Bishop Fitzgerald: "We Can't Let This Loss Define Our Season"
NC State safety Bishop Fitzgerald met with the media ahead of the Wolfpack's upcoming matchup versus Louisiana Tech.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Fitzgerald’s interview.
“It was a surreal moment, playing in Bank of America Stadium, an NFL stadium, catching a pick in one of our biggest games of the season. It felt good. Unfortunately, we didn't come up with the win, but that was a good moment for me for sure.”
“We definitely felt that. The sideline was riled up after that interception. The offense got three points after that, but then the rest of game just didn't go our way. We've just got to learn how to capitalize on our opportunities and answer back when the momentum is against us.”
“Usually, we play ACC offenses, ACC offenses are usually more of the same thing; they had different formations, and then we faced super wide splits and some super uptempo. It was definitely something that we've got to get used to. Looking forward, we know what to do with it.”
“Coming in Sunday, that was the biggest thing: responding. We had a lot of sad faces and people banged up after the game but trying to answer back, having a good day of practice, and just trying to live in the moment.
“Davin [Vann], [Devan] Boykin, Sean [Brown], [Devon] Betty, Caden [Fordham], some of the backers, and Aydan White. We're always trying to become vocal because we need it. We can't let this loss define our season.”
“Sunday, we put the [Tennessee] game to bed, so we started looking at La. Tech yesterday. We know what to look for with La. Tech.”
“Every team we play has explosive weapons. It's just how we're going to utilize our weapons to prevent that.”
“Like people say, a lot of people don't believe in this right now besides us. This is a game to show people that we are as advertised.”
“[I worked on] being vocal, being a leader back there, man coverage and just coming down tackling. I had a few missed tackles last year, and it kind of lowered my confidence a little. That's what I worked on this whole offseason: man coverage, tackling, and being more vocal.”
“I just learned that I could do it at this level. That's kind of one of the things that I needed to see for myself last year, that I could do it. Those last few games of last season, I knew that I could, and this year I just finally started to put it on tape.”
“We had a few eye violations, reading tackles, guards and pullers, so it's just eyes and missed tackles.”
“[Louisiana Tech has] a similar offense: air raid. The offensive coordinator was from the Big 12. They kind of do a lot of same stuff Tennessee does, but they don't necessarily have the same skill personnel or the same wide splits as them.”
“Essentially, two of those DB's are still playing backer and have to be in run fit. They're just teaching good eyes, read your keys, and be able to fit the run.”
“Definitely. I think that was something that Tennessee did. They obviously see me with the six DBs and got in bigger personnel. It was harder for us to stop, obviously, just due to the mismatch. We had to use a lot of extra hitters in the run, since we are smaller. That kind of opened some things up.”
“[Joe DeForest] just kind of harped on good eyes, like I said, and just being able to play in space with those big guys. It's not taking all those hits and trying to get hits off.”
“[Tennessee’s] not an ACC opponent. Our goal is an ACC championship. That doesn't really affect it as much as people think it does. You have to have a short term memory, just moving forward and still trying to accomplish our goals.”
“After the Notre Dame game, that was kind of a wake up call. We still don't think we learned that much after the Notre Dame game; it was kind of a borderline, going 4-3 [overall] after the Duke game. That's what we're trying not to do, trying not to repeat that. We're trying to let this be our only loss of the season and move forward.”
“After Grayson [McCall] threw the pick six, people just lost confidence. It was still a two-possession game, but we were right there. It's not trying to turn on each other and lift each other up with words of encouragement instead of tearing each other down.”
“I did [think I’d score on the interception]. I thought I was going to get the sideline, but the quarterback came and chopped me. I'm still capable of doing that. There's a lot more football ahead of us, so it's definitely something I think I could do again."