Doeren: "It's Going To Be A Great Battle"

NC State head coach Dave Doeren fielded questions from the media on the ACC's weekly teleconference.

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Opening Statement...

Going backwards, happy with the way the guys came out and played against Furman. Did a lot of things that we were trying to accomplish in the game. Wanted to start fast. Felt like we did that in all three phases with a kickoff for a touchback, defensive stop, offensive score on our first three possessions.

I was happy with rushing defense, playing a triple option team, all the assignments that go into it. Holding them to less than three yards a carry, forcing three takeaways on defense.

Offensively we threw the ball around well. Ryan had a really good day. I thought the guys caught the football well for him. Were able to get over six yards a carry in the run game and not turn the football over. Just for us as a program, we've got to continue to do that. In the last two games, we've protected the football well. Been plus two or better in turnover margin.

I thought the big return by Nyheim was a big play for our special teams. The blocked punt by Steph Louis, things that stood out in the game that we have to continue to build on.

Look forward to playing Florida State in our season opener, unique week in them only having one game on film this late in the season, really a quarterback that we only have high school film to watch on him.

Got a great team, great team on defense with nine returning starters. They have a lot of highly recruited guys that play well within their scheme, good players on the edges, strong players up the middle, long DBs.

On offense, both tailbacks are excellent. Five starting returning offensive linemen and returning tight end. Got some newer receivers, but they've got great length and speed. Typical of what you see when you play them. A tremendous environment to play a game in.

We look forward to the opportunity to go down there and play our best.

Yeah, well, they have five returning starting offensive linemen. They use a lot of seven-protection. You're not going to able to get there with just four. We're going to have to change up, different looks, change things up coverage-wise at our front end.

I think the max protections they use create different challenges. We can't just blitz all day either. They got great skill outside, good screen packages, get the ball out in space to guys.

We got to run our system and change things up and not be predictable, make plays when the plays are there to make. It's going to be a great battle. They have five returners up front. We got four on defense in our front. The line of scrimmage is going to be a definite key for both teams.

 Where do you feel you made the most growth since the opener?

I don't know if that's possible to say there's one thing. There's a lot of little things. Just getting our five offensive linemen back I think probably has been the biggest thing. We were playing with two redshirt freshmen in the opening two games.Terronne wasn't ready to play a whole game. Now he is. Got a whole game under his belt. Will is back in the lineup. That's probably the most noticeable change.

Kyle Bambard being a kickoff guy, he had a great week. That affected our coverage unit quite a bit. We need him to be consistent there. Been so different offensively each week for our defense going against what we did last week compared to the week before, it's kind of hard.

Hopefully just continue to grow and each week get a little better and better. Last week the challenge was to start fast because we hadn't done that yet. Felt like we did. This week it's playing in an environment where the noise can be a factor. We got to handle that.

It's easy to watch film on high school kids these days. You can just go to Hudl, pull up as much as you want. We've been able to see a lot of his high school film.

He has a strong arm. You can see why they wanted him there. He's coming from a nostalgic program. Tough kids, play hard, play against good competition every day. He's got height, he can get it out quick. He's got a good release. He's got great arm strength.

There's not a ton of plays of him as a runner. You don't know how much of that will be a factor in the game. You got to kind of assume you're going to have the same QB run panel they did with Francois. As a high school player, that wasn't a big part of what he did. He was more of a passer. We'll have to see and adjust as we go.

With FSU playing only one game, do you rely on game film from previous matchups?

We always go back and look at how they played us. It's the same coordinators, both sides of the ball, for a number of years. You can see how they game planned us in the past, how we game planned them, things we think we should have done differently, things that work, didn't work.You do go back and look at film of teams that are similar in your approach, see if there are things you can gain from that.

I think the two sides of the ball are a little different. Defensively there's nine returning starters. You can go back and look at a lot of film on their defense.

Offensively obviously the running back load with Dalvin Cook last year, so you don't truly know the style of these two guys. There's not a ton of film. In the pass game, the receivers only have one game of film. The quarterback has none. There will be some adjusting.

You just have to kind of go off of what Jimbo has done in the past, if it gets different, make good adjustments on the sideline.

Ryan Finley, 192 straight passes without an interception, longest streak in the country. There's a little bit of luck that goes into that, but accuracy and ability to read defenses, what goes into a streak like that?

A lot of it is the timing and the accuracy and the judgment, just not making dumb choices. A lot of interceptions, you see guys are trying to force a ball, be Superman. He understands if it's not good, he can get us out of a play with a throwaway or a scramble on the next play, maybe a touchdown. I think he's very mature that way. Some of it's luck. You'll see plays on TV where a quarterback throws a great ball, receiver drops it, bounces up and it's a pick. That happens.

Our guys have done a nice job, knock on wood, of catching the football for him. The offensive linemen keeping the defensive linemen's hands down so there's nothing on the line of scrimmage that way.

We have to continue to work on it. It's just a matter of time that we do have one. So far so good. I know he'll do everything he can to continue to be that way.