Doeren: "It Was Awesome To Find A Way To Win"

NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media to discuss the Wolfpack's 28-23 win over Boston College.

Opening Statement...
Great game, I'm really proud of the resiliency of our guys... the toughness and fortitude to finish. It was sloppy, but it was awesome to find a way to win against a really good team, and I knew BC wouldn’t quit.

I thought defensively our guys played about as good as they could in the first half, and in the second half just didn’t finish some drives.

Offensively the turnovers hurt us. Obviously, when you have 533 yards you expect to score more than 28 points.

The blocked punt I’ll take credit for that. We were really worried about their returner and thought they’d set up a return. We could have been in better protection than we were in.

It was a great football game though. It was great to see Reggie (Gallaspy) and Ricky (Person) both get 100 yards rushing. Jakobi (Meyers) and Kelvin (Harmon) both had great games. I thought the playcall on fourth-and-two by Eli (Drinkwitz) was clutch. It was a pressure call and allowed us to ice the game.

Some really good things to build on and be 5-0 heading into a bye week. It’s a great place to be right now, getting ready for a heck of a team down the road but our players are excited and they deserve to be.

All the stats... would you say you played better than the final score indicated?
We did, but we turned the ball over.  When you do that you don't get the points your drives have in them.

It's something we have to learn from. Ball security will be a major, major emphasis going into this week... we have to be better there. 

The play with Pratt getting a forced in the redzone was huge, huge play.

The play with Pratt 

On defense being crucial component in game...
Tough as nails. Coach Hux and our staff has those guys right where they want them. The kids are playing hard, they believe in what they’re doing and are playing together. They don’t care who makes the play or who gets the credit, they just play hard and they bought into this game plan. A lot of time went into it – didn’t sleep a lot last week preparing for what BC does.

They’re a really good offense... they are averaging 40-something points a game 500-something yards a game, lead the league in all these categories, and we played pretty darn good.

On Steph Louis stepping up in leadership role...
Clutch, you talk about seniors... and guys making plays in their last year is what you hope for. It’s great to see that.

During the week Steph asked to be put on more special teams... let him have a bigger role.  He wanted to do more, and he did. He was on two units today on our punt coverage and our punt return. He’s a selfless guy.

On Reggie Gallaspy with 10 straight carries down the stretch...
Reggie’s ball security is the best that we have, and obviously when Ricky (Person) fumbled the ball you’re going to go with the guy that’s never done that. It would be crazy not to... have a senior with what Reggie can do.

Ricky played a good football game but that’ll be a play he learns from. It's no doubt. You put the ball in the senior’s hand that does a good job with the football.

Thoughts on Ryan Finley's two interceptions...
Well the redzone throw that their D-end intercepted, he should have never done that. He should have thrown the ball away, that was a poor choice. 

I have to see the other, I didn't get to see that one as closely.

They did a good job of defending the first one... he should have just thrown it away and lived for the next down.

Is it safe to say this defense has been better than last year's through five games?
Statistically you would say yes, you know? I don't think we have as many disruptive plays as w did at this time last year, we forced more turnovers. But other than that, our scoring defense, our third-down defense, and our redzone defense, those are the top-three things that matter, are better.

Those kids are doing a really good job.

As BC made their run, what were you sensing on the sideline?
There was no flinch. They were great. We just had to go get a couple of first downs.

I thought our onside defense there at the end was really good, Thayer caught it.  It was a battle, we talked about it all week, there was going to be one.

They are a good football team.

What is like when you see Germaine Pratt play downhill like he did today?
It's fun watching those guys in general. Isaiah, Pratt, Louis, and Brock even when he's in there, are playing fundamentally sound. Pratt is just playing fundamentally sound and having a good time with it.   I enjoyed watching that.

I'm looking forward to seeing the film, I really am. I think we took them out of a lot of things that they are really good at in the run game, and they pride themselves on that.

Other than one run, they didn't do a whole lot rushing the football and that's saying a lot against a really good rushing offense.

The 24-hour rule, how do you handle 5-0 and a lot of people will tell you how good you are...
It's not something you can ignore. You talk about it with the guys and remind them of what got them to where they are.

I want them to enjoy the respect they've earned nationally because they deserve that, but at the same time stay focused on the process that got them there.

I hope they get the respect they deserve because this football team has done a great job this year.

Is this defense where it needs to be to hang with Clemson?
We'll see. I haven't watched them on tape yet. Clemson's a great team and we'll get there when we get there, but I'm going to have some fun first.

What were the ways you saw this team not flinch in the fourth quarter there?
You heard the guys saying come on let's finish as opposed to being a funeral over there... just a lot of positive encouragement between the players to each other about finishing the game.

Sometimes you get in those and you feel everyone gets tight and there's panic but i didn't sense that at all.

Is the timing of the bye week ideal?
Absolutely. It comes at a good time. The players are excited about a little time and so are the coaches.

How nerve-wracking was it to see Finley down?
It didn't look like anything on the play. I tried not to get too worked over it. They said he was cramping.