Dave Doeren: "We're Going to Get Marshall's Best"
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media ahead of the Wolfpack's Saturday matchup versus Marshall.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Doeren’s press conference.
On the team’s practices this week…
We’ve had a good week. We’ve had good energy. The guys on offense have definitely taken on the different things that we've asked them to do. It's a collective healing that needs to take place, and obviously there's a major change at [quarterback], but all the positions are involved in this process of getting better. It's been fun to see that. There’s been a collective effort. M.J. [Morris] does a great job from an energy standpoint and encouraging people; he always has. The guys around him understand they've got to pick up their play for their quarterback as well.
On the similarities between Marshall and his Northern Illinois teams…
I told our team that these are the games that we had circled our schedule at Northern. We made a huge deal out of playing Power Five teams. Kids on our team were slighted in recruiting — that's how we talked to them: "Nobody wanted you on that roster. No one recruited you on that roster." We know, and I've spoken to them about it. We're going to get Marshall’s best. You can point to the wins they've already had with Virginia Tech, last year with Notre Dame, and then the history of us playing them. When I was there — I don’t remember how many years ago it was — but we went down, 13-3, 20-10, and then had to come back to win the game. We know. Our team knows that we're playing a good football team, and they're well coached. They've got good players, and they’ll come in here ready to play.
On the biggest thing the defense needs to do to contain Marshall’s offense…
It's really continuing to do what we're doing. We played really well stopping the run. We've been excellent on third down. I think when you play Marshall, [you have to focus on stopping] explosive plays. They’ve got some dynamic guys after the catch. [Cam Fancher] is a really good athlete, so [when he’s] scrambling around, our guys have got to be disciplined in coverage if he does break the pocket, not letting people get behind us. That's hurt us this year a couple of times. I think it's just a continuation, and our tackling in this game will be really, really important because there will be space plays.
On adding Northern Illinois to the schedule next year…
I’m just worried about this weekend. I hope I’m alive by the end of the year. We’ll see.
On the offensive adjustments…
Players need to do their jobs. If we call for a certain route, and we practiced right all week, when we get in the game, it should look like it did in practice. At some point in time, you're going to coach all the little details, and then they’ve got to come alive. Players have to make them come alive. There’s ownership from the coaches. There's ownership from the players. There’s two parts to the equation. That part, executing, is what we're talking about. If they press here, you're supposed to release a certain way, and you need to do that for the quarterback because it gets confusing. The guy's expecting you to be here, and you're there. For him, that's not a good thing. That happened a couple of times, not a lot, but every play matters in a football game.
On penalties…
There's multiple kinds of penalties. There’s pre-snap, focus penalties, and we've had our share of those, not as many as we've had in the past. The offensive holding penalties have been a problem. That's technique. Sometimes, the refs call it more than other refs per game. Some guys let you get away with more, and that's a player's responsibility to understand: “These guys are calling it tight, and I’ve got to keep my hands inside there, and if the guy's getting away, I can't pull on him.” The player has to understand that. It’s part of the game of football. It's no different than basketball. You get in some games, and then you play more physical than other games. You've got to understand how to adjust within the game. Obviously, we're not coaching guys to do that, but that is part of the game, and we've got to grow in that area.
On Morris’ growth…
What he's been through to this point has been really good for him. He’s been able to kind of take a breath, coming off the injury, and learn, absorb, mature, and understand how important every little thing is. He's preparing now like a vet whereas last year, he was like “Oh my God. Now, I’m in." He went in and did some good things, and he went in and didn't do some good things. I think he's learned a lot through the process. He's mature which is what you would expect from a second-year player. He's just been so supportive in the role that he had, and because of that, the respect, not just from coaches and teammates, but the relationship that he and Brennan [Armstrong] has is unique. It’s really special to see how those guys support each other.
On the significance of Morris’ and Armstrong’s relationship…
In every position group — well, we say we're all brothers — you want those guys to have each other's backs, and I think when you're in the same room, there's a different pressure that comes with each group. When you play quarterback, it's different. The guys in that room have to have your back. They've got to be there to cheer you up. They’ve got to be there to help you through it and understand. For M.J., he's played. He understands what that pressure feels like, what Brennan was going through in that moment. He understands how hard that was for him, so he's been a great teammate. I know Brennan's excited for M.J. He told the offense they need to go play their butts off for him which was a huge moment from a character and leadership standpoint to see that from Brennan. When he was here, and he did that, it was a huge thing.
On defense relishing the challenge of a mobile quarterback…
As a defensive player, you're not allowed to touch the quarterback. They like hitting that guy when they can. I'm not saying cheap or anything like that, but you get yelled at every day practice for getting too close to the quarterback. When you get in the game, there is no “too close” anymore. We understand that all offenses flow through the trigger guy. [Fancher] had a great game last week. He's athletic, and he’s a guy that can throw football and take off. He was a state champion hurdler, and he's a good athlete. Each week gets a different challenge on defense, and I know our guys will be excited about this one.
On getting Devan Boykin back from injury…
Devan’s a coach. His dad's a high school head coach. He comes in with a different mindset. His football IQ and aptitude is really, really good. He's a communicator. Having him out there for all the guys, he's a glue guy in the backend. He can direct traffic. He can play all three positions: nickel, strong [safety] and free [safety], so it gives us flexibility in our package that way. We're excited to have him back. We get [Rakeim Ashford] back two weeks ago, get him back, get Dylan McMahon back. We’re starting to see some progress on our health, which is the right time to do that.
On the appeal process for Sean Brown’s targeting penalty…
They talked us through it. It was a defenseless player. Sean’s head was down. If there's any contact from the neck and the head, they're going to call targeting. As much as we all thought it was a great play because it was, his head was down, and so that was the ruling. I’m not going to say I like that rule — I don't — but that is the rule, and so that's the decision that was made, and I support it.
On the added spark in practice for the offense…
M.J. did a great job coming in and understanding what we need. We needed to galvanize the guys. Each group has their piece of this thing. Offensively, each position group has been challenged to do their job, help the quarterback, and play what we call 11-man football: each guy in harmony playing together in synchronicity of the sport when it flows the right way. You saw it on defense a week ago, just guys working together and making it look really good. You can have the same thing on offense, and we've seen spurts of it. That's where we want to be. We want to be a four-phase team: offense, defense, special teams, and then our sideline energy. That piece that we're missing is definitely prevalent in practice this week in how they went out there and went about their work.
On the offensive line…
In the functionality of an offense, if you block better, each play looks better. The quarterback has more time to throw. The receiver has a better opportunity to get open. The running back as a bigger hole to run the ball through, and it all starts with that. When those guys can function five-as-one in that group, and then you tie the tight ends in sometimes to the blocking schemes, it helps everybody. It does. Having Dylan back in the middle will help that. [Lyndon] Cooper now moving to guard so he can take the experiences he had at center with Dylan now tell him the protections, he doesn’t have that mental piece; now he can just play. I think you're going to see a difference group.