Former NC State quarterback Ben Finley left the Pack — and the ACC. Then, things happened

Ben Finley left N.C. State this year, transferring to Cal-Berkeley, looking for a new football start, putting the ACC behind him.

No more trips to Clemson or Louisville or Chapel Hill. And as hard as it was for the quarterback to accept, no more games with the Wolfpack in Carter-Finley Stadium.

But as football coaches always like to say, expect the unexpected. While Finley left the ACC, the ACC has come back to him, voting last week to accept Cal, Stanford and Southern Methodist as three new members.

“First of all, I’m excited that we got a conference,” Finley said Tuesday in an interview with the News & Observer. “I was getting kind of worried for a second.

“I tried not to keep up with all the rumors. One week I’m hearing Big 10 and the next week I’m hearing Big 12 and the next week it was for sure we were going to the Mountain West. Then, the rumor was the ACC during fall camp. Finally, we got a real answer.”

The ACC it would be. ACC leaders made the official announcement Friday, picking up Cal and Stanford from the splintered Pac-12 Conference in addition to SMU.

“I just found out a few seconds ago that North Carolina State was the final vote that flipped and that voted us in,” Finley said, chuckling. “That’s funny. Small world.”

By all accounts, NCSU was the swing vote – from “no” to a “yes” – as North Carolina, Clemson and Florida State opposed ACC expansion. UNC coach Mack Brown and others have noted the amount of extra travel that will be required and the stress it can place on the athletes and their families.

Finley, an NCSU graduate, said he had no qualms about the transcontinental travel that will be involved.

“You’ll just leave a day earlier,” he said. “It’s going to be hard adjusting to the time zone but with the extra day of travel we’ll be fine.

“We can figure all that out later. Right now we’re just focusing on Auburn. We’re switching to big-boy football this week.”

The Bears, who host the Tigers at Memorial Stadium this weekend, opened the season with a 58-21 road win against North Texas. Finley, replacing injured starter Sam Jackson V, came in to complete 24 of 34 throws for 279 yards and a touchdown.

Cal offensive coordinator Jake Spavital says Finley has a “gunslinger mentality” and Finley doesn’t disagree. Never lacking a little bravado, he said he’s always ready to sling it.

“That’s my style,” he said.

Finley said that before the UNC game in Chapel Hill last season, then came out slinging it in an game against Drake Maye and the Heels that Pack fans will long remember.

In his first career start, a player who spent much of the 2022 season as the scout-team QB threw for 272 yards and two scores. The Wolfpack’s 30-27 double-overtime win had a jubilant Finley first trying to plant a Wolfpack flag into the Kenan Stadium turf, then diving into the arms of his parents in the stands.

After going through spring football with the Pack, with transfer quarterback Brennan Armstrong coming in from Virginia, Finley made the decision to enter the transfer portal.

“It was hard,” he said. “I love Raleigh. I was just excited by an opportunity to just compete and get a fresh start.”

Next stop: San Francisco Bay Area

“Adapting to the city life was so different,” Finley said. “I’ve got my bike here. Ride my bike to practice every day. It’s just a whole different deal.

“But I got to know the team in the summer workouts. The playbook I picked up pretty easily. It’s nice being closer to home (Phoenix) but it sucks being away from my girlfriend, who’s in her last year at N.C. State.”

Bears coach Justin Wilcox said Tuesday that Jackson, who had an upper-body injury, could be ready to start against Auburn, but Finley will be ready if needed.

In three years at N.C. State, Finley appeared in eight games – seven on the road. Last season, he came into the Pack’s game at Louisville, then started at UNC and against Maryland in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte.

And if Cal is scheduled to play at N.C. State in the next few seasons? Finley, a sophomore, does have two years of eligibility remaining after this season.

“The next time I’m in Carter-Finley Stadium it will be an away game,” he said. “That would be classic.”