LOCKER ROOM REPORT: Wolfpack Players
NC State’s Payton Wilson, Aydan White, and Jordan Poole met with the media following the Wolfpack's 20-6 win over Miami Saturday evening.
Wilson led the Pack’s defense with 16 tackles, two quarterback hurries, two passes broken up, and one tackle for a loss. White added five tackles and one interception against the Hurricanes. In his second game as a running back for State, Poole scored a 12-yard rushing touchdown on his lone carry for the night.
NOTE: Click on each player’s respective thumbnail to watch each interview in the player above.
Payton Wilson
On being a part of Dave Doeren’s 78th win at NC State…
Personally for me, it's awesome. I've been here for six years. Coach Doeren has been recruiting me since I was a 10th-grader in high school, so if you really think about it, I've been around Coach Doeren, in the same building as him, for eight years. As a team, that's what we played for today. We love Coach Doeren. He's an amazing coach. He’s an amazing player's coach, and we'd fight for him to the end of the day. Him getting that record, it probably meant more to us than it did him.
On holding Miami’s offense to six points, 292 yards, and four turnovers…
It’s kind of how I talked at the beginning of the year: this is our standard. When we were against Notre Dame and didn't play well and against Duke when we didn't play well, this is what we were supposed to do. When we walk on that field, this is what we want to do to every single opponent. It’s just a credit to Coach [Tony] Gibson for instilling that confidence in us. All 11 guys out there on that defense think they're the best player on the field, if not in the nation, every single snap. The confidence that we play with and the love that we play with is unmatched.
On leading the team after leaving the previous game early…
It was cool. We play a very physical game, and luckily I've been through some stuff, so I'm able to deal with it. Credit to Justin Smith, the best athletic trainer in the nation, just pushing me, making sure I'm taking no time off, getting me ready for this Saturday, and just hitting it this past Wednesday and Thursday on the run and not thinking about it. I don't really have many games left at Carter-Finley, and Praise the Lord, hopefully I don't have to miss any of these last few.
On what about Doeren that brings the best out of the team…
Coach Doeren's very straightforward. He's a very blunt person. He's never going to tell you anything that he doesn't think, and even if you don't want to hear it, he's going to tell you. He’s a very honest person. It's sort of like Coach Gibson; he puts his tail out there for us every single day, so that's something that we do. We love the way he coaches. We love the enthusiasm that he brings. He's also really vulnerable with us. Being vulnerable in front of your team really helps just understand that we have his trust, and he has our trust. At the end of the day, this game is about love and who can play for each other harder.
On how proud he is with the defense’s response to his call to toughen up following the Duke game…
When I go home and watch the film tonight, I know that I'm going to be smiling. Even last week when we played Clemson, if you truly saw the effort that some of these D-linemen and these DBs are playing with, I'd literally be watching film, and almost tears coming to my eyes just because it just shows how much they love us. The energy that they play with and the toughness that we've been playing with these last two weeks, it's unmatched. I don't think anyone in the country can match it. If we just stay on that page, if everybody has that mentality of, "I want to make every single play," you can't go wrong. Everybody's flying to the ball. Everybody’s doing their job.
Aydan White
On knowing Tyler Van Dyke was interception-prone heading into this game…
We felt like he always predetermined where he was going, and with the disguise of the defense, I feel like that helped us get all those late interceptions and the interception I had early in the game.
On what he attributes the defense’s recent success to…
Communication. All of us are meeting together now, and we are all trusting each other in the back end to do our jobs so we all can just play free and do our own job.
On holding an ACC opponent without a touchdown since 2011…
It's big for us. We've definitely just got to keep this momentum going in what we’re doing. Opponents need to do their homework on the NC State defense. We turned that up, for real.
On how fun it was to play on this defense…
Coach Gibson lets us play free and fast, so all of us can just do our job. It's so much fun playing with these boys. I love these boys. Coach Gibby just lets us ball out, lets us do our thing, so we can play free and play fast. When you keep getting three-and-outs, keep getting stops, and, when they get to the red zone, can't score, that’s fun. What can they do?
On late-down defense and red zone defense…
We especially harped on the whole week, “If they get down there, do not let them score.” Even when they tried to kick a field goal, I think [Andres Borregales] missed one field goal, so that's points off the board already. It was just a good job by our defense, all 11, of just doing our job and playing together.
On Wilson coming back after getting hurt last week and leading the defense…
He’s a monster. I’ve got nothing else to say. He knows what he doing. He works. He's a hard worker. That boy’s a dog, for real.
Jordan Poole
On how it felt to score his touchdown…
It's really a surreal experience. It's been a while. I hadn't played offense for four years, and now I’ve played offense for two weeks. I’m truly happy I could help the team. I’m happy the coaches trust me enough to give me an opportunity.
On the last time he scored a touchdown in 2019 against Montgomery Central…
I do remember that game because I was actually my last high school game, and I got hurt in that game my junior year. It was my last time scoring. I do remember that. It's been a while for sure.
On what went into his conversations with Doeren regarding the move to running back…
Really, it was just talking with my family and talking to God, really. It was something I'd been thinking about for a long time. It was something I felt like I could do. If I never asked, I never tried, it’d be something I'd probably regret for a long time. I really just wanted to help the team. That’s really all that went into it.
On the execution of the play he scored on…
It was exactly how it was supposed to be run, really. I mean, it was only my second week, so I'd really never seen the play, for one. Most of them, I’m blocking and whatnot, so yeah, it went perfect. I came out completely clean like it was supposed to be designed. We'd been repping all week, so we executed like how it was supposed to be.
On how it felt when he crossed the goal line…
I can't even explain it, really. It was surreal, probably one of the most nervous times I've been in a while and the happiest I've been in a while. It was a good feeling.
On blocking defenders after being on the other side of the ball…
It feels pretty good. I can kind of see the linebackers and what I'm supposed to do to the defense since I’ve been over there for the last three years, just being on the other side. It feels it still feels pretty natural. Like I said, I played it in high school all my career, so it’s good over there.
On what he saw during the offense’s 97-yard drive in the fourth quarter…
That's what we practiced all week. Really, it's what we preach. I feel like everybody kind of knows. When it's time, it's time. What we preach is finishing the game, so really that’s just what we went and did.