NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media where he discussed the Duke loss, updated the status of multiple players, previewed Virginia Tech, and much more!
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the press conference.
Opening statement
All right, before we get to football, we lost one of the best of our kind last night in the profession um and Shawn Clark's passing. And I wanted to send out our prayers uh and deep condolences to Shawn Clark's family, his wife Janelle and daughters Gianna and son Braxton and the App State community and UCF community. Their teams, staff, players. Sean was a great coach. He's a better man and a good friend. A man that loved his family, his players, and he loved the game and the brotherhood. And that's what this is it's a brotherhood, this fraternity of coaching and over the years I've been able to, have the privilege of getting to know Shawn and meeting his wife and we've become good friends.
When my son Jacob moved in at App State, Shawn reached out, asked for his phone number, called him on the phone, picked him up, took him to lunch, hadn't met him his whole life, that's just the kind of guy he was. And got to see him at a lot of events. He used to come over here and hang out in clinic, went fishing together, and it's just a great human being, and it's a massive loss. And we're praying for his family, and I know how hard and and how much pain his family's in and he had a huge impact on so many people, that'll have a generational feel for all the players he's helped and mentored and staff that he's mentored and community that he was such a a huge part of there in Boone as a player and a coach and it's sad.
When you lose somebody like that and he'll be missed. I know his legacy will be felt for generations to come and and uh we're praying um for Janelle and her family and for the communities that lost Shawn. 50 years old, it's too young. And uh we love you and we miss you.
Moving on, we had a tough loss, Saturday at Duke and it was we it was a a a game that we totally had an opportunity to win and it was a three-phase loss and there was multiple times in the game that we did really good things and multiple times in the game where we shot ourselves in the foot and it's a hard way to learn a valuable lesson. And that's what losses are, they're a lesson and they give you perspective.
We do preach, believe it or not, to ad nauseium the value of not beating ourselves in life and in football. When you have unforced errors in any sport, you have to be able to overcome them. And and when you have too many unforced errors, which in football, penalties, turnovers, costly penalties, it gets hard to overcome your own mistakes. And it's something that sometimes you need proof of concept with young people for that to sink home. And I think that's the positive that comes out of a loss is that you get a a a real life example of what it takes to win a football game.
The other games we've been able to come back and win in, we didn't have turnovers, and we had four. And we weren't stellar on special teams by any means in those other games, but we didn't lose the game either. And so you there was 11 points in that game. Starting with our first defensive drive where we stopped them, had them fourth and nine and they hard count our our punt return team and we jump off sides and give them a fourth and three which they convert and eventually score. Have a field goal blocked three more points and miss an extra point. It's 11 points.
You know that normally in a game your special teams wouldn't have that kind of impact on the scoreboard and and unfortunately in this game it did. It's the first time in my coaching career as a head coach that I've had a field goal blocked in a game and so something that and a missed extra point. Haven't had that either. So, it's just it was tough night and we did a lot of good things um but not enough. And so, Duke deserves credit for making the plays.
They beat us. At the same time, we know that we beat ourselves and and uh gave them a a big help in that process. But I do know that things like this can propel your football team it really digs cements in a lot of messaging that that's been given on the importance of understanding it and and not just hearing it, but absorbing it and and putting it into action in your focus as a player. Offensively, we were really good at uh moving the football.
I mean, we had passed for over 350 yards and CJ threw a lot of nice passes. the the skill guys made good catches for him. Terrell Anderson obviously had a big game. Hollywood continues to be an explosive player. We had 11 explosive plays. Two of them were big touchdowns. In the red zone, scored three out of four touchdowns and and would have been 100% if we didn't have the field goal blocked. So continue to be efficient in the red zone. Short yardage continues to be a strength. uh getting, third and ones, fourth and ones in games to extend drives. And obviously the fake punt was was part of that.
On first down, we're averaging over five yards, per play, which is really efficient. And we improved on third down uh in medium and third down long on offense, which was a goal. We scored 33 points. And when you only go out on the field with your punt team one time, you're doing some good things. And obviously the turnovers were the the tell of the game. Because it led to some short fields for our defense, they only had like a 100 yards in the first half, but they're able to score 21 points because of the field position. And so, that was a big part of what happened.
We built a lead, let them come back and, that, the play before the half was a huge momentum play. A frustrating play, again, I said this after the game, but trying to draw them off sides. If they jump, we're going to snap the ball and take a free shot. We thought that their defensive end was in the neutral zone. The official didn't, and unfortunately, we threw the ball to them. And that was a big momentum play because, if they don't jump off sides, we bang a timeout and go out and try to make a field goal. But, it was a tough play there before the half because they got points off of that play and then they started, the third quarter with the ball and got points again. So, a massive swing, but we still had chances to win the football game and got ourselves back into one possession there at the end and and then just couldn't stop him. gave up explosive play, a misfit by a linebacker on the short yardage play in the fourminute.
Defensively, outside of the explosive run that I just talked about, I thought we defended their run game well. We improved on third and medium and third and long. We got good pressure on their quarterback on third, medium, and third and long, and forced some incompletions. On two of the turnovers we had, the defense held them to zero points. So did a nice job responding there. The negatives on first and second down, our pass rush was non-existent. We did not get off of blocks transition well from run defense to pass rush. We had a lot of one-on-one opportunities in pass rush that we didn't win. So an area we need to improve.
There were some, passes down the field. I thought we defended really well on deep balls. Both Devon and and Brian had good coverage on some deep balls, but our intermediate pass coverage needs to be better. Some crossing routes and we call deep overs that we just didn't contest. And so that needs to improve. Not having Cian and Sabastian in the second quarter, you can definitely feel when when both of those guys aren't available. And thankfully, obviously Sebastian's was due to the targeting suspension.
He's back, Cian got banged up in the game and and uh we think we'll have them this week. The reports have been good. So, it's good news on that front. Special teams wise, we talked about it, but the fake punt was the positive. I thought our kickoff coverage improved. Outside of that, it was not a performance that I hope to ever see again. Amissed extra point, a blocked field goal, we muffed a punt return, which led to a 99 yard drive for a touchdown, which was awesome by our offense. But, freshman punt returners got to do a better job there taking care of the football.
Missed an opportunity on a bad snap by their punt team. We were in a return, didn't have a guy that saw it fast enough and didn't react well enough to get the ball blocked. Ends up being a 40-yard punt. Hell of a play by their punter and pretty bad on our part not to be able to get there fast enough. Todd's a really good special teams coach for us, Coach Goebbel. have total belief and trust in him and the staff around him and the players I know will play better and uh the coaches and players will do a better job when it comes to that area becauseI know we're better than that performance and that's what I told the team after the game.
No one likes to lose uh in this sport and it's painful when you do. It's way more painful when that you played a big part in that loss with mistakes. And so we're a better team than that. And I look forward to the opportunity to get back on the field and start working with these guys. They were awesome in our meetings yesterday. They're uh frustrated and want to be better and understand, all the things that we've been talking about here in this meeting.
Now on to Virginia Tech uh night game at home. Looking forward to being back home. It's been two weeks since we had a home game and and love that it's at night. Give our fans a chance to have a good time before the game. And this is a team that will respond. Like I said, this is a very coachable team. We have good team leadership in all three areas, offense, defense, special teams, and I trust that these guys will do what's necessary to get us back to playing better than we did on Saturday.
When you talk about our opponent, offensively, it starts with their quarterback. Jones is a big athletic guy. He's got a big arm. He's 235 pounds. They run him a lot. You got to tackle him. He's not going to go down easy. He's thick and he's fast. He's a tough kid. They have a talented receiver core. They've had some guys in and out, but when you watch them, they've played against good teams, South Carolina and Vanderbilt, and they've made some really nice contact catches.
They've made some explosive plays. They have a receiver that transferred there from Tennessee that was a running back that they use quite a bit in the screen game and jet sweep game that's hard to tackle. And I know Philip Montgomery, is a proven offensive coordinator, a proven head coach. They'll have his team ready.
Defensively, it starts at their front. They got a really good defensive tackle. Kemari Copeland, we wanted him coming out of junior college. Thought he was a heck of a player and a really good kid. and a lot of respect for him. I know he got injured last year. He's back and he's a really disruptive guy and and their dtackles in general are uh they also have a a kid they call a buck. We call him a jack.
But number 33, Ben Bell, another kid that we liked in the portal last year, really tough kid that plays hard and as a front, they're on edges. They try to disrupt. Uh and they got guys that can do that. Um, with all that being said, this game is about us. How we execute, how disciplined a football team are we going to be. And, that's the area we have to embrace. We've got a bunch of good kids that want to do well that have to really focus hard and coaches helping them focus hard on the fine details of the game plan and understanding how important each one of them is. And, we have a lot of football in front of us. We got a lot of good young kids to coach and mentor, and I look forward to the challenge that we have each day with these guys to help them. Any questions?
Dave, you spoke a little bit about Terrell Anderson and his impact, but looking back at it, just the way that he was able to catch the ball, not only in short yardage, short yardage plays, but also, middle of the field and on some deep balls from CJ. I mean, how big of a weapon does he make this does he become in this offense if he can make all those catches consistently?
Yeah, he's he had a heck of a game. And, we've seen some of that stuff. He's uh in practice put on some especially the tunnel screen. He's made plays and it's been fun to watch, that room in general has had different players in each game make big plays for us and and so to have the depth and rotation and and ability.
It's it's nice to have and I'm happy for Terrell because he's worked really hard and a couple of those plays were huge plays in the game field position wise that really changed our ability to get in the end zone. And obviously we talk about starting fast. I mean third play of the game to rip off a screen like that for a touchdown. It was great to see him do that.
When you looked at the film and you saw on the you mentioned the there's been three times this year where y'all loaded the box and the other team exploded and and number four did that for Duke. When you looked at the film, what did you see?
I saw a linebacker that has to fit the A gap, not do it. I mean, he's right there to make a play. And on defense, when you start trying to do someone else's job, both jobs don't get done. And so, in each one of these, we've had three explosive runs and a pass uh this year in short yardage, whether it was third and one or fourth and one, there's been a person at the point of attack that can make the play. And it's been different guys and it's been different calls. And so, the guys got to do a better job um of executing in that situation. Those are musts stop situations. And sometimes guys try to do more than they need to do. Just fit your gap where you're supposed to fit and make a play.
One of the plays like UVA game, we had a guy come downhill and hit the safety hit him on the line of scrimmage, missed the tackle. In this game, misfit a gap and then same thing, they had a a fourth and one where they threw a play action pass and we had a DB covering the receiver that took his eyes off of him and he double moved him and there you go, comes down to execution.
And whether the box is loaded or not, when you get into those heavier sets, it's going to be a situation where someone needs to make a tackle, and then your pursuit's got to overlap. And so, we got to be better as coaches getting those kids into those reps. I mean, you're not going to be able to completely predict the formation week to week. They're going to change those things based on, what they have and where they feel like they can have the most success. But the base rules of your run fits and the players that are in the game executing is what it's going to come down to.
You guys were able to get Ke'von Carter in the game on defense. What's it been like seeing his development, you know, coming in this summer and and really earning some opportunities now?
Yeah, he's a really talented young man. He proved to us in training camp that he's a fast learner and can make plays. He did a great job in both our scrimmages and we told him we were going to play him and get him on special teams. He starts on two or three of our units now and that through that time he would show us whether he's ready or not to play on defense. And with Cian um being banged up in the game and Sabastian being out for the first half, with it being, our fourth game, he's had three games of of on the- field play where he's gotten better and better and it's an opportunity for us to use our depth and for him to continue to grow in the package because he's a really talented young player.
How do you plan to regroup your team while they're going through a hard time on the field?
Well, you just stick together. I mean, the first thing you do is you block the outside noise. There's a lot of people, when you lose games that turn on you and and that's what you don't listen to. You turn to each other. You take ownership for the things that you need to be better at and then you go back to work. And that's the beauty of college football, when when that game's over, win or lose, you got about 24 hours to dwell on it and then you got to move on. And you get about six days uh before you get a chance to get that taste out of your mouth. And so these guys understand it's not the first time in their life they've lost a game. And so they'll go back to it. And the the thing that you know they're so mad because they know that they threw it away, with mistakes and there's going to be a lot of learning in that. There's going to be a lot of growth in that. And so I'm excited to see those guys come back and be a much better version of themselves. But we got a lot of work to do. Habits are formed daily, winning habits and losing habits daily. And that's what we do in practice. You go to practice to build habits as coaches and try to erase bad habits. And it takes repetition and repetition. And players got to be really focused to get the kind of habits you want on and off the field.
Yeah, thanks first Dave. Sorry for your loss. That that really stinks. I wanted to ask about CJ and they obviously had a huge day passing the ball, finding spots, tons of yards, then he had the mistakes. How do you how do you talk to him about, you don't want to lose that aggressiveness, but you also want to balance it by taking care of the football?
Yeah. Well, the beauty of his kid, you don't have to. He knows like, it's first thing he says to you after the game. and um the value of taking care of the ball, making decisions that protect our opportunities to win and also understanding when you can take chances in the game, and these are all things a young player learns from and trying to make plays and and doing it in a calculated and safe way.
There's a fine line there. Fine line. And the first turnover of the game was the interception and and that was a pass protection. I mean, that we got beat on a line stunt up front which got to his hand and he wasn't able to finish the throw. There's, that one, the other ones he can definitely in his mind replay those plays and think about what he would do differently, and so he's going to learn from that like every player on the team does when they make mistakes and and the guys around him got to help him.
I always say that like turnovers are not the guy that turned the ball over's fault all the time. If you would have blocked somebody a little better, maybe that guy wouldn't have hit the guy carrying the football, right? If you would have ran your route a little bit more like we coached you to do and not cut it short or or took it a little more inside, then the coverage would have been better for us to throw the football in there. And it's it always goes back to the guy that did it, and I understand that.
But there's a lot of people around these guys that are a part of this that can create a better pass pocket for him to throw out of or run a crisper route in that situation, and so all these things are moments to grow from and and that's what's awesome about CJ. Like he's the first guy to own anything that he didn't think he did well. And the minute you do that, you give yourself a license to get better.
How dangerous are teams that make mid-season changes in your coaching experience and does it make it harder to scout?
Yeah, I've seen it go both ways, you obviously last year you saw ECU do that and their team won five out of six after the change and so um it's hard to say on the scouting side of things, because they've had one game and it wasn't much of a game against Wofford. and they blew him out. And so it's hard to say.
How much can you change?
I think the mindset can change. Schematically it's hard, especially when you're not in a by-week to change a lot of things, but it's Virginia Tech, man. They got good players there, and it's a proud program. A lot of kids on that team that a lot of teams in the ACC recruited. And so we know we're going to get a fight. Like, we know that, and like I said, that's that's their responsibility to take care of their team. Mine is to get ours better, and we got to be a lot better on our side regardless of what they decide to do over there.
Coach, you talked about CJ being kind of one of his toughest critics and being the first to own a mistake. How important is that in a development of a young quarterback of him owning that right away before you even have to say anything?
I think it's critical for anybody. I mean, especially somebody that's in a leadership position, because a lot of people in this world will make excuses and blame others or complain. People that own things have a chance, like I said, a license to improve. And he does that naturally. He does that because how he was raised and, uh, his family did a great job bringing him up. And that's why he gets better fast. That's why you see the improvements you see in him as a player. All right, I don't see any other hands up. Thank you guys. Thanks.
