Doeren: "Our Guys Weren't Ready"
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media after the Wolfpack's loss at Clemson.
“Yeah, you’ve got to give Clemson a lot of credit. They played really well. Obviously, I don’t think we did. I own that. Our guys weren’t ready. We turned the ball over. We weren’t good on third down. We didn’t tackle well enough, and they played a really good football game. You’ve got to give Dabo and his staff credit and their players. We just didn’t do the things I thought we’d do today.”
“I mean, we’re disappointed for sure. I thought we would play a heck of a game. It just didn’t go our way. We turned the ball over, it was 14-0, we turned it over two straight series, and it just kind of got away from us. Third down was really hard for us today, and offensively, it’s been a strength for us. Defensively, we’re in a lot of tough positions.”
“Obviously, they protected well, for one. I have to look at some of the protection stuff, but they protected really well. We didn’t win enough one-on-one blocks in the pass rush. Their O-line did a lot better than we did.”
“Not necessarily. I just don’t think we played well, and they’re really good. When you do those two things, it’s not going to be a good day. It’s definitely a disappointment, but there’s a lot of football left. There are six games left in the regular season, and anything can happen. We just don’t control our own destiny anymore. They’ve got to go play Boston College in November up there, and we can hope with a little bit of luck. It’s a setback for sure, but it doesn’t put us back in the Dark Ages as a program. We’ve just got to get back to work, roll our sleeves back up, and fix it.”
“It’s hard to say. Those are the kind of plays that you’ve got to make. You can’t turn the ball over on the road. You’ve got to make the plays that are there. You can’t give up big plays. We just didn’t play well enough to win.”
“Yeah, it’s hard to get into the rhythm. Any offense in the country wants to be in a rhythm, and to do that, you can’t have negative plays. You’ve got to catch the balls that are thrown that hit you in the hands. That wasn’t us today.”
“Not right now. I’m sure there are. I’m sure I’ll find them tomorrow, but right now, I’m just disappointed. We’re a little banged up out there too, so I want to make sure our guys are okay.”
“He’s a really good player. He gets the ball out quick. He’s accurate. He’s got good players around him. He has a lot of poise. He’s a really good quarterback."