Louis Bounces Back

Focus is generally acknowledged as one of the most important things for an athlete. It is, however, not always the easiest trait.

When big games are on the horizon, and family concerns as well, it would be easy to look past Furman or perhaps not be overly concerned with football at all.

Stephen Louis has received help. His family, coaches and teammates are coming through.

With Hurricane Irma creating havoc, the native of West Palm Beach, Florida has been receiving assurances from those he loves that everything is fine back home.

“My family does a great job of making sure that I don’t worry,” Louis said. “I called my dad and the first thing my dad told me was ‘Don’t worry, just go out there and play. Everything back here is going to be alright.’ I know when my dad says that it means a lot so I don’t think I have to worry about it.

“Everything is good. My family is doing alright. They just had one tree fall on the house but no major damage. Everyone I talk to has been alright.”

NC State has made sure that it is not only the family’s job to ease Louis’ concerns.

Head coach Dave Doeren and the football staff has made a point to provide any assistance they can during the trying time.

“They have really helped me,” Louis said. “Coach Doeren has offered help to all of the Florida guys. He has been asking us how everything has been going back home so he has really been supporting us through this tough time.

“A lot of us were worried going into the [Marshall] game but with him, he just told us he would take care of us and just make sure that everything is alright. It helped us to go out there and play free.”

That type of support is meaningful to Louis but not shocking.

“It means a lot,” Louis said. “Coach Doeren, since I have known him he has always been a guy that cared more about our family than football so it has always been more about you as a person than football so I expected that. It was not any surprise to me. I am just happy that I have a coach like that.”

Louis and the Wolfpack will visit Florida on September 23rd when NC State travels to Florida State to take on the Seminoles. That will have to wait for the time being as the Pack has its focus elsewhere.

“It is easy to focus on Furman because they are the most important game,” Louis said. “They are the next game. I try not to think about the future. I try to take things one day at a time. I try to live in the moment.

“So I am not really worried about the game in Florida yet. When that week comes I will be worried about that but Furman is the most important game to me right now. That is how I go about it every week.”

After a gut-wrenching loss to South Carolina in the season opener, NC State rebounded with a win over Marshall.

The Pack started out slow against the Thundering Herd, however. Marshall had double-digit leads on two occasions before NC State closed out the game with 27 unanswered points.

Against Furman, Louis is looking for 60 minutes of focus, without any lulls. It is all a part of the journey for NC State.

“It is very important to start out strong,” Louis said. “You have to start out strong. That is the most important thing. For us, there is a huge emphasis on it. Going into the games, we want to get on the board early. We don’t want to play catch up.

“I think the team is coming along very well. We took a hit on the chin the first week, came back and just worked. Like Coach Doeren says, we have the 24-hour rule so we just put things to rest and you just go back out there as a group and work. We have done a great job of that, just working every week, going day-by-day, accepting the process and loving the process.”