Dave Doeren: "The Defense Was Really Stellar Today"

NC State will come back to Raleigh from its three-game road trip with a lot to celebrate following a 38-21 win over Virginia that improved the team to 3-1 on the young season. 

Thanks in large part to a stellar game by the defense that included three intereceptions, a blocked punt, a forced fumble and a pick-six by Alim McNeill, the Wolfpack has won back-to-back road games for the first time since 2018.

Head coach Dave Doeren spoke to the media after the game; here’s a full breakdown of everything he had to say:

Opening statement

“I’m very proud of our guys and our staff to come on the road for the third straight week and play the ACC Coastal defending champs the way we did. I thought the defense was really stellar today. Four takeaways, a defensive touchdown, we blocked a punt. I’m really proud of their effort. 

Offensively, we just kind of hung in there. We did some good things in the first half, got us off to a lead. They’re a good defense. It was good to see Bam run the way we did. 100-yard game for Bam. Emeka made a couple clutch catches. Devin’s stats aren’t great, but he did some good things taking care of the football. … When you’re plus-3 in the turnover margin, you block a punt, you’ve got to win every game. 

So I’m really proud of the effort of the guys. I hope their quarterback’s OK. It looked like he got [hit] pretty good, I hope he’s OK. Lindell Stone came in and, I thought, played a gutsy game for them. It was a good football game, physical game. So I’m proud of the team, we look forward to coming back to Raleigh and having some games back in our hometown. 

For Joshua Pierre-Louis to come back after he has the roughing the passer penalty to take away the pick-six last week and then have the big interception today, what were the conversations like with him last week and how good a feeling was it to see him do that today?

Josh is a good player. Really, it was just a teachable moment for him on the strike zone, as we call it, where you can’t hit a quarterback. He’s so protected now, you have to understand the rules and play within them. So it was a teachable moment. We learned from it, and we showed it to the entire roster so that everybody could learn from it. I’m proud of him. We dropped three interceptions, we could have had a bunch more. [Jakeen Harris], we’ve got to get him on the jugs machine or get his eyes checked maybe, but I know he’s going to be mad watching the film. But it’s fun to see the guys out there flying around making plays. Josh Pierre-Louis is just one of them. 

It seemed like your defense is playing with a lot of confidence, are we seeing this group grow up right before our eyes?

I think you are. I think [defensive coordinator Tony Gibson] and the defensive staff are dealing with a lot of young guys. So we’re going to be a defensive that grows and improves as the season goes on. They do have a lot of confidence, and I think that comes from the way they’re being coached and the kids are buying into the system. They’re playing fast, and it’s fun. We brought out the dog bone today and got four takeaways. Guys were signing it on the sideline, I think that gave them a little motivation over there. 

Could you see them growing as the game went on?

They did a really nice job creating that, we had some artistic work done to it. The guys were fired up about it. These millennials love stuff like that. Whatever it takes to get turnovers, we’re willing to do it. There’s definitely some blood in the water.

How good was it to see Alim McNeill get into the end zone as well?

That was a great play by him and we needed a play. We had just blocked a punt the previous series and didn’t score any points, and our punter did a nice job pinning them back there. It was a hell of play by Alim. It was awesome to see him get a touchdown, that’s a lineman’s dream for sure.

The young secondary, you’re forced to play some younger players with Chris Ingram and some other players being out for the season now, how good was it to see them step up because Shyheim Battle had the interception as well?

They’ve got their hands full back there coaching these guys, freshmen. Devin Boykin had to play the whole second half with Tanner being ejected. Aydan White got some snaps at corner, another true freshman. We had to play a lot of guys in that game. It’s going to be a really good group. Each group, they’ve just got to keep getting better. As you know, there’s really good receivers in this league and they’re going to be tested each week.

Last year, you had trouble taking the ball away, was today a matter of things correcting themselves, or did you do something this week to emphasize that. 

We emphasize it every week, but I think it’s something that their quarterback in the first half really struggled with the coverages we were running. I think that was more of them doing a poor job and us taking advantage of it. I thought Josh Pierre-Louis’ play was an exceptional play. That was a really good catch by him. But it’s emphasized every week. I think it’s just a confidence thing. When you play fast, you make more of those plays every week. Like I said, the motivation of the bone on the sideline, maybe that was part of it, but that’s how you win on the road. If you can go on the road and win the turnover margin, you’re going to win a lot of games. 

Is the dog bone something new, or is that something you’ve had for a while?

It was the first time out today. It had four signatures on it. It’s a competitive thing and coach Gibson and his staff did a nice job with that. It was a great game. Other than how many times the officials felt like they had to throw flags, I felt like it was a lot of fun out there. 

How much confidence does it give you guys to get early road wins?

Anytime you can win on the road, it’s a big confidence builder for your team. We finish the season with four of five at home. So it’s going to be nice to have that stretch when we get into that phase of the season. Like I said, looking at our schedule when it came out, if you’d have told me we’d be 3-1 going into the stretch that we’ve got coming up, I’d be really happy with that. Not that I don’t want to be 4-0, but I’m very pleased with where we’re sitting right now and I look forward to the next opportunity.

How did the dog bone come about?

It was just one of those creative moments we had as a staff. Sometimes you sit in there and try and find new, inventive ways to motivate these young men. I don’t know whose brilliant idea it was, but we’re not just meat head football coaches, there’s some creativity in there. So guys came up with it and our artistic folks in the building did a nice job designing it, and it definitely brought some enthusiasm to the guys.