VIDEO: Doeren, NC State Understand Importance Of This Game

NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media one final time prior to Saturday's Clemson game.

Injury updates...
Justin is fine, he's 100%. Darian is 100%.

Eurndraus and Nyheim are feeling good, we just haven't tackled.  As long as the game doesn't change how they are feeling, they'll both play. I know they both want to play. 

You just don't know if once you get into the game, if contact will change guys, but both were flying around the field today and looked good.

You have to feel good about that because after the Notre Dame game it seemed to be up in the air.
Yes, and we're not 100% but they aren't either. They have guys banged up so it's just a matter of how the game goes... a guy ends up in a pile and twisted and has an ankle again.  

Sometimes once you play the adrenaline kicks in, you get loose... it's just a matter of how they feel during the game. We'll be ready if they can't go.  We've had to practice without them a couple of times this week.

More on Clemson and their explosiveness.
They are an explosive team. They have tremendous athletes on both sides of the football and special teams. One of our goals against Clemson every year is to not allow explosive plays for touchdowns. It's one thing to have them but you want to get them down and play the next play.

To flip that, we need to have some on offense and special teams to have some momentum.

Daniels is a good blitzing linebacker.
He is. They have two linebackers with 5-plus sacks. They bring them in a lot of different ways, they get in and out of their Bear fronts with linebackers on the edge, they aren't always coming from 'backer depth.

We have to identify guys, and Ryan has to do a good job of using the timing of our protections and getting rid of the football.

Is it surreal now... you're at this point where this is the biggest game you'll play toward that goal.
Every conversation we've had with a player has been, "Coach I want to play for a championship."  That's what we've talked about. We've put ourselves in the place where if we win, we control the Atlantic. 

You still have to go on the other side and win that game but you want to win your side of the division and a win in this guy would put us not in that spot, we'd still have to finish, but we'd control it at least.

We wouldn't have to wait for someone else to lose, and that's what you want to do... to be there in November against a No. 4 ranked team like Clemson, that's a great place to be.

We want to finish it.