NC State punter Caden Noonkester met with the media following the Wolfpack's 21-11 win over Florida State Friday evening.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Noonkester’s interview.
If he’d ever recovered a muffed punt before Friday’s game…
No, I cannot say that I've ever done that before. I've watched my fair share of fumble recoveries, so I tried my best to imitate that on the play. It's a result-driven business, so I got the result done. I'm sure a lot of people could criticize my technique, but I got the job done.
On responding when things don’t go well…
I think it speaks to the adversity that this team has been through and just who we are as people in the locker room. I think we have a bunch of fighters in the locker room, and when guys really buy in, together and to the team — it's not just one side of the ball. When one side of the ball might not be performing the way they want to, we'd have no doubt that the other side can pick their side up. Special teams, our job is to make the transition between offense and defense to help us have the best favor for that next series. Each side of the ball can really help us and can get their job done to help the team. We were able to see that tonight.
On what he saw on the punt he recovered…
It wasn't the ideal punt, obviously, by me. Let’s get better on that one, first of all. The ball's in the air. I hear some ooh's in the crowd, and then I watch the ball hit their player's helmet and bounce towards me. I guess instinct took over, and I thought I could get there before their guy. Apparently I did, so it was a good outcome. I was able to take a negative situation and try to fix it, so that was good.
On what complementary football feels like…
Coach [Dave] Doeren, he preaches complementary football to us every week. It’s the offense getting their job done, the defense getting their job done, and then special teams helping each side of the ball be in the best situation to start their series. Complementary football is obviously very important, and I think we were able to show it tonight. I was able to help the defense a little bit with putting their guys inside the 20. We have a great coverage team. Jake Mann, he does a great job snapping the ball. Matt McCabe, he does a fantastic job calling the protection and calling the coverage. I really think that we just have a great unit up there. It helps me be able to do my job to help with complementary football, and I think we were able to see that tonight. It was definitely one of the keys to victory for us.
On what went through his mind on the punt…
I would say that it was definitely pure instincts. I grew up a soccer player. I played goalie, so it kind of reminded me of a little goalie slide there. It seemed like the perfect technique for the situation, so I’m glad I had that in my bag of tricks.
