Dave Doeren: "Our Players Adjusted Well"
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media following the Wolfpack's 24-14 road win over Connecticut Thursday evening.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Doeren’s press conference.
Opening Statement
I’m proud of our guys. It’s a road win, first of all. It’s a good football team we played. They’ve gotten a lot better. [Jim Mora, Jr.] has done a nice job with his program. I thought our players adjusted well throughout the game. They came out, did a nice job on their opening drive, and showed a bunch of new things. We didn’t adjust well on that first drive. Our offense did a great job responding, I thought, throughout the game. Anytime momentum went the other way, we took it back. Julian Gray had a couple of nice kickoff returns, too, to help us with momentum. I thought Brennan [Armstrong] really showed his ID tonight and what he is. I’ve been waiting to see that because we don’t hit the quarterback in practice. He runs, we blow the whistle, and he smiles at me like, “Coach… you’ll see.” I did. I saw it. That guy’s tough. He is a tough dude. I’m excited for him, the way he played, and the way he led. It was good to see some of our young players get in there. I thought K.C. Concepcion, his first game, caught the ball well. Michael Allen ran the ball well. That was good to see. We got two nice sacks by two of our defensive ends. There’s a ton we’ve got to fix before we play Notre Dame, but it was a good win.
On Armstrong’s resiliency…
He likes contact. One time he got hit, he was like, “Where is that guy? I’m going to run him over.” That guy's just a linebacker playing quarterback. He’s a tough dude. Our kids will feed off of that, having that kind of guy back there.
On Payton Wilson as a leader…
Without watching the film, it’s hard to give you a good critique. I loved how hard he played. It was great to see him make that play to finish the game. The guy’s an incredible leader on our defense. He makes a lot of plays. It was a pretty clean game. We only had one penalty in our opening game. That says a lot about the discipline of the team. The execution, in a lot of ways, was good.
If he has a word or phrase he wants his team to embody this season…
Give me a little time on that. That’s tough. We talk about our goals on our football team. It’s really about becoming a better version of ourselves daily. All I asked them to do today was to be as good as they could be. That’s it. When we watch this film, we’re going to find a lot of things we’ve got to be better at, but the goal of this team is to be better each week and not look ahead too far. Hopefully, we’ll turn around and see a string of victories. We talked about time today and honoring the fact that you have today. Honor the 24 hours that God gave the gift of playing the game. These games are limited. They’re not promised. We’re trying to be in the moment as much as we can be. Last year, we talked so much about what we could do instead of focusing on what we’ve got to do today. That’s really where we’re at.
On Rakeim Ashford…
So far, everything I’ve been told is positive. They’re going to keep him overnight to make sure, but every test that they’ve done so far has been okay. So far, so good.
On how fitting it was for Wilson to make the game-clinching interception…
To have a season you want to have or to win a game, your best players have to make plays in key moments, and he’s one of our best players. We have two sixth-year players, he and Brennan, that are making big plays in a game to win the game. That’s what a sixth-year player should look like. They were the key guys that made the plays throughout the game. Usually, the better football teams have their seniors play like they’re running out of time. They feel the sand running out. They play with a different urgency when you see them out there.
On the younger players adjusting as the game progressed…
It seemed like we did okay with some, not others. There are some unique formations and run schemes that we were facing tonight, things that we didn’t notice because they weren’t on tape from last year. Some of the guys were better than others at understanding. That would be good to watch the film and really see and even for the coaches to see how they adjusted and how they could have done things differently to watch the guys.
On Concepcion…
He and Keyon [Lesane] are two guys that you’re not going to sweep them down. You’re going to have to tackle them. They’re stronger than people think because of their size. They’re really hard to tackle. They’re quick. They get to top speed in a hurry. They fight. Those guys have grit. Julian’s like that, too. All three of those guys are stocky, strong, and quick. When they get the ball in space, it’s going to be a challenge to bring them down.
On the extra preparation time before the Notre Dame game…
Being in a dogfight, like this was, was good. They impressed our guys. They were a challenge. That defensive front for UConn is a good front. Those four guys are big, strong, 280- and 300-pound guys. Our O-line will get a lot out of that film. They’re going to be happy about rushing for 200 and not happy about a couple of third-and-shorts we didn’t get. It’s going to be great for them.