Doeren: "I'm Really Proud Of Them"
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media after the Wolfpack's 37-20 win over Marshall.
On how players handled bye week, road game...
I’m really proud of them. I think there was a lot of distractions in their world last week and it would have been easy to be off our game a little bit. I told them that was a concern and the guys rose to the occasion.
I thought it was a really good team win. On offense, when the defense needed them to step up, they did it every time. On defense, when the offense needed them to step up, they did it every time.
I thought our DB’s really played hard. I was proud of those guys, the way they fought for balls. Other than the one deep ball, I thought we played really well. It was a good team win. There’s some things we have to work on and we will.
Coming off a week where we thought we were going to play and then didn’t, then had a scare. When you play in a place where 83 percent of the teams that come in here and lose, that’s a pretty good win.
On stepping up and making plays...
They executed. There was a couple of times we didn’t and it hurt us. That’s all I talked about this week, focusing on doing your job—watch the film—making sure your position group does the things they’re supposed to do. When we do that, we’re really good on defense and I thought that happened a lot tonight.
On Thayer Thomas and C.J. Riley...
I haven’t heard (about them) yet. Both of them are out. It looked like concussions but I haven’t been told. I haven’t met with our staff yet.
On being 3-0...
I think we’ve handled our business and I think that’s all you can do. We put ourselves in a good position going into conference play and I’m proud of our guys. This is a tough game here and when you come up here and look at the history of this program, it’s a pretty neat place to play. I thought it was an awesome environment. Coach (Doc) Holliday does a good job.
We’re right where we want to be. We have to get healthy in a few spots and get ready to play a really good Virginia team.
On running game...
A lot better. I thought we had more movement. We didn’t pick up a couple blitzes but it looked like we were winning the line of scrimmage a lot more. There was a lot more 4-yard, 5-yard, 6-yard type runs, as opposed to one, two and three’s we were having before. And with the rain, to be able to throw the way we did I thought was really impressive.
On Chris Dunn making field goals...
I jinxed myself. I said that to myself ‘Boy, it’s nice having this.’ Then he missed the last one in the rain. But he’s pretty good for a freshman. He’s a pretty good kicker.
On keeping Brady in-check...
He’s targeted on 50 percent of their passes. If you let him go off, as we found out last year, it’s a tough day. I thought our kids, Nick McCloud in particular, really battled him. They did some good things where they moved him around and made it a little more difficult. He’s a really good wide receiver.
On how road win prepares team for future...
It’s helpful. Anytime we can play with some crowd noise in a hostile environment, it’ll help us down the road. Obviously, playing at Clemson later is going to be tough so a game like that helps us for sure.
On responding to Marshall’s momentum...
I thought the guys responded. That was what I was most proud of tonight. It seemed like every time they got momentum we got right back on them—whether it was the defense with a pick or the offense driving down and scoring. I love that. That resiliency is a very positive thing for our football team to show tonight.
On converting on third down...
That’s huge. It continues to be a trend. We’ve done that for the last two weeks and it’s a big deal. Defense did a great job on third down. We have to get more touchdowns in the red zone. We got held to field goals. Our coverage units have to do a better job but there was a lot of good stuff tonight.
On Cary Angeline...
I’ll watch the film on it but I thought he battled. I know he was excited to play. It’s been a year since he’s played in a game. He went out and executed and did what he was supposed to do and I’m sure he’ll play faster as he continues to go. He didn’t have a lot in the pass game that went his way but that’ll change over time.