Dave Doeren: "We Dominated and Set the Tone"
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media following the Wolfpack's 26-6 road win over Wake Forest Saturday afternoon.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Doeren’s press conference.
Opening Statement
I'm really proud of the players. I just told him it doesn't happen often. I know we're part of a win here, but I don't remember it. It’s been a long time since I could be happy at the end of the game in this stadium, and so I’m thankful to them. The coaches have always coached hard for this game. The players are the ones that have got to deliver, and they did. They came ready. They didn't let anything get them out of their focus. They played physical. They started fast on the first play. There were a lot of positives. Brennan [Armstrong] strained. The guys played really hard for him, and it was awesome to see. The defense played a tremendous, tremendous first half and third quarter. It was a good team win. In the second-oldest rivalry in the country, any time you win that game, it means a lot. It means a lot to win this game here. I’m thankful to them, and I’m proud of them.
On where he saw more growth: from game one to game two or from the bye week onward…
Definitely the bye week forward. I think we were, and still are, evolving. Offensively, we were just trying to get what we are figured out as we go. In the last three games, we've gotten better each game. We ran the ball really well today, and that was great to see us have that kind of run game. I think Coach [Robert] Anae said this when we were in spring ball: it's going to take a while to figure this piece out because we didn't have any guys that were just dominating the practice. Obviously, K.C. [Concepcion] has shown us that he's a player. [Anae] had to figure out the pieces, who's going to get the ball to, and how are we going to be able to use this guy or that guy. As you saw, we moved a linebacker to fullback to help us. We're still evolving. Dacari Collins stepped up today and made some plays, so we can evolve more with that. We're still growing, still getting better. If you're getting better November, that's a good thing. We're excited about that.
On shutting down Wake Forest’s offense…
Our defense is awesome, man. Those guys do a great job. Tony [Gibson] has played against these guys multiple times and has a good feel for them. Our kids have a good feel for them. He did a good job mixing it up, and we strained up front, especially in that first quarter when we were in their backfield. I don't think they had a first down until the end of the first half. We came out fast, dominated, and set the tone. The guys did a good job. When you play these guys, they're going to throw it deep on you seven or eight times, and our corners really held up today and did a great job outside on [Jahmal Banks]. He's a big, big dude, so I thought Aydan [White] and Shy Battle both really played at a high level.
On Armstrong’s response to the last month…
I don't think you can say enough about how he is as a teammate, to see him in his last year of college football not pout when things didn't go his way. He just dug in. He's a good teammate. He worked hard every day. Whatever we asked him to do, “Yes, sir." He took care of himself, too. I think he did some good things to reset. We talked about that quite a bit that week. After Louisville, “Let's get you back to feeling good and get you back mentally.” Coach Anae did some good things using his legs in that window of time to just kind of build him back into the offense, and it gives confidence. I was so impressed with him as a person with how he managed all that. He earned the respect of his teammates. They've got his back, and you can see that.
On watching Armstrong’s growth…
It's hard. It says a lot about his mental toughness, his makeup, his parents, the people that ran his circle, and his belief. He’s a special guy, man. I’m glad he's here. He went through a lot, and I'm excited to see him finish this thing. This next one will be big, too. He's played at Virginia Tech a lot, so he'll still be ready for the raucous crowd. They're playing good too. I'm really proud of Brennan.
On where he’d rank this game in terms of complementary football…
[I can’t] right now probably. Complementary football is really thinking about the drives and sequences, and it's probably hard for me to do that for you right now. The team played well today. It was a good team win.
On the offensive line controlling the line of scrimmage…
They needed to play well. As a team that wants to win and wants to do well, the quarterback gets all the focus, but the guys around the quarterback have to help the quarterback, and it starts with the O-line. They kept him upright. He didn't get touched a whole lot unless he was running the ball purposely, so they did a nice job as did the backs, the tight ends, and everybody involved in that. They caught the ball well for him, too. The guys did a good job catching the football for him, and that's what you want. You want guys playing hard for the quarterback, and we saw that today.