QUOTEBOOK: Dave Doeren's Monday Press Conference

NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media to discuss the upcoming game against Boston College.    

NOTE: Click the video above to watch Dave Doeren's press conference.

Opening Thoughts on Virginia win...
I was proud of our football team the other week, it was a very good football team we played in Virginia.

To create 13 disruptive plays in the backfield, I thought our defensive front was very disruptive in that game. 

They were a disruptive defense, so to limit them to just three disruptive plays and our four sacks to their zero, I thought was a big storyline in the game.

Obviously the ability to be balanced on offense, averaging 4.5 yards per carry and limiting them to less than 100 yards rushing goes back to the line of scrimmage.

Our backs ran hard and obviously Ricky created some explosive runs, which we needed.

Ryan played well and made some clutch throws... I thought Emeka's catch in the endzone was an unbelievable catch.

Our gameplan on defense was to limit No. 3 for them and we did that.

I thought our punter-kicker game improved and Chris Dunn did a great job.

Thoughts On Boston College...
This team will be the best team we've played, there is no doubt.  Statistically they are a very impressive team and they have great players.

They have the nation's best running back, and I think their two defensive ends are forces.

Offensively they are scoring 45 points per game and are very physical.

They have a lot of experience, there's 18 starters back when you look at their offense and defense.

They are getting behind a lot of people because of the focus on Dillon.

The o-line has all five starters back.

It's going to be a great game. Two really good football teams that are hungry and playing well.  A lot on the line for both teams. That's what college football is all about.  We look forward to the opportunity for our guys against theirs in a home game.

What stands out about the losses here to Boston College?
One of them we had lightning and the stadium was empty, I remember that.  That wasn't a typical home game.  The other was pretty early and we didn't win a lot of games at all that year.

I know every time you play them you better be physical... you better not beat yourself because they don't.  The times we have beat them we've been able to run the football against a very active front and create explosive plays.

Defensively we've created takeaways in those games.

Every year is a new year so you have to earn it.

Ricky said Saturday all credit goes to his offensive line. How much of that is a testament to coach Ledford?
Smart, smart comment.

I thought the line and tight ends did a lot for the backs, but there was a lot of yardage after contact that Ricky deserves, too.  We have to continue to get better down the field with our receivers.

I think as an offense that's one area we have to continue working on; we're getting on people and sustaining those blocks... obviously Ricky was a huge part of that win. That one drive where he had three straight explosive runs was a great momentum-drive for us.

Did you see this from the defense and how much better can they get?
Typically in my career the unit that gets the least talk is the one that is the most hungry.  They listened to the other side of the ball all summer and it made them mad... all they heard about was who is leaving instead of who is back.

That's good for them.

You never know how fast things will come together, but coach Hux and the defensive staff worked really hard schematically to do some things differently and help the guys.

I think our defensive front with the emergence of Larrell is playing good right now.

What has Larrell meant to this team overall?
The way he and Big E just go about their work is the biggest part of it. They are very steady, consistent, quiet, hard-working guys.

They do their job, play hard, and are positive teammates.

It's kind of what we had last year with BJ and Justin... guys who play hard and do things the right way, and because they are consistent they continue to make plays.

His confidence will continue to grow.

Third down percentage has been terrific. A lot of good offenses and quarterbacks don't do that. How do you explain it?
There's a lot of things that go into it.

Coach McDonald and coach Drink sit down and look at our route concepts versus the coverages we expect to see.  We come up with the best plan for that game.

Our offensive line, coach Kitchings and coach Ledford sit down to look at our protections... that will be a huge challenge in this one.  They go through it and some of it sticks and some doesn't.

Ryan looks at it, knows what is coming and throws on time. The nice thing is we don't have a single receiver you can just go and cover because we have multiple guys.

Where has this defense taken the biggest step forward since the opener?
I'd say the rushing defense has got better since the opener.

I'd say the tackling has got better, and for the most part we haven't given up a ton of explosive plays and that's the challenge here with Boston College.

That's where they are really good offensively.

What is Trent's status? Was he banged up?
Yes he was sore going into the game.  Ricky obviously got hurt early and we felt like it was best to get him right.

When you play a physical team you want to make sure your backs are fresh.

How important was it for the offensive line to have a productive game like that?
It was great for their psyche, and I thought the week before those guys played fast. That was our first game with Dylan in there and we didn't have Ricky and like I said it's hard when the pieces are changing all the time.

I think the consistency is the biggest part that has been hard on that side of the ball... in the run game the timing is so critical... all that stuff is important to have that growth opportunity from game-to-game.

It's old school football when you play Boston College in the box.

Thoughts on being ranked and the response from the team...
I think it will be more important at the end of the year than now. I don't even know where they put us, but there's a bunch of people in front of us still. It's another opportunity to move up.

We have to go out there and play against a really good football team and earn where we fit. That's what October is.

As the guys become aware of that during the week, how do you think they will respond?
I hope they have a chip on their shoulder. That's kind of what we need to be about. What people say, whether it's good or bad, after 12 weeks is when it's going to count.

We have to earn where we end up.

We earned the right to be 4-0, now let's earn the right to be 5-0. That's all we can talk about. That other stuff doesn't matter to us.

A lot of them have dealt with rankings before. Do you think there's a been there done that with rankings?
I don't know.  

It's not like I sit in there and talk about, "How do you guys feel about being this?" We don't talk about it with our guys.

All that peripheral stuff we'll talk about it at the end of the year.

I know it's important, it is, but right now it's not a part of our conversation.

Certain matchups work better for certain teams.  Do you subscribe to that?
You watch BC year-in and year-out and they give a lot of people tough days.  They are averaging 247 yards rushing per game.  They are No. 1 in scoring offense. 

Do we see a good BC team every year? Yes, but so does everyone else. I haven't seen them play down on film yet. They are a very good football team. I don't think they get enough credit.

They are leading the ACC in explosive plays.  Pretty good team.

What makes AJ Dillon so effective?
He's super talented. He's big, he's fast, and he's patient. I think he runs with an attitude... And they feed him. He gets the ball a lot. He gets a lot of opportunities.

What would a win over BC mean going into a bye week?
We'd be 5-0 going into a bye week which would be awesome for our guys... it would be a very good start to the season and then we'd get into the bye, go through what we've done and really, really reflect, then get ready for what's next.

Our focus is the five-day grind. We have five days to be the best us we can be, best coaches, best players, best program.

Then we get a little bit of a break. I'd love to go into that break feeling good.