Doeren: "It Was A Really Good Win"

NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media after the Wolfpack's 52-10 road win over Louisville.    

Opening Statement...
I am really proud of our guys. It was a really good win. Any time you can get a win on the road In the ACC. We talked about not beating us and making them beat them. Being able to weather the emotional storm they were going to have early, which they had.

They have good players and good kids. I think our players really showed resiliency and toughness in this game. I thought our coaches did a much better job of adjusting as the game went.

Ryan was able to pass into second, right behind Phillip Rivers, is that right? Right behind Phillip Rivers now for career passing yards and that's pretty awesome. If you talk about the quarterbacks that have played here, for him to do that.

I really thought Kelvin (Harmon), Jakobi (Meyers), and Emeka (Emezie) all had big games at receiver, did some good things not only catching it, but after the catch. Kelvin with another 100-yard game. Who did he pass? That puts him over 1,000 yards for second year in a row, one of three in history (of NC State), is that right?

Pretty awesome for those guys. It's great to get the win and get ready for what is next. Hopefully we came out healthy. We had a few guys nicked up in the first half, but I don't think it is anything major. I look forward to getting back on the bus and the plane and getting back to Raleigh.

On finishing inside of the redzone after last week's struggles...
Well, we work on it every week in practice.

We didn't execute last week. We dropped balls last week and that's the difference. When we get down there, we have to catch the pass, make the pass if you are throwing, make the block and we did that, we executed. That's part of it.

The other part, we had some good variety. I thought that the offensive scheme down there, obviously we had some drop backs, but we had some move the pocket type throws that helped us. When we did run the football, guys got their pads where they needed to be, got bodies on bodies and created run lanes for the backs.

It's all about execution in the red zone and not beating yourself – drops or penalties when you get down there. The guys did a nice job today.

On third down, we were 10-of-14. Defensively, they were 3-of-12. They were 2-of-4 in the red zone, we were 7-of-7. All the things that tell you you're going to win the game.

On moving on after a loss...
As a program, I feel like right now when we have adversity, we respond really well. When people don't respect us, we respond really well. People talk bad about us, we respond really well. We still haven't learned how to deal with success. That's the next thing for our program. The two games we didn't play the way I thought we could, Clemson and Wake (Forest), those were the weeks we were getting the 'Attaboys' all week.

That's something I have to get better at helping them with, obviously, as their head coach – getting them to block the noise. I knew we'd respond, our guys were awesome. When I met with you guys Tuesday, I said it was our best practice of the year and it showed. When you go out in pads and practice that way, it helps.

On seniors being leaders and having big games...
I love when our seniors play like that. The sand is running out of the hour class for them. That urgency to play the right way and have fun playing is one thing. I thought our guys really just cut loose and relaxed, didn't make mistakes and had fun.

They really did. Those guys had fun today and I'm glad we were able to create that environment and they went out there and did that.

What has Ryan meant to your program? 
The thing you start with Ryan is he's a great person. I think he knows who he is. We've got 40-year-old friends who don't know who they are, right? This guy is a senior in college, even though he's an old senior, he knows who he is.

He's incredibility special that way. I think that's the best part about him. He's competitive, he wants to play better and he owns things he needs to get better at. He's great with his teammates. He's an inspirational guy, he really is. I'm proud to be his head coach.