VIDEO + QUOTES: Dave Doeren's Weekly Quotebook
NC State head coach Dave Doeren held his weekly press conference Monday afternoon. The Wolfpack leader discussed his thoughts on his team’s 45-0 win over USF and the upcoming matchup versus Mississippi State on Saturday.
NOTE: Click the video in the player above to watch Doeren’s press conference. A transcript of Doeren’s comments is posted below.
Opening Statement
“Starting with the recap of our win over USF, I was really proud of the staff and players and how the guys prepared. It was great to be at home in front of the crowd, and there’s a lot that goes into that. I felt like we were physical. I thought we played fast. I thought our guys executed the game plan in many ways. We were able to come out of the game heathy which is always a critical piece. We played a lot of guys, and many of them played well. Some of them got their first reps out there and made their plays in the stadium for the first time, so that’ll be a huge growing opportunity for that group. As a team, we only had three penalties; it starts with not beating ourselves. I was pleased with that. I do think we could even be better. We had one encroachment penalty on defense, and I couldn’t find the one penalty they called on offense. We could be better, but it was much improved from where we were a year ago.
Offensively, we rushed the ball well. ‘Bam’ [Zonovan Knight], Ricky [Person], and Jordan [Houston] were all very productive. The O-line, tight end group, and receivers all battled in the run game. We rushed for 290-plus and not had any balls on the ground from a fumble standpoint. I’m proud of those guys for that. I thought our receivers really strained on blocking, and that was something that was a point of emphasis for that group. Devin [Leary], at quarterback, played well. He got the ball to a lot of people. He had a few plays I know he wishes he had back, and I do like how he got better as the game went on. I think there was some rust there at the beginning for him, and then he just settled in and played pretty good football for us and distributed the ball to a lot of people. For the negatives, I think we missed a couple of opportunities and left some plays out there. We had Thayer [Thomas] wide open and underthrew a ball which ended up being intercepted. He had Porter [Rooks] on a corner route that we missed. There were some fundamental things in protection. You know, we gave up a sack, and guys could do some things better there. There’s nothing like game day when it comes to correcting the things that you might get away with in practice when it’s not live. It really shows up. Offensively, I’m very pleased, but also there’s a lot of things we need to work on.
Defensively, we got the shutout, we had three takeaways, two of them were in the red zone, and I thought we played the ball well in the defensive back area, better than I’ve seen us play it. We’re attacking the football, breaking on balls, didn’t give up an explosive play for a touchdown, obviously with the shutout. We tackled well. In our first game, there was only a handful of plays where guys used poor mechanics. We had several three-and-outs and had a fourth-down stop. It was a good performance. We didn’t have any sacks. That’s probably one area. We’d love to see us get some more sacks. At the same time, we got three takeaways, a fourth-down stop, and a handful of three-and-outs. I think the deep ball, a couple of times, got down the field on us, and we didn’t play it well. There was one with [Derrek] Pitts and one with Cyrus [Fagan]. We can clean that up. When our backups, the reserves, came in the game later on, there were several times where our guys just didn’t get lined up quick enough and communicate the way they needed to.That will be great opportunity for the coaches with those guys that were in the second role or third role that got in there, just to clean up some things with them. There’s nothing like game day for that.
I was really pleased with our special teams. I thought we played the field-position game well. We punted the ball three times inside of their 10 and downed it with Trenton [Gill] and one when we brought [Ben] Finley in to do it. We had some positive returns with Thayer and Bam. Those three specialists we have are great players, and it’s nice having Chris Dunn back to full health. It was a good day.
It was really fun to have our fans back. The student section was awesome. They are, in my opinion, the heartbeat of the fan environment. When they are on it changes everything in there, and they were awesome. They were there for four quarters. They were there early. They change our stadium in a good way. I’m just thankful for them and really want them to be a partner with us for the rest of the year, no matter what. You guys make that such a special night and day, so please keep coming back and bringing that energy as a student section. It was awesome. I know our fan base appreciates it. I do feel like you set the tone for what is going on in there with the fans with your energy. I know our players feed off of it, so we thank you for that. Having the fans there and the band there, the whole thing, the fireworks, and the fly over. It was an awesome day. We appreciate everyone for that.
Now, we’re onto our first road trip. We go to Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville and play a tough Mississippi State group. It’s the first time in a while that we’ll be preparing for crowd noise. The cowbell will be in full effect, I know. We look forward to that. We look forward to the pageantry, the noise, the fanfare and everything that goes into it. It’s going to be awesome. I have great respect for Mississippi State’s program, and I have for a long time. They are a blue-collar, tough group. They’re very similar, passionate, tough. I like what they are about, and I’ve always respected how they play. I’ve known [Mike Leach] a long time, and he’s a winner. He’s a builder of programs. He’s done it multiple places. He’s a very innovative offensive coach, and I have great respect for him.
His offense is unique. I played against him when he was at Texas Tech, and obviously we’ve got some coaches here that worked for him with Brian Mitchell and Ruffin [McNeill], who have been around their offense. Defensively, they are very aggressive. They are like us in a 3-3-5 alignment, but there’s lots of line of scrimmage movement, lots of stunts, and lots of blitzes. We’ve got to be able to handle their style of play up front and stay out of the chains. It’s not a team you want to give long-yardage type things to. They do a lot of stuff. You want to try to stay ahead of the chains, which we were able to do last week. I thought they showed a lot of grit in their game. They were down 20 with 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter. I know they didn’t play well up until that point, but they sure played well in the final 13 minutes. Their quarterback showed a lot of poise bringing them back.
They’ve got a lot of size on O-line and D-line. They are massive up front. They’ve got a lot of guys that play for them that are back and a few transfers. It’s going to be a good football game. I’m excited to go play against a team like them from the SEC and to get to do it in their stadium with the fan base they have.”
Were you happy with the pressure from your defensive line versus USF? Will they have to step it up this week versus Mississippi State?
“Well, what you’re looking for is getting the ball back for your offense, and there’s a lot of ways to do that. We may not sack the quarterback as many times as you want, but you’ve got to hit him. You’ve got to pressure him, get him off the spot, you’ve got to force incompletions, and we did some of that. There’s some areas we can do better. I think it’s a multitude of things. I’ve always felt like a lot of times you don’t get sacks, and people immediately blame the D-line. There’s a lot of people that rush the quarterback for us. There’s linemen, there’s linebackers, and sometimes there’s DBs. There’s also coverage things. Guys have to give the rush a chance to get there with how we play coverage. There’s a lot of things that this tape will show us that we can get better at. You’re right; we have to be a team that can do that against a Mississippi State offense. Again, yes, you want the sacks because you want to put them in long-yardage situations, but more so you want to force the interceptions. LA Tech had a pick-6 on them when he was scrambling around. You’ve got to try to get him out where he doesn’t want to be, get him out of his comfort zone, not give him the time that he normally has, and get the ball back for your offense with the pressure that you create.”
How has the team handled the success of Thursday’s win on game night?
"I thought we were good on game night. We didn’t have any after-the-whistle type stuff. Our guys were doing things the refs were worried about. Yes, we celebrated interceptions, but that was us as a team not us taunting anyone. I thought our guys did a nice job understanding how to have fun and doing it within the rules. As far as being mature enough to handle success, that’s the first conversation we had after the game. You get to enjoy it for 24 hours and soak it in, but when we get back to work, we are on to the next one, and that one doesn’t matter anymore. The guys were hook, line and sinker with it. They understand it, now we’ve got to go do it. They definitely understood where I was coming from with it.”
What did you see from Fagan on Thursday? What are you looking to see from him going forward?
"Cyrus plays the ball well. He reads the quarterback well. He breaks on it before the ball gets there a lot. He does it in practice, too. He’s a ball hawk. As far as the tackling aspect, he did [have a good game]. They ran a perimeter screen, Tyler Baker-Williams turned it back, and he came back and hit it. He brings a lot of energy. He does it every day. He’s one of those enthusiasm type of players that feeds the team in a positive fashion. We’re glad he’s here. I think he’s created really needed competition in the back end with him and Jakeen [Harris]. It’s made Jakeen better, and it's made Cyrus better. They know they’ve got to play off each other that way.”
How much of the SEC vs. ACC discussion has been made to the team? Does that aspect matter, or is this just another non-conference game?
"No, I mean I don’t really have to say a lot with that. It was brought up in our team meeting yesterday. We are playing another Power Five team from a conference that gets a lot of notoriety. It’s an opportunity for us to continue to earn respect. Obviously, playing on the road against a team like that from their league, to find a way to win that game, it’s good for your team. It’s good for your program. Our guys are aware that we are playing an SEC team. It won’t be something I talk about five days in a row; I can tell you that, but it is something that is worth a conversation.”
From a coaching standpoint, do you see the rest of the ACC’s lack of success last week as an opportunity for the Wolfpack to move up in the pecking order?
Well, there’s a lot of football left. We talked as a team the other day about it. We can’t get too high with our win, and there are some teams that lost that are going to get better. I think that there were some good games played. The UNC-Virginia Tech at Virginia Tech was a good football game. It was a one-possession game. Last night, there was another one-possession game with Florida State and Notre Dame. There’s good football games. Clemson-Georgia was a heck of a football game. It wasn’t like we went out and laid an egg. There were a bunch of competitive games, and we were one possession away as a league from making a bunch of good things happen. I told the team this: you watch the playoffs every year, and there’s usually three teams in the playoffs with one loss. There’s usually one team that is undefeated, and the other three aren’t. We’re only one week in. There’s so much football left, and we just need to focus on us and being the best we can be against a good Mississippi State team.”
Do you think Person played Thursday’s game with a chip on his shoulder considering the preseason hype surrounding Knight?
"You probably should ask Ricky that. I think Ricky played really well, and so did Bam. Those two guys are really good friends. They feed off of each other. They cheer for each other, and they need each other. To play this type of football for as long as we want to play, you need to have a rotation back there. I think we’re in a really good situation. We look at them both as starters. I’m sure, from a competitive standpoint, that Ricky is trying to prove himself. I’m sure Bam is too. They are both pretty humble guys that want to be the best they can be. From a personal standpoint, I think he would be better to speak on that than I would.”
How big of an opportunity is this game from a program standpoint?
"Well, it’s a great opportunity. To play against a coach like Mike Leach, who has done nothing but win everywhere he’s coached, in a stadium that has — I’ve been reading about it all day, just the fanfare, the noise, that it’s 61,000 but feels like 100,000, the whole thing — it’s gonna be an awesome opportunity. Then we’re on ESPN, so it’s a great audience for people to watch the game and then come home and get a home game the week after. It’s a great opportunity for us.”
What do you remember about preparing for Leach’s offense?
"We had four games with them when I was there. It was a tough offense. Texas Tech at that time was at their sweet spot. They were playing really good. [Michael] Crabtree at receiver. I can’t remember. Graham Harrell might have been the quarterback when we played against them. I can’t remember if it was him. I’m not sure, but they were all just throwing for 5,000 yards every year. They could score, man. For us defensively, we had to do a lot. It’s really like playing on third down on first and second down in a lot of ways. His passing game and playbook is the same on first down, second down and third down, with the exception of short yardage. He can run his run plays whenever he wants. They’re very, very good at what they do. They don’t do a ton. There’s not a ton of formations. There’s a really good understanding of spacing and timing in their offense and doing things after the catch with it. We have to be able to tackle in space. I think their screen game is really underrated. I think their perimeter screens are no different than us running a stretch play. They get the ball out quick, so you can’t get to the quarterback, and then there’s lead blockers for a wideout. Can you shed blocks and tackle in space? He’s got a great system. He understands the ins and outs. As a defensive coach, you’ve got to have answers, and you can’t be one dimensional. You have to be able to do a lot of different things against him because if you sit in one thing, he can just pick you apart.”
Is Drake Thomas less thick than he was last year? Is that something he took upon himself? What do you like from that result?
"Drake changed his diet about nine months ago, and he really leaned out. I couldn’t give you his exact weight, but he’s in the high 220, low 230 area. But he’s just, body fat wise, changed that. Coming out of last year, he had the opportunity to do a lot of rehab from his shoulder. He’s in really, really good condition right now, and he looks great. He’s playing fast. That was the best football game I’ve ever seen him play. I thought he was really elite Thursday night.”
How hard is it to prepare for an unorthodox defensive front when you don’t know which gaps the pressure will come from? How has your top defense helped the offense prepare in scrimmages?
"It helps that we’re 3-3-5. There’s a lot of carryover when you look at some of the coverage aspects and some of the pressures. There are some similarities there. With regards to the stunts, they do a lot of different run-game stunts and pass-game stunts. Some are similar to ours, and some aren’t. You’ve just got to practice them. I think it helps that we are a three-down front now: just getting them ready for what all those IDs are. We’ll have to get out there and simulate some of that stuff for the offense so they can get used to how it is, and we’ll do some good-on-good so we can get our guys used to that.”
Is this the week that the depth in the secondary will come into play the most?
"It will definitely test not just our depth, but our conditioning. There's going to be a lot of running in the back end this week. To be able to rotate when we need to — it’ll be hot there, I’m sure, at night, maybe at night not as hot, but it’ll still be a warm night in Mississippi — we’ll have to take advantage of that depth. I’m glad we were able to play so many of those guys last week.”
What was your assessment of the reserves in the secondary against South Florida?
"I think, with some of these guys, we look at them as starters even though they don’t take the first snap. We see that with our defensive front, too. At corner right now, you can see Derrek Pitts or Chris Ingram. You could see Aydan White in the game on the other side, or you could see Shyheim Battle or Teshaun Smith. We look at any of those guys as starters for us. There isn’t a drop-off, in our opinion. There’s a drop off at the end of the game, we started putting some guys that are not in that boat to us yet. They’re still what I would consider developing. Josh Pierre-Louis is a guy that comes in and does some good things, and then you can see the difference between him and Tyler [Baker-Williams] at times when they get lined up. Tyler can line up faster than him. Those are little things that come out. Jakeen [Harris] played, and then Cyrus [Fagan] played equal reps. Both guys are going to help us. It’s the same thing at the running back position. I think in general when we put in younger players, you hear the volume of your communication go down. They are not as confident because they haven’t played as much. They don’t speak as loud. They're not as quick. They're still processing information while the others aren’t. They’re just putting it out there. They know what to do. I think that’s where it shows the most. I think we gave up 170-some yards after we put in kind of all the reserve and developmental players. Thankfully, they didn’t give up a touchdown. It’s valuable minutes, but there’s some frustrating moments that go with them.”
How did the team handle the rest of the weekend following Thursday’s game?
"We brought the team in on Friday and treated that like Sunday. We watched the film with the guys and got them to put the game to bed, as we call it. We moved on. We gave them Saturday off to recover. The coaches went out and recruited on Friday, and then we were off Saturday as well and watched all the college football we could. We came back Sunday with a little bit of lead time because we didn’t have to break down our game. It was already put to bed. It allowed us to jump into Mississippi State as a staff on Sunday right away, as opposed to breaking down our previous game since we had done on Friday. The players will be on the field like a normal week, just with a little more rest on the front end of it.”
How did you watch the rest of the college football schedule over the weekend?
"It’s hard for me to just watch a game and have fun watching it. I’m learning. I’m watching, trying to put myself in the head coach’s shoes. ‘Right there, what would I have done in that scenario?’ I’m always thinking about our conference. I want our conference to do well. There’s strategic things. There’s also relaxation too. ‘Hey man, I don’t have to deal with this fourth-down decision.’ I’m laughing. I’m having fun with it. It’s relaxing. I try not to put any stress in my life that I don’t need to. I enjoy it. There was a lot of really good football on that Saturday. It was nice to watch Wisconsin and Penn State play. I watched the Mississippi State-LA Tech game, which was another tight game. I watched the Georgia-Clemson game, another tight game. There were some really good football games on to watch.”
What challenge does Mississippi State running back Jo’quavious Marks present?
"He’s a really good receiver for them out of the backfield. I think that’s the first thing that you see. He’s gifted catching the ball. He’s good at running it after the catch. He’s thick enough that he can run through you but quick enough to make you miss. As you know, they are spacing things out. There’s a lot of room in there. It’s not like you are going to pack the box all day long and go one-on-one with the wideouts. He’s going to have some lighter boxes to run into sometimes because of your coverage stuff. He’s definitely a guy that gets under the radar because of how much they throw it, but I think he broke a lot of records there as a freshman running back with catches out of the backfield, if I’m not mistaken."