NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media to discuss the 31-28 win against Louisville.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the full press conference!
Opening statement...
Yeah, I just want to, first of all, thank God for His strength, giving me the strength to lead these men. I'm so proud of our players and the coaches. It's just been one day at a time, attacking and attacking and attacking and trying to get better and understanding that, with these young kids these days, it's hard to keep them focused.
If they can focus longer than the opponent, they'll find just a few more plays a game, which is what's really been the difference. I'm so proud of them today. A lot of guys stepped up.
I thought Harvey Dyson's play — the pursuit forced fumble — was one of the best plays I've seen as a coach in my career. The offensive line deserves a lot of credit for that win. Daniel Cruz played his first game at center. Teague moves from center back to tackle. Yousef gets injured, and then Trent Mitchell comes in and plays the most he's played in a football game. Teague, again, moves from one position to the other. Rico moves from one position to the other. They just keep on doing it, man.
CJ played a hell of a game of football. Really accurate down-the-field throws, took care of the football, very efficient. It was a good opponent.
Offensively, Louisville averages 41, and we held them to 28. Don't like how we played on defense in the second half. We've got to fix a lot of things in our tackling, and we will. But we found a way to make a play when we needed it, and that's what it's about.
There were many individual performances today. I thought Davion Gause deserves a lot of credit for the way he battled when Duke went down. Played really hard for us and did some really good things. It was good to see Tyran Warren get in the end zone and score. Really good to see Victor Snow make some catches and runs on some conversion downs.
Just different guys stepping up at different times throughout the game, and that's what we need. When your name is called, you make the play for the team.
For the fans that came and were here in the rain, man, thank you. It's unusual to have people who stick with you in the rain, and for those of you who did, it means a lot to our players, our staff, and our recruits. Thank you, guys, for being there, cheering us, and being a part of that win.
You mentioned Harvey, especially in the fourth quarter. What did you like about not only the fumble he had but also the sack on the following drive, which really flipped the momentum back to your play?
He played like a senior, a guy that just won't let the team lose. Really good play call, I thought, on the twist game that we had there on the third-down sack. Big play by Harvey. Really good play call by Coach Eliot, and the guys executed it perfectly to set it up and get him free on the twist.
But the effort play, man, that's different. A sack is one thing, but when you run a kid down — their tailbacks are NFL players, both of them — and you run a kid down like that as a defensive end and rip the football out, what an unbelievable play by Harvey Dyson.
What does that say about him as a person or a player? Just not giving up on a play when some guys might just say, "He's going to score," and be done with it?
It says that he's all in. That's what it says. That wasn't his play to make. Our linebackers and safeties are supposed to fit those gaps, and they didn't twice. But he made the play for us, and that's what team players do. They find a way. Pursuit overcomes many things on defense.
You mentioned some of those defensive imperfections, but do you feel like things are maybe coming together?
When a team averages 41 points a game, and you hold them to 28, I know that on paper doesn't look great, but that's a really good job. What sucks is that we just didn't perform well on certain plays that we practiced over and over and over — basic football plays.
You run split zone. That play should never get more than three yards on a good defense. We've got to get that fixed, and we will. But there's a lot of good. In the first half, we played really well. Then it's explosive plays in the second half. A missed tackle in man coverage by Jackson Vick. Our deep-middle safety doesn't get him down, and that kid's elite, No. 0 for them. It's not easy, but if you want to win games, you've got to make those kinds of plays.
To follow up real quick, Popo had all three of the fumble recoveries. What was that like watching him do that?
I didn't know that. That's awesome. That tells you how hard he's running to the football, being around the pile. We call that the camera club, the end-zone film. If you're a player that really cares about the team, when we freeze that thing at the end, and the ball's down, you ought to be in the camera club. You ought to have your body inside that end-zone shot.
Popo, he's a great leader for our team, an awesome teammate, a fun kid to coach, and I'm not surprised he's around the ball because that's how he practices. That's how he prepares. He's always watching film. Good things happen to guys that work hard, keep working hard, and do positive things, and that happened for him tonight. I'm happy for him and obviously thankful for the team.
CJ threw for a career high in passing yards today. He's been really consistent the last four weeks. What have you seen from him as a passer over the last four weeks, especially today, and how is he helping with the explosive plays downfield?
He's playing outstanding football, and he's one of the best quarterbacks in the ACC. I've said that all along. He's playing really, really good, and Coach Roper and him and the guys just keep getting better.
That's all we're trying to do is improve every week of the season, and I feel like we've done that. He'll keep doing that. That kid had a speech down in the locker room about continuing what we're doing, coming into the building, blocking the noise, playing ball, stacking plays, and stacking days.
He's a good leader, he's a great player, and he's a great human being. I'm thankful that he's our quarterback and look forward to celebrating the win with him. Have a good night.
