Devon Betty On Clemson: "They Play Hard"
NC State linebacker Devon Betty met with the media to discuss the upcoming matchup against Clemson.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.
You’re thoughts on going to Clemson on Saturday?
Just like every other week. The main focus every week is always us. No matter who the team is, no matter who the team is, or what division it is, or whatever. So as a team, I feel good, we feel good. And we just go in here, get this dub, and come back home.
Is this week a little more special for you? Is it your daughter's birthday on Friday?
You know, well, I think the 20th is Saturday. I think the 20th is Saturday. It's the 21st. It's this weekend. Yeah, it's a little special, especially that I'm not able to make it to her party, because I'm going to be there obviously. So yeah, that's something to thank for this weekend. She's going to be one, moves fast, man. I'm kind of sad I'm missing it, but it is what it is. It comes with it, it comes with support. Yes, it is special.
Are you going to eat cake after the game in honor?
Yeah, I'm going to mush my face and eat cake, just like her. Don't pray and taste it, no. But yeah, I'll probably eat some cake after some food.
When you look at those two games, what do you take out of them? What's the balance there?
Well, as we know, every year with Clemson, they're kind of a balanced team. They play hard, as we know. That's the reason they got natties and stuff like that. What I take from them is just like we all on scholarships. We all on scholarships, so just how they play ball, we play ball. Everybody got a reason to play or a why to play for, so I don't see them any different.
How I see them on film is just how I'm going to see them when we get there. Nothing special, nothing ordinary. Same stuff, honestly, from previous years. Like I said, a balanced team. Kind of like a routine team, I should say. Kind of got the same mindset every year with them. We kind of know how they're going to play, and we're ready for it.
Watching them the first 18 minutes against App State was a lot different. What do you kind of take away from that? Because they're probably never going to have the first 18 minutes like that ever again.
Well, I take from that, at App State, it's like you got to just be ready. Nothing against App State. I think App State's a good program and stuff, but obviously when you watch the film, in the first half, explosives, explosives, touchdowns, touchdowns all across the board. I don't know if there's miscommunication with them or whatever. That's them. That's whatever they coach. Over here, we know what the plan is. We know we cannot give up explosives. That's our model.
That's our mindset. Do not give up explosive passes, which is anything over 25 yards.
How long... maybe a dumb kind of question here, but what's the key to not giving up explosives? Is it just communication? Is that the main thing?
Communication will do your job. The only way to give up explosives is if you miss a big tackle or you just have a blown coverage or something. That's the only way you can do it.
How would you evaluate your first three weeks in the linebacker room, kind of being back on that spot that you're in now?
Me or the group? Well, for me, I feel like it's more to be done for me. Like I said, we don't need to disappoint until the fourth game, right? For me, it's still new, so I'm still getting the balance of it, but it's getting better week in, week out. That's all I can do myself. As a group, I feel like we're playing well. We're clearing up some little things like a couple tackles, being missed and stuff like that. Other than that, we're fine. I think we're doing well. I think Sean is doing good, especially coming from safety, and I think Caden is doing good controlling the defense as a Mike linebacker.
You mentioned explosive plays. Last year, it seemed like it would be an issue. Sometimes an explosive play would lead to another explosive play. That hasn't really happened this year. How do you think the guys have responded to the adversity of giving up an explosive play?
It's been like a couple moments, probably like two moments since the season started where one explosive had turned into a long drive, a touchdown, a field goal, whatever. The thing with explosives is if you're giving up on that drive and you give up again, it's probably going to end up in a touchdown because everybody just don't know what to do. Everybody's kind of crazy in their head, kind of don't know where to set a win. That's why you've got to win first and second down and not give explosives up because if you stop them on first and second, third down, it's going to stop you off the field. Teams like Clemson, like I said, you stop them on first and second down, it kills the drive.
What's it been like competing against CJ during practice?
Well, we don't... Yeah, you know what I'm saying? It's pretty... It's good, honestly. CJ's a guy. I know he's young, but he's a guy. He's confident. We love that about him. Like I told him last week when he got his first start, I'm like, bro, don't think about nothing. Do what you do best. Do what got you here. And we got the rest on defense. That was all.
Talking about the points of communication, not giving up explosive plays. How loud it is in Death Valley. How are you all preparing for keeping communication well in that environment?
You know, just what we do in practice. We know.We know. We see certain stuff. We'll look at each other and do whatever we need to do to make sure we're on the same page.