Doeren: "The Guys Were Locked In"

NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media for the final time before the Wolfpack's ACC matchup against Virginia.

How was practice?
It was good. It was a really good Thursday. A little rain, so that was good.

The guys were locked in and had good focus. They're excited for ACC play to start and have a home game here against a good opponent.

So it's good focus and our guys -- Thayer and CJ -- practiced and were cleared, so [we're] excited they're ready to go.  It's the first game of the year that we've had all six receivers playing in it so it's good to have them and our starting tight ends.

So it's all good.

How was Jakobi in practice this week?
Much better. He was a little sore, he was probably 85 percent last week. So he looked good... no issues with him.

Thayer and CJ?
They are good.

More on the wide receiver rotation...
The biggest thing it does is the rotation lets those guys be fresh so you don't have a guy take eight straight plays or whatever it is.  There's not a drop-off when you want to get Kelvin out of the game or Steph or Jakobi.  You don't have to worry about it's a third down and we've got to have so and so in the game. All six of those guys are capable of making plays.

When you have viable backups at positions it really helps.  

What did you do to prepare for Bryce Perkins this week?
Matt McKay came over like he did last year when we had Lamar Jackson.  He was our scout team quarterback, and he's really mobile and can run around.   He did a great job with our defensive guys so they could feel that strain of having to keep him in the pocket and get off blocks and how fast he gets to the edge on option plays, zone-read keeps. 

Just having an athlete at that position is the first thing because if you don't you can get a false sense of security on your angles to the football and your pass-rush lanes. You can recover on a guy not as quick, but Bryce is so explosive so you need an explosive guy there.

We got a great look from [McKay].

Is Isaiah Moore back this week?
He practiced.  He was a little sore last week, but he practiced on Tuesday and was out there today. Wednesday, we kind of gave him a little bit of a break so we didn't have anything come back, but he looked good today.

That gave Louis Acceus an opportunity...
I was proud of Louis. 

He didn't flinch and he looked like he had been in there for multiple games.  I thought he made a lot of plays, looked quick, and had his eyes in the right place.  He communicated well with the front so I thought it was great.

I know it gave coach Hux a lot of confidence to be able to play him more because Isaiah had practiced a lot better than him up until that week. Now you know that when you put a guy in you're going get what you coach and that helps. 

Do you find yourself recruiting redshirt juniors and seniors more than in the past in light of the rules of transferring?
No. I'm going to treat all these guys with respect and coach them and help them and push them and hold them accountable... do all those things.

If any point in time a player feels that this isn't the right place for them we'll have those conversations, but I'm not in the business of kissing somebody's butt because of a rules change.  I don't think that's the way we do business here.

It's all about treating people with respect and helping them become the best version of themselves and ultimately this is where you want to be and if you don't then it's not the right fit.

Terronne Prescod update...
He practiced today.