NC State running back Hollywood Smothers met with the media to discuss the Wolfpack's road loss at Duke.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.
Hollywood, the plays at the end of this first half was that that's kind of where Duke got the momentum. Did you sense that?
I sensed it for sure. We just, you know, I think we it was a lot of mistakes we made that was on our edge that we could have prevented. So I definitely felt the momentum swing after that.
How frustrating is it to to lose a game where you guys kind of shoot yourself in the foot a little bit?
It's very frustrating knowing what we got to do to win and make it harder for them not beat ourselves. It's real frustrating, but we got to fix it. We can't do nothing but go up from here.
Hollywood, the first couple weeks of the season, CJ kind of looked unstoppable. Today, he had four turnovers. What are you telling him in the locker room and how do you go from here?
Keep being CJ. You know, it's just some mistakes just happen, he know that, there isn’t much you really got to tell him. Just keep being him like he been all year and fix the little things. Like, you know, he already know like he came off the field, knew he messed up at CJ got to keep being CJ. We gonna be just fine.
I don't know if you were on the field for that play, the interception, you know, late in the first half, but what did you see on that play if you're on the sidelines or what did you see if you were on the field?
I didn't see much. I just seen him run the other way like I don't know. Yeah, that I don't know. It was just it happened fast, you know. I think I tried to go get him.
Were you surprised that the ball was snapped?
Yes, well, I wasn’t surprised. I thought they jumped first, but so happened they said he snapped it on the clap.
The fact that a lot of these a lot of mistakes, they're fixable, does that make it easier heading into next week?
100%. We knew we gave them that game. We had the lead. We just got to finish honestly, you know, not turn the ball over. It's negative four in the turnover margin. It's hard to win like that.
So, it's another 100 plus yard game for you. You quickly established yourself as one of the best running backs in the nation, your first season as a starter. What does it say about you and the rest of the offense?
Like I said, just trusting the guys up front and trusting my coordinators, giving me the ball, just doing whatever it takes to win, honestly. I’m never running for stats. I’m just trying to win.
