Dave Doeren: "We're Prepared for a Physical Game"
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media Thursday afternoon ahead of the Wolfpack's upcoming matchup versus No. 17 Duke.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Doeren’s interview.
On the spark on offense continuing into this week’s practices…
It’s been a good week for sure. The guys on offense responded to success and the process of having success. What you don't want to be is somebody who can do it one time. You want to repeat the process, and Duke's defense is really good. The challenge changes week to week, and playing against this front, the nine D-linemen they rotate, it's going to be a challenge. It’s going to be a physical game, so we prepared ourselves for that. The guys understand the energy and togetherness is just as critical. It's 11 men doing their job together on consecutive plays over and over and over, and that's how you had success and knowing that they're going to make plays, too. It’s a good football team we’re playing. It’s about sticking together and making more than they do.
On Duke moving its defensive linemen around…
Louisville did that with [Ashton Gillotte], so we have seen it, and we see it in practice every day with Davin [Vann], so it's nothing new. You have to know your matchups in football. I don't care what you're playing, offense or defense; you know who's on you or against you and what their skillsets are. That's part of the game. It is a team game, but within the play, there's a lot of one-on-ones that take place, and as an offensive lineman, to answer your question, you need to know who you're blocking, if it's a guy that's a more of a power, bull-rush guy, or a guy that can get on your edges, and so we have to be aware of that. [DeWayne Carter] is a great player. Wherever he winds up, that guy over him is going to have to compete and understand what that guy's strengths are as a player.
On Duke’s wide receivers…
They’re playing at a high level. Really, their whole offense is very balanced. They do a nice job spreading the ball around to different people. [Jalon Calhoun and Jordan Moore] have been consistently productive for a long period of time. They're confident. They understand the system. There’s really good timing with the quarterback, and so that'll be the biggest thing; anytime you have a new guy behind center, is that same chemistry there? Hopefully, we can disrupt that.
On continuing the win streak against in-state opponents…
We take a lot of in-house pride in winning these games and obviously every game, but the in-state games, there's a lot of things that are meaningful in that, particularly for our players that grew up in the state. This game is unique because we haven't played there. No one on our team has played in their stadium, so it's a one-time thing for a lot of our guys, particularly the older players. They know they won't get another shot over there at their stadium. Last year being undefeated in the state, it was meaningful, and we'd love to continue that trend, and obviously, we know we have to earn that.
On M.J. Morris’ practices this week going into his second start of the season…
[We’re seeing] really the same stuff we saw last week. He prepared well. He’s prepared well here, and he took to heart the conversation he and I had in the preseason: at any minute, you're one play away from running this football team whether it's by injury or something else, and if you don't prepare that way, it's probably the day you play, and then you're mad at yourself. He did that. He went into every practice like he was the starter, to his credit. Last week, he prepared well. In the first quarter, obviously, he had his bumps and was able to push through that. I think that was good to see him respond to adversity, and now he understands the team saw that, too: the grit that he carries, not just an energy or a spark, but how resilient he is.
On special teams…
The last two times I've coached against Duke, there have been touchdowns on the special teams. There were blocked punts here on both sides, and then over there when we lost to them my first year, they had a return for a touchdown. Special teams will carry the weight for either team, depending on who does it better, and that's emphasized here every week, but obviously there's a history in that in this matchup.
On Jalen Coit…
He’s consistent. He understands the spacing and the flight of the football and how much time he's going to have because of the flight of the ball. Last week's kicker is different than this week's kicker, so you have to look at hang time, direction, and our plan: when we’re a little riskier, did he out-kick his coverage, is the ball low or did he hang it up there, and let's just get to the next play… I think he's just getting more and more confident as a returner, and the guys are on both of our return units are blocking hard for the guys that are returning the ball, and we see that in the stats.
On using Brennan Armstrong’s skillset in different ways…
It was unfortunate on the second play he had. Delbert [Mimms, III] was uncovered in the end zone, and he couldn't get to him because of the protection. Brennan’s a good player, and there are things that he brings to the offense that allow us to utilize those skill sets. It also allows us to protect the other quarterback in some of those things; you don't want to just not have certain plays. We understand what M.J.’s strengths are and what Brennan's strengths are, and whether we use them or not will depend on the situation. Whoever’s behind the center, like I said last week, the 10 guys in there with him have to operate, and they have to play for each other, and I can't have a breakdown. On that play, [Anthony] Belton had a breakdown, and that would have been a touchdown. We’re going to see how this thing evolves over time, but there's a lot that we can do with both of those guys.
On the safeties adopting the next-man-up mentality…
“Last man available” mentality is what it is. We’re down to nothing back there. It's scary is what it is. Those kids are amazing in what they're doing, playing multiple positions and cross-training the nickels and the safeties to play all three spots. We're down there with a lot different look than we had when camp started when we were really four deep at safety. We're barely two deep now. Those kids will hang together, and we just need the good Lord to put a blanket on our safeties this week and keep them safe so we can get to the bye week, heal them up a little bit, and get ready for the stretch.
On challenging players to take the next step…
When they start seeing the accolades that are coming in for these guys — two-time Rookie of the Week. Whatever [K.C. Concepcion’s] PFF grade was, top in the country — we're like, "Hey, do you want to keep this up? Here's what you’ve got to do. You’ve got to be able to take care of your body. You've got to live in the training room, or you're going to wear out.” The way we challenge guys is in a constructive way, not in the demeaning way. Sometimes, there's some sarcasm for fun, but these guys want to be good, and sometimes they need to learn. This isn't high school. With the level of competition and the contact speed that you're playing against, your body can break down if you don't really, really take care of it.
On the receivers stepping up…
I'll tell you what, man: we had a great practice today at receiver. I was so impressed with the way they ran and caught the football. Terrell Timmons and Anthony Smith are two guys that have practiced really well the last couple of weeks. There's just kind of [a mindset of] “Oh, my gosh, look at this guy make plays. I want to make plays. Well, look at how he's practicing. Maybe I should practice a certain way.” Then, it starts to get contagious in there, and it's starting to happen. Like I said from the beginning, this offense is in year one. It’s growing. It’s evolving. It's not where it's going to be. It's getting closer and closer as we go and start to identify skill sets. I know people want things now, and so do we, but that's not reality. It takes time sometimes to figure out what you're going to have, how to do it, and deal with the injury piece. We’ve had a lot of those to deal with throughout the year. It's exciting to see the growth, and hopefully you'll see that in the game on Saturday night.