NC State defensive lineman Isaiah Shirley met with the media following the Wolfpack’s 34-24 win over Wake Forest Thursday evening.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Shirley’s interview.
If he was worried he wouldn’t make it to the end zone…
No, there wasn’t anything going through my mind, to be honest. I hadn’t run the ball since I was in high school. I was just running and trying to get there. There wasn’t anything going through my mind, so I wasn’t worried.
On how his tight end training helped him…
Ball security. I had that tucked. Ball security helped for sure. I just tucked the ball and ran. It’s a surreal feeling.
On knowing he’d get the score…
My heart rate was on 10. I blacked out and woke up on the sideline. It was that kind of thing. It’s great.
On his number…
I wear 88 because it’s what I wore in high school. I played both ways. I also played tight end here, too, my freshman year, so this number has served me well.
On the message to the team at halftime…
The message was, “Play our brand of football.” We didn’t play our brand of football in the first half. We needed to come out and get consistent communication in the back end, and we came out and did that. The game was the result of that.
On the biggest difference between the halves…
We came out, communicated, and played our brand of football on defense. On offense, it started falling place for them because we were able to play complementary football. We were getting stops, and they were able to build on that momentum. The offense came out and did that in the first half. We were just able to do that a little bit more in the second half.
On stopping the run…
Every game plan, you want to stop the run. You want to earn third down so they can pass the ball. We were going in — they have some skill in the backfield and out wide. We just wanted to stop the run; that’s the ultimate thing so we can get to the pass.
On third-down efficiency…
We just started communicating. Our mentality, we dug deep, and we started playing our brand of football: “Hard, Tough, Together.” That was really the biggest difference.
On his pick-six being the jolt NC State needed…
I don’t know. I guess I’d say it’s always good when you can make a momentum shift. I feel like that play did that, and I’m thankful for the guys supporting me through practice and helping that play come to life.
