU game in 2019, Hockman started the next two contests, but a slow start at Boston College gave way to Devin Leary to take the job for the rest of the year.

Leary was the anticipated starter going into this season, but a late-preseason camp COVID-19 contact tracing quarantine for Leary led to Hockman getting the nod in the opener against Wake Forest, and Hockman did well in a 45-42 shootout win.

Riding the hot hand, NC State head coach Dave Doeren gave Hockman another chance, but Hockman stumbled at Virginia Tech. Leary regained his old job and led the Pack to three straight wins, but in the last victory he broke his leg during the second half against Duke, likely causing him to miss the rest of the year.

Hockman started the loss at UNC, but there were questions over whether or not he had a long leash on the job after freshman Ben Finley provided a spark when given an opportunity against the Heels.

Hockman responded strong however and may have played his best game yet in a 44-41 loss to Miami, completing 19 of 28 passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

“I feel extremely confident,” he noted. “It takes a minute, just haven’t really played in a game in three years or four years up to last year. It just takes a second, especially [for] a quarterback to get the real bullets flying because you don’t get hit in practice or anything.”

Also helping Hockman is game-planning around his comfort level. Although Hockman noted while backing up Leary he was still receiving a fair chunk of the reps in practice, it’s different when you are the known starter.

“Just getting those that are scripted out for me, the plays that I need against the looks that I need to see definitely helps a lot,” Hockman said.