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NC State Football

VIDEO + QUOTES: Dave Doeren's Weekly Press Conference

October 14, 2019
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NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media Monday to update his roster after the bye week and preview Saturday night's game at Boston College.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the press conference.


Opening Statement...
I thought defensively we started fast with three straight three-and-outs against an explosive offense. We had fourth-down stops with quarterback pressures and sacks.

We played really smart. We challenged our guys to plays with more pre-snap and post-snap discipline, and we did that. None of our penalties were of those varieties.

Offensively, we went against the top takeaway defense in the ACC and turned the ball over only one time.

I thought our special teams units were very physical.... we won the field position battle and the hidden yardage.

I thought Larrell Murchison and Louis Acceus really played fantastic games for us. Guys played fast.

Offensively we had 11 explosive plays and we needed to build that into the 10-plus category on a weekly basis and was happy to see that happen. It started on the first play of the game with a good, aggressive call, and I thought there were several of them in the game. Obviously the trick play to close the half was a great play call and well-executed by the guys.

We are continuing to score in the redzone, but we need to get more touchdowns than field goals. That's an area we have to get better at here moving forward.

We are playing a really good football team in Boston College who is coming off their bye week. Boston College has had two losses recently by a total of five points... they are one of the top teams in the country in creating explosive plays... they are 13th nationally with 19 plays of over 30 yards.

They have the explosive run game with play-action coming off it. Their fly sweep, jet sweep series that they have gives people a lot of problems.

They do a really good job up front. They've only given up three sacks all year, and they've lost some good offensive linemen which says a lot about their ability to recruit and produce at that position group.

It's the top rushing offense against the top rushing defense in the league, so it will be a great competition there for both teams. It's always been a game decided by a touchdown or less with them so we know it will be a four-quarter game, and we look forward to playing against Steve and his staff.

We have to do a really good job with our eyes in this game on defense. I think the eye violations can kill you with what they do, the tempo they do it at... they have an exceptional tailback. The freshman wide receiver, Flowers, is playing really, really well. He's a difference maker on the perimeter.

Their defense is big up front, physical, and their linebackers are aggressive.

For us, we have to take what we've done at home and bottle it up and take on the road with us... play better on the road for four quarters.

We know what we're in for with them. We have to play really, really sound fundamental football. They take the ball away a lot like Syracuse.

We've got to do a really good job of being gap sound and not giving up explosive plays, which is something we've been good at and paramount in this game on the road. You can't let someone run the ball all over you and have a chance to win on the road.

You look at their receivers and tight ends and they are averaging 17, 18, 19-yards per catch. That's tough... it comes down to us being very disciplined and understanding who we have, why we have them, and doing it the right way with our coverage units.

They've only given up three sacks and you have 16 in the last two weeks. Is this a matchup where you challenge your guys?
Our guys know and we respect them up front. We know it's a battle. This is an old-school game in the trenches, but there's no doubt they are good at running the football, we are good at stopping the run. They are good at protecting the quarterback, we've been good at sacking the quarterback. They are good at taking away the football, we've been good at protecting.

There's a lot of things at play where you have strength on strength.

How did Icky Ekwonu grade out?
He did some things really well. First play he had a pancake... on the first play of the game, which was a drop-back pass.

For his first start playing against the level of player he had in Syracuse. That's the best, in my opinion, all the way across the board with their rotation. Their front is really good.

How did Devin Leary perform?
I thought Devin did some good things. He came in and had a couple of completions. He had a really nice throw where unfortunately we didn't come up with the catch, and he had a teachable moment where he tried to be superhuman almost on a play. Sometimes you have to recognize the defense has done enough and run and get what you can get or throw it away.

It gives us a chance to continue to get him some reps and help him develop... be ready in case he's needed there.

I thought Bailey did some really good things. If you ask Bailey, he'd tell you he didn't play well, but I thought he played better than he did the week before. That's what you want out of both of them – improvement – and I think we got that.

Is there that big of a difference between a left-handed quarterback and a right-handed quarterback?
I think there is if you get into the movements and how they scramble. Some guys are more prone to scramble to their arm strength, and some can't throw well going opposite their arm. I'm not saying Bailey can't do that, but if you look at sprint-outs and bootlegs, different things like that based on their quarterback.

From a play-calling standpoint you have to be able to flip things in your mind based on who is in the game at times.

What is it about this game that always comes down to the wire?
In the past it's two teams who don't beat themselves a lot. If you look at us and them we're turnover-margin teams who really care about that... we are physical teams who can run the football and put a lot of stock into stopping the run.

I think you have a similar mindset between the two teams, and we respect them a lot. In talking with Steve, I think both of us really respect line of scrimmage play.

BC didn't play on Saturday, but I'm guessing you were able to watch some games. Did you come to any conclusions watching the rest of the division?
With what we're dealing with, with the age of our team, the injuries to our team, every week, if we can not beat us and get better, we'll have a chance to win every game.

It's like I told our team after the Florida State game, the only team on our schedule I'm worried about is us. I think that's true. I think we can be in a one-possession game with every team we're playing and win if we can get better at the things we've got, with who we've got, and eliminate the things that beat us.

You watch college football now it's every week, how is this team playing with that team. I can't get into that. All I know is if we beat ourselves we have no chance. None. That's where our focus has to be and getting these guys now into game seven to play like veteran players.

Like Jordan [Houston], he shouldn't be making the mistakes he made in game one, two, or three. There were some reads in the run play that could have been explosive runs. Getting him to play faster, those are some things I'm worried about.

Chris Ingram is on the depth chart?
We're still waiting on a verdict on that. They are with the doctors today, all our guys. We meet with [trainer] Justin [Smith] at 3:30 He hasn't been ruled out yet, but we'll see where we end up.

BC's defense doesn't seem as experienced...
They are big, strong guys like they've been. They've had some elite defensive players the last couple of years, guys drafted in the first and second round, and now they are kind of like how we were a couple of years ago when we replaced guys. They have a younger group in there.

Not to take anything away from their talent, but they are not as experienced as they were before. It seems their d-line was together for three years in a row so you have new faces, but their body types are still big. They have a lot of mass in the box.

Are they also giving up more big plays than in the past?
Yeah, I think they are. You can look at the statistics on defense and see the rushing defense stats and explosive plays, different things like that.

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VIDEO + QUOTES: Dave Doeren's Weekly Press Conference

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