National College Writer Introduced to Passion of Wolfpack Nation

Brooks Austin, a national college writer for SI All-American, got a taste of how passionate NC State fans can be this week when they called him out for making a misstatement about Wolfpack quarterback committment Aaron McLaughlin. And he came away impressed

As anyone here in the Triangle will attest, NC State fans are among the most passionate and vocal in all of college sports.

And they will react quickly and loudly to anything they perceive as a slight.

It's a reality for which many outside the area are not aware. SI All-American writer Brooks Austin was among them, until that is, he experienced it first-hand this week when he unknowingly misspoke during a video about the upcoming Elite 11 quarterback competition in Nashville.

Austin incorrectly identified Kansas State commit Jake Rubley as the MVP of the event's regional competition in Atlanta earlier this year when the award was actually won by Aaron McLaughlin, who is headed to NC State.

McLaughlin quickly called out the mistake on Twitter. And from there, Wolfpack nation took over.

no disrespect to Jake that’s my boy but this is false info, I’m pretty sure I walked away with the Elite 11 Invite and MVP if I recall correctly 😂 https://t.co/PkXftZ0lds

— Aaron McLaughlin (@11_apm) June 24, 2020

"Man, the NC State fans were in my mentions for about 48 hours letting me know I was wrong," Austin, who also writes about Georgia for SI's Dawgs Daily site. "But you know what? I admire it, because that's their guy. That's their 2021 QB and they're standing up behind the guy and going to bat for him. I respect that."

In Brooks' defense, Rubley was very impressive at the Atlanta Elite 11 camp. But that didn't spare him from the some of the predictable responses that come in situations such as this.

"I got the quintessential 'moron' and 'this guys doesn't know what he's talking about,'" he said, adding that "if you really want to find out how passionate a fan base is, go after one of their football guys, especially the quarterback position."

Despite the unintended slight, Brooks said he likes what he sees in McLaughlin, a four-star prospect from Denmark High School in Alpharetta, Ga.

"He's big, strong and he's fast," Brooks said. "He's going one of the more powerful arms you're ever going to find. 

"There are some questions about if he can read the defense ... but as far as a physical talent, it doesn't get much more impressive than this kid."

While McLauglin still has a lot to learn about his craft and State fans still have a lot to learn about their team's quarterback of the future, Brooks said he's already learned a lot about the fighting spirit of Wolfpack Nation.

"I'm going to stay about from those Wolfpack fans," he said with a smile. "I'll tell you that right now."