LOCKER ROOM REPORT: Wolfpack Players

NC State's C.J. Bailey, D.K. Kaufman, and Caden Fordham met with the media following the Wolfpack's 24-17 win over Northern Illinois Saturday afternoon.

NOTE: Click on each player’s respective thumbnail to watch each interview in the player above.

C.J. Bailey
 

On Caden Noonkester’s impact…

It was very important that that he got those punts pinned down because we had a lot of drive killers with the flags and everything. It was very, very crucial to set us up in those pinned positions because our defense made plays because of the punts that he made. That was really good of him, and I appreciate him as our punter.

On the defense giving him energy…

It gave me a lot of energy with those turnovers, those fumbles, and they plays it was making. They turned the whole Carter-Finley up, and that was really big. With them making plays and everything, it translated to our offense having success as well. It changed the momentum of everything that we had going on. We had a lot of people that weren't all the way up and weren't 100% energized. That defense did what they did, so it really pumped us up.

On the atmosphere…

I can really say that the atmosphere at Carter-Finley is the same every time I step in here, starting with Western Carolina even though I wasn't starting. That's the first time I could actually feel their big, loud presence. That was really important that I had that in those the games before that at Carter-Finley because now I can feel like I could just play off of their energy. They have so much energy, so now it pumps us up, and we know we have to make plays so we can keep hearing those screams and everything. It was really fun out there having my first start here, and I really enjoyed the moment.

On assessing his performance…

Of course, I’ve got a lot of stuff to work on and a lot of stuff to improve on. I'll say I did a decent job, and I wish that we could have finished more drives and kept it going from the first half where we kept putting points on the board. At the end of the game, our defense needed us, and we weren't putting up points; we weren’t even getting in the red zone. I'll say I need to do better. As Carter-Finley pumps us up, I've got to try my hardest to pump the offense up because I have good energy, but I don't feel like it's translating to everybody on our offense. If I could get everybody going, we can probably get way more points than we had today.

D.K. Kaufman
 

On last week’s loss affecting today’s game...

Definitely a lot. First, I thank God; without Him, none of this possible. Last week, it was embarrassing. There's really no other way to put it, and it's sad that it had to be that way for me and others to come out with that fire in us. You never really want to get hit in the mouth first and then fight back. Last week definitely proved pivotal for us. We knew what we had to do. We knew we had to start fast. We've been talking about this all year. Today, we just finally did that, and we're going to have to keep building off of that. Like Coach says, We’re trying to go on a run. That's one down. We've got seven more to go.

On the difference today versus previous games…

It started at practice. We always try to keep energy at practice, but this week, it was different. It was definitely different. Everybody was talking and communicating. Everybody was holding everybody accountable. […] Really, just being held accountable at practice, that’s where it all started.

On the last time he had two touchdowns in a season and what’s going well…

Last time I had two touchdowns in the season was my senior year. As far as what’s going well, I don't know. It’s God. I'm just in the right place at the right time. I trust the play call. Really, I’m just doing my 1-11 and trying to make plays while doing what I have to do. Other than that, I don't know. It just happens. I work hard, but some things just happen.

On continuing the momentum from today’s win…

We have to come back and really do the same thing, but amplify by 10 next week. We've got a little momentum, and we've got to keep it. That can be hard sometimes. People like to relax, but we can't relax. Coach said that today: we can't relax. It's not time to relax. We're nowhere near done for what we're trying to go get, so we just can't relax. We've got to do the same thing next week in practice. It starts on Tuesday, but really tomorrow. We're going to put this to bed, watch [film], then get ready for our next opponent in practice. We have to turn it up again.

On the scoop-and-score…

It was a designed play. I'm not that wild. I didn't go that crazy in blitz.

Caden Fordham
 

On Noonkester’s performance…

It's huge. Anytime you can flip the field like that, coming out as a defense, having a longer field for the offense, it's always huge for us to have that advantage. Congrats to Noonkester for doing that. He punted really well today. That was huge.

On the team’s toughness and execution…

It all started in practice. We felt like we weren't practicing the way we know how to practice, and we turned that up this week. We’re going to have to continue to do that to get to where we want to go. We never like getting our pride tested, and that's a big thing we stand by here at NC State: playing tough football. I felt like we came out and did that today, but we've got to continue to do so.

On what was different in practice this week…

We started communicating on a higher level, and that started with me coming out. It was my job to do so. We just started communicating on a higher level, being more physical in practice, and I believe it translated to the field today.

On the three new starters on defense…

It's "next man up" mentality. I believe in every guy on this team. When their name's called, they'll come out and do their job, and we're going to have to continue to trust in guys. I believe everyone's ready to play when their name's called, so that's what we're going to have to continue to do.