QUOTEBOOK: Dave Doeren's Monday Press Conference

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

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.

Opening Statement...
I’m excited for another opportunity to play this week and proud of the effort and preparation we had last week.

I felt like our guys invested a lot in themselves and their technique and the results were very good for a lot of the guys. We were able to play a lot of guys in that game and get them some meaningful game reps.

I thought Matt McKay came in and ran our offense at the end of the game... I thought he did some really nice things.

I thought Ryan probably played his best game. I thought he managed things well, got us in the right calls, and gave guys chances to make plays.  

Harmon, Meyers, and Emeka played really good football games.

I thought our run game improved a lot throughout the game.  It didn’t start very fast, but as it went the guys did some good things adjusting to the way they were being played by Louisville.

I thought Bradbury played a really good game for us.

It was good to get them all, we had 10 different offensive linemen play.

We had two takeaways and really had a third, I guess we didn't have replay available during the third quarter. That was a weird deal, but that definitely looked like a fumble.

We limited explosive plays defensively.

We went 21-0 in the third quarter to put them away, but there were a lot of things we left on the field, too.  We missed too many tackles and had a lot of guys unblocked in the backfield.  We left some TFLs out there that we have to make.

We are going to focus hard on us, our fundamentals, technique, and improving.

On the UNC game...
These games are never about stats and records... two close-by rivals.  I look forward to playing in this game, and I know they do the same.

When you watch them on film they have really good skill players.  Their running backs are very impressive. They run hard, break tackles, and are physical blockers.

Their wide receivers, Ratliff-Williams and Newsome, are big playmakers for them.

They have a lot of guys who have played in a lot of close games. They got a win last week and have five games where they lost by 10 points or less.

They've moved the ball on just about everybody defensively. 

They know their scheme and are sound. I do think their defensive front is as good as I've seen it from them in awhile now that they are all playing again.

Holcomb makes a lot of tackles and Carney, Strowbridge, and Fox are disruptive players.

Strowbridge is a young man we really wanted here coming out of high school.  

They have 30 sacks on the season so it's a good challenge for us on our protections and limiting their disruptions.

I’m eager to get back on the field with our guys so we can work on the things we want to work on and play our brand of football.

When you are in the same neighborhood you are compared to the other school. Do you feel this is the best spot you've been here against them?
I don't compare myself to anybody. My job is to make us as good as we can be here. If it ends up where we want to be, compared to them, that’s great.

I just don't want to be in a situation at NC State where I'm not doing everything I can to get us where we want to be. I don't think comparisons get you there.

If that’s where we are and they are, so be it, but it doesn’t have anything to do with my job.

Everyone will tell you that you like winning rivalry games.  For this team, our best football has always been when it's about us getting better.

That’s all we’ll talk about.

Does that game in 2016 feel like a turning point for this program?
I'd say it was.  I probably saved my job winning that game. I wouldn't be standing here today probably if we didn't win that game.

That was our recruiting class that had all these guys drafted the following year, for those guys to stick together... that was a crazy season coming off the Clemson game and lost some close games.

Our momentum changed after that win for our program for sure.

More on the UNC game...
It’s a really important game for our fanbase and every rivalry game I’ve ever been in.

Every game I play in, I wan to win that game, but every game I want to win. I just think it's more meaningful because we are in the same city with some of their alumni. You bump into them all the time.

Anytime you play in-state teams there are recruiting things that can help you, but I want our players to play well.  I want us to play our type of football and I feel like if we do that we can say we’ll win the game because we are the type of team where if we don’t beat us and force them to beat themselves, we play pretty good football.

What do you attribute the last two wins there to?
I don’t know.  I just think it's how you prepare and execute. We've been able to do that in their stadium twice, and here once.

We've played well in the two times we won over there and we played well here last year... it's football, you have to prepare, practice, and go out and execute.

What changed in the second half rushing the football against Louisville?
It just depends on which play. I think in the first quarter they were getting downhill and we were a little lateral in some of the things we were doing.  The first play of the game we weren’t off on the snap count. There was another play where our guard stepped on our center’s foot

We just didn't execute and weren't crisp in the run game early. We then started to do some different things... I think they got tired.

Early in the game there is a feeling-out period and people defend you differently than the team you had watched.

I thought the coaches did a good job of coming up with other ways to run the football.

When did you notice that Kelvin was paying attention to Steph and following him?
Those two guys have kind of been hooked to the hip in the offseason training stuff... they just started doing all these things together to make each other elite and hold each other accountable.

Kelvin saw how hard Steph worked when he was injured, and I think there's a lot of respect for each other.