Babers: "It's Going To Be Very, Very Difficult"

Syracuse head coach Dino Babers discusses the upcoming game against NC State with the media.

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Opening Statement...

Well, we're going to play a fine opponent again. Once again, Coach Dave has done a fantastic job with NC State, outstanding defense, outstanding offense, fabulous win. That win over Florida State at Florida State, I'm watching it on tape, and that's really something, and you think about somebody that's been there five years, another Northern Illinois MAC coach in the ACC Atlantic in the fifth year of his program, and to get a win like that is something really special, and it just goes to show what happens when you take your time and build it from the bottom and do it right.

We know they're going to be an outstanding opponent. We know the game is going to be extremely difficult, and you know, we're looking forward to going down there, although we know it's going to be very, very difficult.

I think a lot of people kind of saw last week's game, going down to Baton Rouge and playing that well as a big statement of progress for the team; where do you as a head coach come down on the moral victories of going into a game where you're a heavy underdog and playing well but not coming away with a win?

Well, I think the biggest thing is that we went down, we played in a very difficult venue. We really did compete extremely well. It was a two-point game with five minutes left, and I'm really proud of that part. That part of the game I'm really proud of. To be excited we lost the game, I don't think there's anyone excited that we lost the game, but I am excited about the way the team competed in a very difficult venue.

How has Jonathan Kingsley performed this year, and what do you see as his role with the defense?

 Oh, he's a young man that I think is slowly coming along. We rotate a lot of those guys, and as they play better and better and they grade better and better after their performances in games, then they get more and more opportunities, and I think that Kingsley will slowly -- if he continues to improve, he'll slowly get more and more opportunities out there.

I was wondering what you call him and maybe what his teammates call him. He's kind of undergone a name change here the last couple years.

We call him Jonathan Kingsley.

 Not Kingsley Jonathan?

 Or Kingsley Jonathan.

What did you learn from your squad from playing in a really tough environment down there in Death Valley?

I just thought that there was some maturity growth. We've been in that situation last year. We went down to Clemson and played in another Death Valley and we didn't perform extremely well, so that was Death Valley 2. Talking about those movies, part 1 and part 2, Rocky 2. So we went down there and for them to totally turn it around the way they competed in that situation, I was really excited to see that.

And talk about North Carolina State's defense, Chubb. I saw him last week watching the Florida State game, and it seems like he's explosive on every side of the football, so how is your offensive line going to block him so he doesn't disrupt your offense?

 How about this for an answer: IDK. I mean, that guy can really go. We were playing last week Key, the defensive end for LSU, who's supposed to be the fourth or fifth pick in the draft, so to speak, and I'm looking at Chubb on film, and I think he's better.

And the guy is flying all over the field. He's stout. He's ripping the ball out 10, 12 yards down the field, making plays on backs. He's very, very active, he's very, very good. I'm not sure we've seen better so far.

To look at some of the unsung heroes when you look at nationally, people talk about offense and defense all the time, but your special teams unit, despite the loss, what Sterling Hofrichter was able to do punting the ball, getting it inside the 5 on the 1 that helped create the safety and the unit as a whole, just what you can say about special teams and how they've been playing and adjusting, especially the LSU game.

 Well, obviously they were outstanding, the LSU game, and that hidden yardage was one of the key parts of the game that kept us in the game, and Sterling is an outstanding punter. I keep telling all the young ladies around campus, you'd better grab him because he's going to working on Sundays. Your lifestyle is going to be pretty well. The guy is an outstanding student, he's a fine -- he is a fine representative of this football team on and off the field, and he goes about his business in a very serious, serious manner, and oh, yeah, he's an NFL punter.

And then when you look to the offensive side of the ball, obviously Eric Dungey has had heroics and done a lot of good things in his career at Syracuse, but when you look at this game, and I know coming out in the second half, he had gotten around the team on the field and was trying to rally everybody together after the LSU score to start the second half, and you could see the leadership and you could see the intensity that he had. Just what you can say about what he does to bring the team back to focus and get the team back in it and obviously made the game 28-26 later on.

You know, we have two heartbeats. You've got Zaire Franklin on defense, and you've got Eric Dungey on offense, and those guys play very passionately, sometimes too passionately, but sometimes they need to keep it under control so they can operate at a high manner and a high level. But there's no doubt that those two individuals want to win in the worst way, and they're fantastic competitors.

As games are pushing three and a half, four hours, would you be in favor of college football running the clock after 1st downs until maybe the last five minutes of the half?

 No, I think there's been so many rule changes to our game in the last four or five years to accommodate everyone else outside of our games that I would be more in favor to just keeping everything the same for a while and let it settle down and let's see how all these rules have really affected the game five or six years down the road.

Kind of to build off the Bradley Chubb answer, unfortunately we saw Cody Conway get banged up late against LSU. I'm curious why you guys went with the lineup change you did, moving Evan Adams over to right tackle.

 Well, we think that Evan is our next best tackle. I mean, he's got active feet, he's light, he's got fantastic reach and long arms, and he's a more experienced guy. The last thing you want to do is put a rookie over there with Key. I mean, he's 6'6" and he's supposed to get picked fourth or fifth in the draft. That may not be a happy ending for us, so we just felt like it needed to be a more experienced guy over there.

I know you're not going to want to speak to where Cody is at, but if we do get to Saturday and you're out there with Evan, how do you prepare someone like that? I know he has experience playing tackle but he said the last time he did was the first spring you were here. How do you prepare him for a guy like Bradley Chubb?

 Kind of goes back to the Philadelphia 76ers, "We're talking about practice." Practice.

Considering that North Carolina State won at Florida State last weekend and Clemson struggled a little bit against Boston College, is the rest of the league closing the gap at all do you think on the upper-echelon teams?

Well, I don't think I've been in the league long enough to answer that question. I think it would be a fantastic question for the other guys, the Wake Forests, the Boston Colleges, Dave at NC State.

I think with me just going in the second year and being one and one third of the way in, I don't think I get a right to vote for that.