Bailey Hockman assesses his first career start

The redshirt sophomore threw for 205 yards, but had trouble getting his team into the end zone in State's 16-10 win against Syracuse

Rob Kinnan/USAToday sports

Bailey Hockman wasn't great in his first career start as NC State's quarterback. But he wasn't bad, either. The redshirt sophomore completed 16 of 27 passes for 205 yards and an interception while giving the Wolfpack the downfield threat it didn't have through the first five games with Matthew McKay running the show.

The most important stat of all is that he did enough to lead his team to a 16-10 victory against Syracuse at Carter-Finley Stadium on Thursday that kept State unbeaten at home and gave the team its first ACC win of the season.

Here's what Hockman had to say about his big night, starting with an assessment of his performance ...

"We had a lot of drop back passes in the game plan. We executed pretty well. I mean, we've just got to keep getting better."

"My first start ... I think we played well. It’s the small things. We have to keep getting better, keep executing. The guys work really hard and did well in the trenches. I love those guys, and I’m proud of them."

"It comes down to execution at the end of the day. Everybody’s got to do their job. When we start doing that, we’re going to get this thing rolling."

Hockman then took stock on some of the things he needs to work on moving forward to the second half of the season ...

"Just staying in the pocket. I felt like I might have tried to scramble a little bit too much. I have to stay in the pocket, trust my O-linemen, and push the ball down the field.”

"Syracuse had a great defense. They had a really good defensive line. They’re playing hard. They’re playing physical. I tried to escape a few of them and I couldn’t. They play really hard. They did a great job."

Finally, Hockman thought he did enough Thursday to keep the starting job next week at Boston College and described the game's biggest play -- a throw-back to wide receiver Thayer Thomas, who then fired a touchdown pass to wide open running back Trent Pennix ...

"I think I'll keep going. We got the W tonight, and that's what it's all about. No matter how many times we scored or what the score was, we got the W."

"Coach did a great job with timing on that play. The timing was perfect. Thayer put it right on the money. It was a good throw. It was pretty cool. I threw it (to Thomas), looked back and saw (how wide open Pennix was) and I started running. Touchdown! I was excited."