Payton Wilson: "We're Truly Close Around Here"

NC State linebacker Payton Wilson met with the media to discuss the upcoming matchup against Virginia Tech.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.

Open date at a good time, what kind of things did you guys do, especially as a defense? Was there soul searching? Was there just getting back to basics? What did you guys do?
Yeah. I think that this Bye week came at a perfect time. We had a good little stretch there where it beat us up a little bit, but I think this past week it was just about resting and getting back to who we are. Like you said, just getting back to the basics and understanding that we're great football players at the end of the day and we just need to get out of our own way.

I know you talked a lot about how Devin helped you get through what you went through last year. How much have you been there for him now at this point, too?
He's at that stage when you get injured, 100 people ask you every day, "How you doing? What you're doing? How'd that happen?" This and that. So I'm just there for him as a brother, as a friend. I don't want to talk about your injury, I don't want talk about football. Let's talk about anything but that. Get your mind off of it and try to be there as much for him as he was for me, because he helped me out so much and I hope I can do that for him too.

Is there an added emphasis for the defense to maybe somehow do more to help the offense? Offense is having to make changes to figure out what they do well.
Yeah.

Is there more pressure on you guys in that respect?
I think it's not so much as do more, it's just do our job. If we do our job on every play, no one's supposed to score any points. So I think it just comes back to all 11 people in defense doing our job every single play and that translates to more.

What are your thoughts on their offense that you're facing?
Yeah, traditionally known team, they're always good every time we play. The last few times we played them, they put it to us. So I think that they're a good physical team. They got a really good quarterback with some good running backs and receivers and I think that we got to come and bring our best game and we're well-rested and we're ready to do that.

How do you work through that? There is some negative stuff going on right now. How do you as a team work through that stuff?
Yeah, I think you guys saw it throughout fall camp with the all access and stuff. We're truly close around here. It's not just, when stuff falls apart we all just start hating each other. We've had a few tough weeks, but that bond that we have truly is special around here and I think that that's what helps us, just pat each other on the back and pick each other up and go out there and fight for each other every single day.

Are those goals revamped a little bit? And if so, what's the biggest goal for this team?
I think it's just getting back to where we were. Getting that confidence that we had and just getting back to everybody doing their job. Like Coach Doeren says, "If everybody just does their job, then we'll be perfectly fine."

Thursday night games over here are pretty electric. How much of an advantage is it given the situation and coming off a Bye week and everything to have a Thursday night game here to get that extra boost?
Yeah, it's awesome. Thursday night games in Carter-Finley, absolutely crazy. One of the first games I ever came to here was actually Louisville versus NC State, that Thursday night and it really, every Thursday night, almost every Saturday is like that and anytime you walk in here as an opposing team, you have a lot of crowd noise to deal with.

And after the game on Saturday did you have a little bit of a mental break? Did you just enjoy TV or...
Yeah.

Do things in town?
Yeah, the state fair was in town. I know a bunch of us went over there on that Thursday after practice. But it's good to just kick back from about 12:00 PM to 12:00 AM and just watch college football and see the mistakes that other people are making and the mistakes that we shouldn't to be able to help us win.