Corey Coley: "It's Going To Be Definitely A Good Challenge"

NC State cornerback Corey Coley discusses tonight's huge matchup against Tennessee and much more!

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.

How much of a challenge is this offense that you're going to be facing on Saturday because they'd like to go in a hurry.  
Oh, yeah, it's going to be definitely a good challenge, you know, very fast pace, a lot of good deep vertical threats, good quarterbacks. It's definitely something different especially like from the ACC.

Is anyone in the Big Ten similar in terms of their pace? 
I know my junior year in Indiana was one of those teams. They snapped the ball every 12 seconds. But other than that, I think there wasn't too many fast-paced teams in the Big Ten. That's the only one I can remember from my junior year. My sophomore year in Indiana Yeah, they snapped the ball and their splits were all very similar. 

How big of an opportunity is this for NC State? Do you view it as unique or is it just one of 12 games? How do you look at it? 
Really it's just one of 12.  We view every game the same. It's all about the next opponent You know what I'm saying? It's really about the other opponents, more so about us. You know what I'm saying? That's our biggest challenge is being better than last week.

What was your first game like last week in there? 
It was a great experience. The crowd Just the environment as a whole, I loved it. It was very different. 

Do y'all get worked up playing in NFL stadiums? Does that matter or is that a big deal? 
No, not really. This is actually my second time playing in that stadium, but from being around the team It's just another great opportunity. It's the next game, so it's the biggest thing. 

Coach gave you... He said, put up or shut up, basically, for this week. How intense has practice been the last couple days? 
It's been very, I would definitely say, very focused. Definitely like today and yesterday, very focused. It's clean, real clean, and up tempo. 

You guys got off to a tough start in the first half, but I believe after they got 14-7, you guys outscored them by 31-7 or something like that. What was the difference? Was it just a matter of settling in? Was it a matter of adjusting to Caden not being there?  What was the difference in the second half that kind of led you guys to be a lot more effective? 
I think it was just like what you said, just a matter of settling in. You know, we got a lot of new people on defense, a lot of new faces. From my experience of being in college, I think defense takes a little bit longer to click than offense. But when it does click, we're on the run. So I think it was just a matter of like having a lot of new faces on the defense and us just being able to gel together in a game-like environment. 

Does it give you confidence the way you guys finished that game that, you know, okay, now we're making progress. You can see what it can look like? 
No doubt. No doubt. Like now you know what to expect, how to communicate, how your teammate adjusts to this formation, what they see. Just a matter of like, just seeing it all in a game-like environment. 

You're one of six DBs to play at least 45 snaps, I believe. You know, what is it like to be able to have that kind of speed in the back line? And how do you guys kind of work together when it's you and five others? 
I feel like it's good because it's like, I see it as like no drop-offs. All of us, like we all playing together, being able to communicate, like just being able to be out there and having these snaps together. Like I said, like you all be able to build chemistry and like know what your teammates see, how they react to certain stuff, like how they communicate and stuff like that.