Dave Doeren: "Every Single Play Matters"
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media following the Wolfpack's 30-29 road loss to Georgia Tech Thursday evening.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Doeren’s press conference.
On his message to the team following the loss...
We played really hard. I was proud of them. The way we responded in the second half, I thought we played outstanding complementary football. Guys played with heart. I was proud of them. We don't get the win — there's a lot of teams that wouldn't have fought the way we fought with all the things that we've battled through this year. They wanted that game. They wanted it bad. They showed that in how resilent they were. I told them I was proud of them. I told them we don't have time to feel sorry for ourselves. “We get to go play our rival this week. Take all the pain that you're feeling inside, put it away, and get ready to use it.” The other team deserves credit. They played their butts off, too. It was a really good football game. You had two teams that wanted it. It was physical. It comes down to one play in a game like that, one play out of 170 that you get that dictates. Even on their extra point when they went to go up by one there at the end, [Tamarcus] Cooley was an inch from blocking that kick. Every single play in a game that comes down to the last second matters.
On the game’s final drive...
There's 22 seconds left. We're trying to get the ball down the field, which we did to Dacari [Collins]. It was a really nice ball and a really good catch. When the play ended, there were five seconds left on the clock. Where the ball was placed, we were on the hash, not in the middle. I would have loved to have run a play to try to get a few more yards. We called a timeout so that we could discuss. I felt like, with five seconds, the field goal was the safest thing to do. If you throw it and you don't get out of bounds, the game is over. The clock operator has some things to do with that. The thing I'm disappointed in is after the timeout; after they break the huddle, they come over and tell me they're adding a second to the clock. Had I known there were six seconds, there would have been a different conversation. We could have thrown a quick out, had a little bit more cushion. I don't think people understand how precious every second is. I was disappointed in that. There was another time in the game where three seconds ran off after a punt. It was 2:43 on the clock, and they let it run down to 2:40. These seconds matter. Say whatever you want about it, but, to me, that's bad clock operating by them.
On the Yellow Jackets running the ball on their final drive...
They got the ball to the back out of the backfield on us. A couple of times, we were in man coverage, and their back made plays. We weren't able to get to the quarterback and get him on the ground. Then, he had a big scramble to win it. We're in two-man, four-man rush, and he broke the pocket. Our two safeties have to come up and get him down. We weren't able to do that.
On limiting Georgia Tech’s rushing before the final drive...
Our defense played their butts off. It's really unfortunate that — I don't know what play of the game it was — we ran a really basic shovel pass that, if it's not caught, it ends up being incomplete. That's the way you do that instead of handing it off. We probably run that play in practice a thousand times. I've never seen a ball ricochet-intercepted. Some of the breaks we had that way were tough. The three turnovers that we had were costly. You lose the turnover margin minus-three. The kids keep playing. They've got so much heart. I'm proud of them for that.
On Bailey rebounding in the second half...
He believes in himself. He knew that there were some plays that were his fault. That's the thing you love about him. He's not afraid to own things. He said, “I'm going to make up for it. This is our half.” He went out and performed. That's how the game was. Any time the other side needed the other side to step up, they did. That happend multiple times in the game. Shoot, we went for it on fourth-and-three but didn't get it. Our defense holds them, stops them on a fourth down, and gave them no points. We battled for each other in that football game.
On moving on from the turnovers and the loss...
We've been trying to move on from that all year. It's been a tenant of this program for 12 years. It's something that we've done very well. When you're playing with a young quarterback, sometimes things happen. He definitely forced the ball before the half trying to make a play. Some of that is going to happen. Some of the fumbles that we've had throughout the year, those are the things you can't do. You have to have great ball security as a runner and as a catcher. We'll continue to work that. It's not not being worked on. It's being worked on every second of every practice. As far as how do you stomach that loss, it hurts. Losses like that hurt more than blowouts. Like I said, what we're going to do is we're going to put that one in and use it. We're going to use it. It's one thing that's great about football. You get to take out your frustrations on that field as a player. We have a lot of frustration. We get to go play against a team next week. That’s going to be a great football game. We're going to use every inch of this to get these guys back. I know they'll respond well.
On any similarity to the 2019 season...
It's not the same. I can't compare those two seasons. Nobody likes losing. I hate it more than anybody. We've been in a lot of tight ball games this year. It's a lot different. That year, we had 19 guys out for the year. We were playing with linebackers at corner. It was a completely different thing. That's not what's happening right now. These kids are battling. They're going to keep working. We're playing some young guys that will continue to get better. We made progress in a lot of areas. It just hasn't equaled a win.
On Davin Vann and Sean Brown...
Davin was on the sideline, cheering the guys on. I’m hopeful that he'll be okay. Until we get back and go through — sometimes they want to wait 24 hours before they tell us. It was a good sign that he was down there cheering us on. Sean was cramping. He's fine.
On the success in the run game...
We were blocking. Guys were busting through. There were broken tackles and making people miss. The offensive line and tight end group did a really good job against a lot of movement and pressure. I’m proud of those guys. They responded well. That's how we ran the ball in the Stanford game as well. Like I said, there are things that are getting better. We’ve got to get rid of the turnovers. That's how you win football games. When you have three of them, especially one that equals points, it's tough.