VIDEO + QUOTES: Dave Doeren's Weekly Press Conference

NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media Monday to recap the Ball State game and preview Saturday night's ACC opener against Florida State.

NOTE: Click the video in the player above to watch Doeren’s press conference.

Comments on the Ball State win...
Offensively we averaged five yards per carry and continued to be very efficient in the redzone. 100 percent in the redzone with scoring.

We improved on 3rd down, we were 100% on 3rd and medium, really the area we struggled. We were 8-of-10 in the first half on 3rd down.  

We made some really good contact, difficult catches, body-on-body catches, an area we needed to improve.

We improved in the run defense, holding them to less than three yards per carry. 

There were four times our defense was put on the field after turnovers – the onside kick, after getting stopped on a fourth and one... we held them to a field goal or less all four times and got an interception of our own after the onside kick. That was a great response from our defense and showed a lot of mental toughness.  

I thought we were good on third down defensively, from third-and-3 up.  

I thought our special teams were exceptional.  Trenton Gill punted the football well, flipped the field position, we covered his kicks well and were aggressive in coverage... the punt return by Thayer for a touchdown and the punt block by Max Fisher were huge momentum plays for us in the game and something we've been waiting on. We were excited to see that part of our special teams step up.

The problems vs. Ball State...
Third and short and fourth and short on both sides of the ball need to get better.  

I thought we dropped some layup catches which are easy plays for us.  We have to focus on our layups and make those plays for our quarterbacks.  You hate to see two interceptions; both were tipped balls that ended up picks, a tremendous play by their guy on one.

The onside kick we want to be able to recover and put the game away. Too many completions over 15 yards; none of them were touchdowns but were chunk plays that impact your field position.  We have to be better going forward.

We also have to create more takeaways which will help our offense and help us improve.

Injury Updates...
Dylan Autenrieth is out for the season, unfortunately.  He'll be back and have the opportunity to receive a sixth year, as well, after next season. Another really good player... captain. I hate that for him, but he’ll do a great job of leading our football team to the best of his ability.

A positive, James Smith-Williams is back in action.  We look forward to getting James Smith-Williams back this week. Not sure how much, but he's really excited to be back on the field with his teammates.

Initial thoughts on Florida State and the FSU offense...
Moving forward, we get to play at an incredible venue against a football team who has great talent. 

They are outscoring their opponents in the first quarter at an alarming rate. Starting fast, particularly on the road, will be a huge point of emphasis for us, but more importantly playing four quarters of football.

Their quarterback got dinged up in the last game so I'm not sure his status, but both guys, Hornibrook came in and he's completing 70% of his passes.

Their tailback is really the guy. Not to take anything away from their wide receivers because they are outstanding, but Cam Akers is a really good football player. He's an all-purpose back and on all three downs he's effective, efficient.  He can run you over, make you miss, he's good after contact, averaging 127 yards per game... he's their third-leading receiver, has thrown a touchdown. He's a really good football player.

Their wideouts are scary guys. They can run. Terry is their big deep threat but their slot receivers are tremendous. Their tight end, McKitty, is a really good football player for them. We have to do a great job up front of defending the run game and not giving up big plays in the pass game.

All these teams are uptempo, no-huddle, so it's kind of par for the course. They are an uptempo offense.

Building on what we did last week will be key in this football game, and learning from our last road game and our shortcomings there.

Thoughts on FSU Defense...
They have a really, really good defensive line. They are impressive. They are big with three starters over 300 pounds... you have some mass you have to deal with.  

Their linebackers are quick guys who are long, and their safety, No. 23, is from North Carolina, a really good football player for them, leading tackler.

They are an active defense with a good staff. They do a lot.

They play press coverage, they play quarters.  They do a lot of good things on defense.  

We have to execute at a high level and it starts with us not beating us. Eliminating the penalties will be huge.  I'm excited about this opportunity and the chance to play a storied program.

You mentioned the short-yardage problems. Not having Dylan, one of your best blockers, who do you use you to replace some of that?
Dylan Parham has done a good job for us and his role steps up. We were rotating the three tight ends, and now it's two guys getting the share of those reps.

Thomas Ruocchio is a guy that we trust... he's in a position where he can play.  You saw us using Ickey at times as an extra lineman in the game. We have to be creative. Anytime you lose a part of your team, how do you replace it, but we have other bodies... we'll have to be creative at times.

You got Bailey a meaningful series. Do you have a plan?
We haven't talked about it yet.  That's what we do today, game plan.  Our staff meeting is at 3:30.
I was excited to get him in the game in a series that wasn't mop-up duty.  Allow him to play; it was good for him.  He did some good things.  He had a nice scramble to get us a first down, and the interception which he'll learn from and grow from.

We don't have anything in stone yet.

With Kurt's background at Duke with using multiple quarterbacks, have you kicked around those concepts at all?
We've talked about everything, yep.

With Matt's skillset it would seem he'd be pretty good at that type of role...
At what?

Redzone, short-yardage usage...
Matt? We've done that. He had two rushing touchdowns in the game down there.

I'm saying the other element would be to use the other guys as an element to get the ball down the field.
We've talked about all of it.

The tough catches, how much do the catches improve third-down efficiency?
All catches improve third down efficiency. 

It helps... Thayer made a great catch, a two-handed catch, and Emeka's one-handed catch... you can go back to last year, and there were a lot of circus catches made by our wideouts last year.  That's football, you have to make tough plays, and we'll make those.

I'm more concerned about the layups we're missing than the circus catches we'll make.  That will happen from time to time.  The ones... the first play of the third quarter we throw a great pass to Emeka, and he doesn't catch that ball. Those are the kind of plays for us.

Eliminate the penalties and make the layups, then let's see what happens. That to me is the biggest thing we have to do. Be the team that doesn't beat itself, takes advantage of the plays there, and then go make the great play.

That's how you become elite, and we're still working on that.

What is Bam's status?
Don't know on Bam, but I expect to have him. I think he could have gone back in the game, but Ricky was playing well, Jordan was playing well.

I haven't seen him yet today. He's been in the training room, but I expect to have him Saturday.

How much is it a luxury to have the RB depth...
You need them, particularly in the heat we play in. The change of pace they all bring, Trent Pennix as well, it helps you to use their skillsets to open up the playbook. 

As you watch FSU, what's holding them back? They don't seem to be the old Florida State?
If they play the first quarter for four quarters they are killing people. They are up 56-9 at the end of the first quarter right now. I'm sure they are talking about being a four-quarter football team.

They are like all of us, you want to play your best football for four quarters, and they have really, really talented football players on the field. That's what you see.  Their offensive skill is really elite at every spot.

A lot of the same lines, the last two weeks your second half hasn't been as strong as your first half. Is there something you point to?
Our second quarter has been our best quarter.  It has.

The first quarter has been pretty stale, feeling people out, making good adjustments and taking advantage of it. Defensively we've played well in the first quarter with the exception of West Virginia.

In the third quarter we have to come out hot. That's what we have to do. It's not like we're coming out without a plan. Like I said, we had two mistakes the first two plays we can correct and will correct.

But that's dealing with young players, they are super angst and we have to settle in sooner and be able to maintain that throughout the game.

How big of a change is ACC play?
It's really the second quarter as you look at how we look at our season. Before we get into the bye weeks, this week and we get a break and then a Thursday game and our schedule gets crazy with all these Saturday's we're not playing.

You can look at it from the outside in as the stakes are different, but for us it's not. Our players were very adamant about having a 1-0 mentality each week, not getting too up or too down.

What did you put on tape and how can you be better than the week before?  I think that's going to be the same message no matter who we're playing.  

More on Thayer Thomas and his play...
The thing you love most about him is how consistent he is. Everyday, he's a gym rat.  He's working on his craft, trying to get better.  He's the same guy and for a coach that's so nice to have, knowing what you'll get from this dude everyday. 

That's what I love about him, and the plays are coming because of that. His consistency makes him a consistent playmaker and it will continue because that's who he is.  

He believes in his work ethic, trusts his coaching, the plan. He's very versatile, very smart.  He has high IQ, very competitive.

He's a lot faster than people give him credit, and he has great acceleration.  Anytime you run under a four-flat shuttle, that's an elite team and he's done that multiple times.  He has really explosive movements, he makes quick decisions and that's what you need at punt returner, a guy who can put his foot in the ground and quickly accelerate through the holes that are there.

On the injuries to experienced players...
It's been challenging, but that's the hard part.  You want to build off the chemistry you have.
You lose Tyrone the second practice of fall camp, then CJ Riley in the first game, and Nick is out after the first game. James is out after the second game, you lose Bolt for one game. 

It's a revolving deal with your chemistry at times, so it does make it challenging. I told the teams last week we don't have freshmen or seniors, we have a football team. We have to go out and do your job, not worry about your age anymore, period.  

The fact that we only have seven active seniors, or whatever it is, it doesn't matter anymore.  We have to get the most out of what we have.  We have a young team, but we won't talk about it.

We'll talk about playing, doing our jobs, getting better, and letting these guys be the best they can be through our schemes, our plans, and our ability to coach them through things and get them better fundamentally.  That's the bottomline.

We need to play smarter and with better technique. We are playing hard, that's one thing you see, but not beating ourselves with these guys and elevating their ability to move forward in the program without saying, "In a year he will be better."  No, he has to be better in three days.

That's where we are at... but we need to play smarter with better technique.  

More on recruiting depth..
The last two recruiting classes have helped with that. The guys having to play now are guys we did a good job of evaluating, recruiting, and are thankful they are here.

Where that takes us is up to us now. After this Saturday we'll get a little break to reset it and study it.