NC State defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot met with the media ahead of the Wolfpack's upcoming matchup versus Virginia.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Eliot’s interview.
On his first game day experience with NC State...
It was awesome. It was a great atmosphere. The fans were loud. They had really, really good energy. The players had a lot of energy, too. You could tell that that type of atmosphere really motivated them, and the crowd stayed in it the whole game. It was a tremendous atmosphere.
On keying in on East Carolina’s final offensive play…
We practiced that play as the final play multiple times, so we were ready for that down there. You never know what they're going to do, but we felt good that we had practiced that a bunch, and then they ran it.
On what allowed the defense to get off the field as often as it did against the Pirates…
Run defense. When you play great run defense and TFL, then you put the offense behind the chains. As long as you can continue to not let them get you in third-and-mediums and third-and-shorts, then you're going to get off the field. If you play good third-down defense, if you get them into a third-and-long, then you should win 70 percent of those. A great defense only wins 30 percent of the third-and-shorts. Third-down defense is based on what the distance is. If it's a third-and-medium, a great defense will win 55 percent. If it's a third-and-long, [it’s a better mark], and that's not even really a great defense. That's the goal for any defense: [to] win 70 percent of the third-and-longs. The key is first and second down. The more you can get them into third-and-long, the better chance you have to get off the field.
On preparing for the physicality of an ACC opponent...
Well, Coach [Dave] Doeren does a great job of not looking at any game as any more important or any different, and so our guys were ready last week, and they'll be ready this week because we take the same approach every week and for every opponent.
On getting newcomers to mesh so quickly…
Well, I think we recruited the right guys. We have high-character transfers that came in and guys that were hungry, guys that had something to prove. They were guys that were ready to come together to be a great defense.
On Devon Marshall…
He's been great. He played some last year, and so he had that experience, and he continued to use that as his maturity into spring and into training camp. He's really one of our few returning, veteran players, and he's had that approach to the game.
On the points of emphasis versus Virginia...
Well, their personnel is good, certainly at certain spots. Chandler Morris has a lot of experience at quarterback. Their wide receivers are good players, and they do some good things in the run game, too. It's more personnel that we have to be concerned about.
On evaluating opponents’ new transfers from prior stops…
That's exactly what you do. We evaluate the talent of every player that wasn't on a team last year from the video of where he was previously, and so we have an evaluation of the personnel based on wherever they played last. I wish it was a science. It's not exactly, and so you have to figure out what they're going to do, but the most important thing is to concern yourself about your team. What do we need to do to get better from the ECU game? What did we not do good enough from the ECU game? What can we do to make sure that we play our best in the Virginia game? If they're prepared for anything, then they'll be ready to play no matter what type of attack on offense they have.
On the cornerback room…
I think a big part of that is we have a great culture here, and we have the right people. A winning team and a winning business gets the right people on the bus first, and that's what we've been able to do in the offseason. The new guys that we brought in are ones that fit our culture and are guys that are looking to contribute and not get credit. As long as we have guys with that mentality, then we'll have the culture, and we’ll play great.
