NC State quarterback Devin Leary will miss the next 4-8 weeks as he recovers following surgery on Sunday to repair a broken fibula.
During the third quarter of NC State’s 31-20 win over Duke on Saturday, Leary was hit by Duke safety Lummie Young. Leary slid while Young hit him in the head, which caused Leary to awkwardly twist his ankle. Young was ejected for targeting.
Leary was carted off the field; he would later return to the sideline in crutches and a walking boot. Bailey Hockman took over at quarterback, completed 4-of-7 passes for 43 yards and a touchdown to Thayer Thomas.
.@DevinLeary1 had surgery on a broken fibula this morning and will be out 4-8 weeks. Surgery went well, but know he would appreciate your thoughts & prayers, #WPN. pic.twitter.com/4JUhD1449F
— NC State Football (@PackFootball) October 18, 2020
While seeing time in four games this season, including three straight starts (all NC State victories), Leary completed 65-of-109 pass attempts (59.6 percent) for 879 yards (8.1 yards per attempt, No. 4 in the ACC), 8 touchdowns and two interceptions.
Hockman started the first two games of the 2020 season: a win over Wake Forest and a defeat at Virginia Tech. During his junior season, Hockman has gone 27-of-46 (58.7 percent) through the air for 316 yards (6.9 per attempt), 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
Stating the obvious: this is a brutal loss for NC State, which is scheduled to play rival North Carolina next Saturday in Chapel Hill. Even if Leary is able to return on the short side of that timeline, he’ll still miss the next 3-4 games — at a minimum. That includes matchups with UNC (10/24), Miami (11/6), Florida State (11/14) and Liberty (11/21). Beyond that, the Pack have just two more games on their schedule: Syracuse (11/28) and Georgia Tech (12/5).