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NC State Football

VIDEO + QUOTES: Dave Doeren's Weekly Quotebook

November 23, 2020
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NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media to preview the Wolfpack’s upcoming road matchup versus Syracuse.

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


Opening Statement

“Starting with our game Saturday against Liberty, I was extremely proud of our staff and our players for the win. It’s just fun to be part of a group that finds so many different ways to overcome adversity and find ways to win the game. Winning is hard. It’s always one, two, or three plays in a game that can swing it. Having a team with the chemistry that we have that it doesn’t matter who’s out there whether it’s a special teams play, an offensive play, or a defensive play, they find a way to get an edge and swing the momentum that way. It’s fun to be a part of a group that has that type of connection, chemistry, and resiliency.

Obviously, I have tremendous respect for Hugh Freeze, his staff, and their football team. It’s a very good team. He’s done a great job. I thought they had a tremendous game plan that they executed on defense. For us to get our second Top 25 win against the odds that we faced injury-wise and some of the things we’ve been through, it says a lot about this group.

From a positive standpoint on offense, we won the time of possession. We were very efficient averaging five yards per carry in the run game. I thought our backs were physical and had a lot of yards after contact. Both backs had over 40 yards after contact. We only had one turnover in the game on offense. Our offensive line did a lot of physical things.

The problem was that we beat ourselves in that game offensively a lot. We had nine penalties which is inexcusable. It killed our ability to sustain drives and have manageable third-down opportunities. It was a variety of things. There were times when we were playing fast, and Bailey [Hockman] didn’t make sure the receivers were set, so we had two penalties like that. We had a critical false start on the offensive line on a 3rd-and-2 which we could have gotten a first down and maybe not even given them the ball back at the end of the game. There were several holding penalties, and sometimes those are going to happen on the line of scrimmage. A lot of that stuff happens every play and doesn’t get called, but the things that we can control, the pre-snap type things, we have to eliminate. The post-snap penalties, we had three at receiver where guys just lost their cool, and we’ve got to get rid of those plays. Those are things we've got to do better. If we do, then we’re scoring points, and that game is a lot easier to win. We were poor on third down, and that was, again, because of the third-and-longs we put ourselves in. We were only 50 percent in the red zone. We had a missed field goal down there, one that Chris [Dunn] will rebound from.

On defense, it was a great performance. That was a powerful offense that had scored a lot of points on everyone they’d played. They were the 12th best rushing offense in the country. We held them to 2.8 yards per carry. We got three takeaways against a quarterback that had only thrown one interception. I thought Jakeen [Harris’] play, Ayden [White’s] play, and Isaac Duffy-Webb’s play were all great plays by our guys. Those weren’t poorly thrown balls; those were good plays by our players. The fourth down, red zone stop which took points off the board turned out to be a huge stop for us on defense in that game as well as the blocked field goal by Levi [Jones] to win it. I think we frustrated and contained a very agile, talented quarterback, and our D-line deserves a lot of credit. I thought Alim [McNeill] played his best game in that football game. Daniel Joseph probably played his best game; he was very physical. Savion Jackson was very physical. He made a huge stop on the last third down before the field-goal block. It was a huge play by him. C.J. Clark, Terrell Dawkins, and Val Martin all played hard and physical. It was a great job by our front. When we ask them to power rush and try to keep him in the pocket, except for two or three plays, we were able to do that. All four linebackers affected the game in different ways. Isaiah [Moore] was the most productive he’s been in a game. Payton [Wilson] fit the run pretty well. Drake [Thomas] was very physical on the edge. Levi did some things in the pass rush to affect their quarterback, did some things in coverage, and obviously blocked the kick. He also forced two average punts by a really good punter with his punt rush. I thought our most improved area was our safety play. I thought Jakeen rebounded from a game he didn’t play well in two weeks ago. He really improved himself in the deep middle. He made a great play on the sideline, breaking up a pass where we were beat at corner, and then had the interception. Then Isaac Duffy-Webb came in. It was great to have Tanner [Ingle], and then we lost Tanner to the targeting call. Isaac came in and played really well. It was good to have Tanner back. He’s got to learn the strike zone. It’s a challenging play, as a defender, when you’re hitting an offensive player that’s going from a vertical position to the ground. Sometimes, you leave the ground as they’re lowering the strike zone. That’s a tough play, but we’ve got to be better on where we’re aiming and how we’re hitting with our head for him. He’s a physical player, but he needs to play in a way that keeps him in the game. Tyler Baker-Williams had three huge pass breakups in the game which were big plays: one in the red zone, one at the end of the game when they were in empty.

The negatives on defense: The seven penalties that were all due to focus and technique. We had three PI, and on all three we hooked them, the one targeting I’ve spoken about, and the three hard count plays where our D-line jumps offside in the neutral zone. Those are all things that we need to correct, and again we’re just helping them. The one disappointing play in the game, I would say, is when they ran a bootleg in the red zone. We practiced it every day. We covered it exactly how we wanted to cover it everyday, and we busted. We had an eye violation, and we gave up a touchdown before the half.

Our special teams were good in the game. It was a field position game. It was a defensive game. We pinned them inside the 10 two different times. Bailey had a great punt; on our fourth-down punt, we used him, and it resulted in a safety on the next play with Isaiah. I thought Trenton Gill was great with his hang time, direction, and operation time. Joe Shimko snapped the ball well so that we could do that because they did a nice job on one of their punt blocks that was close. Our operation time got it off. Those units have continued to do good things. We’re covering punts well, we’re covering kickoffs well, and our specialists have done a great job this year. I know Chris will respond. He’s a clutch kicker, and I know how mad he was at himself after that one.

The health of our team is good. We’re in a good place, probably better than we were last week at this time. We came out of the game feeling pretty good about that. For the fans that came to the game, we appreciate the ones that were screaming and cheering us on. We can’t thank you enough for the ones that are screaming, being positive, and pulling for our guys. Again, they work really hard. I know we all look forward to the day when the stadium is packed again. Until that time, we have one more home game after this one which will be our senior night, and I’d love to get the best crowd we can get for that game supporting our kids.

Now onto our final road game of the year with Syracuse, a team that’s had a lot of injuries. They play a fast-tempo offense. They’re very multiple. They’ve made the change to the 3-3-5 on defense, and they’re running a lot of blitzes and movement with their defensive front. They lead the ACC in takeaways with 20 takeaways on defense. Offensively, they’ve had issues at quarterback with the different injuries and guys in and out. We’re going to have to see who plays for them at that spot. They’ve played a lot of different guys there. Their receivers are really impressive with really good speed: [Taj Harris], [Nykeim Johnson], and [Anthony Queeley]. Their tailback, [Sean Tucker], averages five yards per carry. They have three starters back on the O-line.

Defensively, you watch the film, and there are four or five plays per game where they give up an explosive play that really hurts them. Outside of that, they’re playing really well. We’ve got to do a good job with handling the disruption and the movement. There’s a lot of one-on-one coverage, and I really think their corner, [Ifeatu Melifonwu], is one of the better corners in the ACC. I think he’s a really good football player. He’s six-foot-three, doesn’t get a lot of balls caught on him, breaks up a lot of passes, and the other corner has gotten a lot of action because of that. He’s done a nice job. They’re playing three safeties that are freshmen, and we’re going through that on our team as well, so I know how that is. They’re going to continue to get better, but it’s tough at times when you’re playing young guys like that when you see that. They’re athletic. We need to do a good job with their front. I think their D-linemen are big, and there are three seniors on their front, so they’re experienced players there. I know Coach [Dino] Babers will have them playing hard. They’re always a tough team when we play them up there. I know it’s a team that will play hard and have an edge to them."

Can you talk about Baker-Williams’ role over the last couple of games and how he’s played regardless of position?

“He’s playing at a really high level. He was probably, during our training camp, one of the most impressive players on our team. He got contact-traced twice, so we lost him for 30 days which hurt him. He came back playing the nickel position, then we had the variety of injuries that we had. Through his injuries, Josh Pierre-Louis did some good things for us, so we thought moving Tyler to free safety while we waited on Tanner to return would allow us to get a better lineup, and we did that which you saw during the Florida State game for the entire game. Getting Tanner back has allowed us to move Tyler back into the slot where he plays the nickel position. He’s a versatile guy. He’s worked hard not just building up his size to be a 200-pound kid, but he’s very athletic, he’s smart, he can do a lot, he can set the edge in the run game, he can blitz, and he can play man-to-man. He doesn’t panic when the ball gets there as you see in some of our players where there’s some DPIs where we’re grabbing guys. When we’ve got them covered, we don’t need to do that. He’s come a long way. We recruited him as an athlete, knowing he was a really good player in high school. We didn’t know exactly where he would fit. As he got here, we had him on offense. We had talent in the backfield, and we felt like he had a better career in an earlier path on the defensive side of the ball."

Do you think Baker-Williams has come back around after missing two games?

“Yeah. Thirty days is a lot, and you’re going to be rusty. You’re not going to be in the condition you need to be in, so he needed to get back out there and play. He’s getting better each week, he’s practicing well, and he competes every day in practice. All of those things are part of why he’s playing the way he is now."

What did you see on film that you could tweak offensively?

“You’ve got to give Liberty some credit; they did a nice job in coverage. Our primary reads, a lot of times, were not there. There were times where he was pressured. [Durrell Johnson] did a nice job rushing the passer. [TreShaun Clark] beat us on some twist stunts. There were times where it was because of them, not [Hockman], and I think some of that got him a little bit out of rhythm in the pocket where he wasn’t able to do what he was doing in the previous games. He did some good things scrambling, but there were times where he didn’t need to, and he could have maybe let some things progress. It’ll be a good learning opportunity for him. He played against a good defense that, in my opinion, did some good things schematically, and their kids played well, and we didn’t respond obviously by putting ourselves in 3rd-and-15. We were in third-and-extra a lot in that game. That’s hard for Tim [Beck] to call plays, and it’s hard for the quarterback. You’re not going to get to play against the defenses you practice playing against when it’s 3rd-and-15, and there was a lot of that in that game that played into what happened. We need to do a better job as coaches to get our players to play more focused in those situations, and as players, they’ve got to own that and get it done. I think Bailey will play a lot better. I think our offense is going to be angry this week, to be honest with you. I don’t think they played to their ability. They’re going to be upset, they’re going to practice hard, and I look for them to respond the right way."

Can confidence come from winning despite not playing the way you want?

“That’s the fun part about this team. I’ve said that to the guys: we still haven’t played a game yet where all three phases clicked on the same night. We’ve had games where we’ve outscored people and won. We’ve had games where special teams carried us and helped both sides of the ball. We’ve had games where the defense won it for us. I think there’s confidence now in all three phases that they can do those things. Now, it’s about putting it all together and, more than anything, eliminating helping the other team. That’s the one area that we need the most growth in because, statistically, we’re getting better in some areas that are very important areas to win games. Turnover margin is a huge area. Our special teams is in the top three in almost every area, but when you’re last in the ACC in penalties, you’re making it hard. You’re helping the other team, and we don’t need to help the other team. That’s an area that’s preached and talked about, but on game day, we’ve got to do a better job focusing in those areas, cleaning that up, and giving ourselves every opportunity to be the best team we can be."

Do you believe in the power of positivity? Has that been a difference maker for the team down the stretch?

“The power of positivity is something that we preach here. I’m not a fan of negativity. I’m not a fan of people that bring up problems without solutions. I don’t like guys that sit around and complain. I don’t like working with people that do that either. Our job is to try to make the environment we work in fun and a competitive environment, and we do that by hiring people that like being around each other and working with kids, and we’ve done that. Our players’ jobs is hard because everyone wants to play, so you’ve got to embrace the role of a teammate. Until you can play, you need to help the team win. I think our guys have done a great job with that, and I think the leadership, from me to the coaches, the coaches to the players, and the players to the players, has been really good this year. We went through a lot in January and February, and I’ve talked about this many times, to help build chemistry and build connections through competing and connecting with positivity. It’s something I really believe in. I’ve seen it work on this football team. It’s been fun to help instigate the change in that part of our program and help these guys enjoy the process of developing and getting better."

How does the Orange’s 3-3-5 prepare the offense differently this week?

“All the practices we’ve had against each other definitely helps our offensive line. Going into a game like, had they not seen all the stuff we’ve shown them, would be a much tougher prep. There are differences in how Syracuse does things than we do things, but the front, how the things get ID’d, and the pictures that you can see at quarterback with multiple looks in the back end help the offense in preparation, and I’m sure, on the flip side, it will be for Syracuse. They get to see that stuff in practice, and so maybe we’re not as difficult a challenge for them as far as the preparation with it being an unknown. Both teams have a little bit of an advantage, but it’s shared."

How do you balance seeking explosive plays and exploiting the Syracuse run defense?

“We’ve just got to run our system. The explosive plays are going to come if you just do what you’re supposed to do. For [Zonovan Knight and Ricky Person], there are times where they’re stone on a run play over and over and over, and then it pops for 80. I think that skews your statistics. If there are two or three explosive runs in the game, and there are 30 runs total, it’s probably going to look like you didn’t stop the run all day. Well, you didn’t stop it on three plays. I think the explosive piece is a skewing statistic at times when you look at people’s statistics overall. There are a lot of guys in the box for them. We’ve got to do a good job of managing the movement, picking up the pressure, and breaking tackles that end up being explosive runs. Our receivers have to do a really good job on the perimeter, blocking for each other on screens, blocking for the backs to create that second-level opportunity, and in the pass game as well. I think their corners are really good. I think those are two guys that are hard to expose. A lot of the explosive pass game has been on the inside against them. You’ve got to be able to block them to get it off, and there’s a lot of pressure in the backfield."

With Aydan White’s play last week and his improvement in practice, should we expect to see him on the field more?

“That’s something Brian [Mitchell] will decide through the week. [White] is showing us that game day is not too big for him. We’re going to practice hard this week. The guys that play the best in practice will play the most in the game, and we’ll see how Aydan does. I think there’s a developmental piece that goes with this. The way that Shyheim Battle has played, he’s been very consistent for us this year, and I think Cecil Powell has gotten better. His two PI calls in the game were plays that, a lot of times, don’t get called but plays he can prevent also just where his hand placement was on the receiver. He’s going to get better from that game. He’s still a young player in his second year. Aydan’s going to be good. We’ve just got to be smart in how we rotate those guys. Syracuse has got some speed, and the best part of their offense, in my opinion, is their skill at wide receiver. [Harris] and [Johnson] can really run."

What are you most thankful for this year?

“My family, first of all. I’ve got a great family. What Sarah does through the season and my sons and how they’re working, I’m thankful for them and what I have at home. From a work standpoint, just the chemistry of this team. It’s been so fun, as hard as it’s been with everything that we’ve dealt with, to be with these guys. They’re a really, really neat group. They’re very close. They’re fun to be around. They care about each other. They care about their coaches. As hard as this year’s been, it’s been one of the most rewarding with this group of guys."

How do you maintain the edge you had last week in a game that has a different feel this week?

“Our players want to be on a team that they say is a great team. It doesn’t matter who you play; you need to show up with that edge. It doesn’t matter whether you’re playing a team with a winning record or a losing record. If you say you want to be elite, then you want to be better than you were the week before. We did a lot of bad stuff in that game. There are things we’ve got to fix. There are things we’ve got to do better, and we need to go out there and do that. Defensively, can we repeat what we did and be better? Offensively, can we get back to what we were doing, finish drives, and score touchdowns? Can we, as a football team, not have penalties that we can prevent? There’s a lot that should keep us on edge, and trust me: I’m going to be all over these guys this week when it comes to that. I see a lot of stuff on film that we can do better, and my job is to try to get my team to play to the best of their ability. In my opinion, we have not done that yet. We’ve won some games because we play really hard, and our kids find a way to win, but we’ve made a lot of those wins challenging ways to win. That’s going to be our focus. It doesn’t matter what the other team is or who they are. It’s how we play when we get on that field."

What will Thanksgiving Day be like for you guys?

“We’ll practice in the morning. We’ll have a catered Thanksgiving meal that we’ll bring in. We can’t sit in one room and all eat at the same time due to the way we eat with COVID restrictions, but we’ll have a meal that these guys can call a Thanksgiving meal. Then we’ll cut them loose for the rest of the day. We’ll be done around one o’clock, and the kids that are local, that have families they can go home to, will. We’ll be back here at 6:30 Friday morning to do our third COVID test before we leave for Syracuse. That’s kind of how it will go. Some of the guys will probably just go home and sleep, I would guess."

How important was not missing tackles heading into the Liberty game? Has that been something you’ve noticed as an improvement this year?

“It depends on the game. Overall, yes, it has been improved, and we’re not giving up as many explosive plays because of that. In that game, yes, it was a huge point of emphasis. They had a ton of explosive plays on film, and a lot of times, those are due to a missed tackle somewhere. It started with their quarterback, their tailbacks, [Demario Douglas], their wide receiver who’s a jitterbug… We worked really hard on that. It’s something that the kids last year, when we came back in January, we showed them how bad we were in some areas, and it was something they took to heart. It’s a very proud group. They don’t want to play a certain way. Obviously, in the UNC game, we missed enough tackles for the year. We need to continue to get better on our fundamentals and take that kind of stuff off the film."

What are your expectations about playing in the Dome that’s likely to be loud even without fans?

“I hadn’t thought about that. Without fans being there, I didn’t think there’d be much noise. I hadn’t really played into that. We will be in our indoor at times just so we’re catching punts with the white roof in there and things like that. I don’t expect crowd noise to be an issue when there’s nobody in there, but we’ll have to call around and see if it’s impacted anybody else. Our guys like music, so that’ll be good."

Have you had any close calls this season with COVID-19? How do you do with not knowing if a game is going to be played up until kickoff?

“When we flew to Pitt, we didn’t have any close calls, but we don’t leave town until our results come back. That’s why we test so early on Friday. Once we get off our walkthrough, we bring the kids in, have lunch, let the guys get rehabbed, and then have position meetings and hang out until we get the thumbs-up. I didn’t want to get on a plane and find out in-flight that we have a problem. That’s what we’ve done. It does make us sit around here for a while on Fridays before we get out of town, and we’ll do the same thing this week. We’ll stay here until we get the thumbs-up to go to Syracuse. To answer the second part of the question, it’s every day where we might have somebody miss. If a kid has a runny nose, they hold him out until he passes a test. This isn’t something that, all of a sudden on Saturday, you’re worried. It’s everyday that something can happen, and it’s kind of our reality. If we were having a run of it on our team, it would probably be a bigger concern, but since September, we’ve been able to keep things in-house very clean and have no issues. Knock on wood, we’ve been good from that standpoint."

How has Ikem Ekwonu been on the two-point conversation play in practice?

“We’ve been repping that play for seven weeks, and he catches it every time and runs in for a touchdown. It’s hard for anyone on defense to cover the backside offensive tackle on a sprint-out. It was a play we thought we would get. It was repped. It was worked, but they did a nice job having a guy sitting out there. They were double-teaming our X receiver on the two-point play, so when he ran across the field, the inside player took it, and most people don’t do that. You’ve got to give Liberty credit, but it was a play we thought would work. ‘Ickey’ has looked very athletic on that play. I was looking forward to him scoring and probably worried about a 15-yard celebration penalty afterward. We’ve tried it with a couple of different people, and he by far had the best ball skills of the group, so it was a pretty easy decision."

 
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