Doeren: Wolfpack Preparing For All Of BC's Tailback Options

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

Is it different with the second running back if AJ Dillon can't play?
Yes, they are different styles.

I thought he really played well... he went in and rushed for 120 yards in a quarter and a half of work. He's their best special teams player. He's a try-hard guy, has good speed, and then they use him all over on teams so you could see why he's a good back. He's tough. He competitive.

But he's not the same 245-pound body.  He's more in the 215 range and he's got really good side-to-side quickness and speed.

There's a bunch of other guys that they've had in there at times, so I would expect if Dillon can't play you will see a rotation set up kind of like us... different guys, different styles, and you have to tackle.

Does it affect your gameplan when you are thinking you may or may not face AJ Dillon?
You have to prepare for both. That's just what you have to do.

Is it harder to prepare for two quarterbacks or harder to prepare for two running backs?
Well, it's not like we have an AJ Dillon clone out there on the practice field running the ball against our defense, so it really doesn't matter to us. We're fitting the run game. We have to get off blocks, leverage the ball, and tackle. Who they put on the field is who we have to play, but it's not like we can simulate him.

Who was AJ Dillon this week in practice?
We don't have anybody like that.

No Trent Pennix?
No, we don't have anybody like that, a 245-pound guy.  It is our scouting running backs and they're doing the best they can.

Did it register with you the catch Emeka made in the endzone against Virginia and then the growth from the play last year against Wake Forest?
That was a big-time catch... the play in the Wake Forest game was him stretching the ball over the goal line, it had nothing to do with a catch, it was ball security.

The thing that you love about him is just how competitive he is right now. All the contact-catches he's made this year have been impressive and he's gotten hit, he's fought for balls, and he's won most of his share of those plays.

So his competitive spirit and ability to make a contact-catch coming back to the ball has been really impressive for a young player.

He took that play so hard. By the time you got to him, did you have to pick them up?
He got picked up by planet Earth to be Honest. Everybody felt for him and all the Wolfpack fans I thought were really awesome, wishing him the best with what he said, and for me it was just encouraging him along the way so he'd bounce back quickly.

Did you expect that he could make the leap as far as being a physical receiver?
Yep, absolutely. 

Once I saw how he started to follow Kelvin and Steph, you knew that he was going to be okay because those guys work so hard and they do such a good job.  With his skillset using their work ethic as a blueprint, you knew it was going to be a really good product at the end. 

What kind of a different element does Cary Angeline add to the offense that you maybe haven't had? 
Well, he's a lot like David Grinnage.  David was a big tight end that caught the ball really well and Cary is a little bit differently-built, so he can get in and out of spaces a little different, but the ball-catching part of it is similar to what we had with David. 

Obviously his ability to track the ball, that was a great catch for his first career catch. That was pretty special for him to be able to get that one in.

He's versatile. In high school he was a wideout so he's played a lot of places on the field and doesn't feel uncomfortable in any of them.

Have you stressed how important special teams could be this week?
Absolutely.

That's an area that BC struggled in, other than the returner; I think he's really, really good. It's an area that we won last year, you know, blocking a punt against them and that helped us in that game on the road.

We need to play well.  I think we've kicked the ball well the last two weeks, but we still need to cover and tackle better and that's a huge challenge against BC with who they have back there with Walker.