Doeren: "They Are A Lot Like Us"

NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media to discuss the upcoming game against Wake Forest.

Opening Statement...
I was proud of our guys for earning a win at Boston College. A very good team that's well-coached on their Senior Day, coming off a bye, playing for their bowl eligibility.  They'd been averaging 35 points per game and we were able to hold them to 14. It wasn't pretty at times, but the guys found a way to stop them with four fourth-down stops on defense, two takeaways, one in the redzone, and we blocked a punt in the first half that led to three points.  That ended up being the difference in the game.

Offensively we struggled finishing drives. We moved the ball well throughout the game and we were able to convert on third down which is something we were concerned about because they've been really good on third down defense.  We were probably as good as we've been on third down in a while.

We scored when we needed to. It was a great run by Jay Sam in the redzone, another by Nyheim. Those two explosive plays put us over the top.

We came out of the game relatively healthy.  I have no updates on our guys... I probably won't until tomorrow afternoon but Justin felt good about them in our meeting Sunday.

New week, new challenge, playing a great Wake Forest team, 35 points per game, three straight weeks.  They are second in the ACC in scoring behind Clemson and No. 1 in the ACC in redzone offense. Their quarterback is playing really good.  John Wolford is a competitive young man. We've played against him a lot.  20 touchdowns, three interceptions, No. 1 in the ACC in passing efficiency... he's playing at a high level.

He's running the ball well, his receivers around him are playing well and No. 7 is averaging 17 yards per catch. Their slot, Hines, hurt us last year and he's back doing the same things he did a year go.  They have a lot of different concepts for him. 

I think their tight end has been there for four years.  They are a lot like us, they've played a lot of young guys and now they are seniors and juniors on their team... he's got eight redzone touchdowns.

Systematically, they do a lot of things with their RPO game that puts you in one-on-one situations, whether it's a tackle or a coverage. They are going to put the ball in the running back hands and see where they can get run-pass conflicts, try to take advantage of them.

We have to make plays on the ball and win the line of scrimmage.  They do a good job of plays off of plays and have a lot of tricks... screens and screen and gos. Defensively we definitely have a strong challenge this week.

Their defense takes the ball away. They are plus-5 in turnover margin... they are a disruptive defense and Duke Ejefor is a disruptive player for them. He's second in the league in TFLs behind Bradley.

I'm excited to play back-to-back in-state games... our last road conference game for our senior class. It would mean a lot for them to play well down there.  It's the start of two in-state games to finish the season.

You've played really well against them the last two years.  Is there something there?
We've executed, we've had explosive plays in both games, and got off to good starts in both of the games.

Defensively, we were able to prevent them from having explosive plays for scores... they did have some long pass plays last year we were able to tackle and keep off the scoreboard.

It means a lot to our guys. I lost my first game to them down there, and it hasn't been a place or a team that we've played well against on the road.  That was one of the things we talked about, always elevating our program and erasing things that used to be that way.

We did play very well the last time we were down there, and that hasn't been traditionally how we've played at Wake.

Not only do we have to do that again, but this is probably the best Wake team we've played since I've been here.

Winning a state championship, how important is it?
It matters a lot... the pride you have for being the best team in the state. We don't play all of them, but... playing the teams we play, having a better record then all of them, all of those things come into play and you can use in recruiting.

That's one thing that makes this state unique, having four conference teams in the state, and we get to play two of the three.  I think it matters to our guys quite a bit.

Getting to play at their place, it's the second-straight week on the road and leading up to what comes after that... I think our guys will be focused on what we need to do.

I think you were frustrated with the kicking after Boston College. Now that you've had a couple of minutes to think about it. Is the answer still the same?
The bad part is Kyle hit the ball well. The ball got off his foot, he had good height, and he hit four straight before the half.  You think you'll have good confidence from that moment and it just didn't happen for him in the second.  

We're not at a point where we can go find someone else. We have to keep hoping he can put it through the uprights. We have to be more aggressive in the redzone and get touchdowns and not put him out there if we don't have to.

That's one of the things i'm frustrated with more than anything, we're getting down there a lot and not getting seven. We need to get seven more when we're in the redzone... our offense has enough playmakers, our quarterback can throw it well, we have to put the ball in the box and not make our kicker be the guy to score everytime we're down there.

Ryan struggled a little against Notre Dame, Clemson, and this past week against Boston College. What does he have to work on to get back on track against Wake Forest?
I thought he played really well against Clemson. I thought he was pretty good.  Yeah, I thought he played really well against them, one of the best defenses in college football.

He did struggle against Notre Dame and Boston College. I don't know if that was a cold thing that impacted him more than he wants to admit; we'll probably never know that. Both of those games were in the 30s and Notre Dame was windy, maybe that has something to do with it, I don't know.

He was off last week for sure. We just have to get him back in a rhythm and let him play.

More Wake Forest's offense...
750 yards and 64 points... they are second or first in almost every category offensively right now. It's not just the quarterback, they are running the ball well.

The last three games they had 625 against Louisville, 587 against Notre Dame, and 734 against Syracuse. That's pretty good offensive statistics for three games.

Scheme-wise are they decidedly different under the new defensive coordinator?
It's the same shell... they are still four-down... whether they are 4-3 or 4-2-5, that changes from time-to-time.

They are still quarters, Cover 3, and man-free like Elko, but it's different.  It's not completely different, but it's different.

Ryan is a unique person, but he's still a person. Is there a chance he's affected by seeing his name in these mock drafts?
Without having that conversation I wouldn't be able to give you a fair answer to that. Eli mentioned during the bye week that he and Ryan sat down and he said, “Coach I'm not thinking about it. All I'm thinking about is winning.”

He has a great family and he's very centered so I'm hoping that's what is going on. At times people forget we just played back-to-back Top four teams who were pretty damn good.  One of them was in thirty-degree weather and wind.

Give the kid a little break there. At Boston College he didn't play well, I'll tell you he didn't play well, but he's human.

Chubb breaking the record for career sacks. How proud were you for him?
I was really happy for him.

In this business... you see how kids want things and don't want to earn them. They are not willing to sacrifice and they think about themselves in front of the team. He's done the opposite.

Now he's gaining all the reward from it.  Not just with his stock, but every record he could have shattered he's doing that now. 

Like someone mentioned in our locker room... you're going to have to get a different patch for somebody's jersey with his name on it. To be a part of that and watch him earn the respect of his teammates and the country, it's the way you do it. It's awesome for him, his family, and I think it's great for football, for kids to see that.

This wasn't a guy that was a five-star guy.   This was a guy that made himself into one.

Watching Wake vs. Syracuse, what impressed you the most about their comeback?
They had a lot of explosive plays, and I think Syracuse got caught maybe doing too many exotic things... the quarterback got out and ran all over them.

They were in some blitzes... if you're in single high coverage and he gets out... the tailback split them on a couple.

The quarterback is changing their offense. He's always been fiesty, tough, and competitive, but he's never been healthy. He's always had an ankle, shoulder... their number of explosive plays the last three games has been impressive.

The Boston College game... to grind out a win, how tough was that?
It was challenging. They have nine seniors on defense and have a unique system on offense. You're playing goalline defense for 50 snaps.  You might not play that for three seasons, and you're playing it for 50 snaps of a football game with all these different run-fits and motions... it's a challenge on anybody.

We held them to 14 points and they just beat three teams scoring 35-plus, and that inludes Florida State and Louisville. 

As far as credit goes, I don't know. We've lost three games. Two were to Top five teams and one was to a very good SEC team. I don't think they look at that with us for whatever reason. You see teams ranked higher than us with losses to unranked teams.  

It is what it is. All we can do is keep winning and see if that gets us to where we want to be at the end.

Can you talk about your linebacker play right now?
We gave up a long run again which was really disappointing and made me angry and Hux angry. It was a basic formation and our linebackers didn't line up right on that play.

I think those three that are playing are busting their butts, working hard, and they take a lot of pride. They are great kids, and we expect them to fit everything that needs to be fit and make those plays... that's the standard they've set.

I know they really want to stop the run and are sick of seeing the ball get run for more than 15 yards on a play.

Will you watch the CFP show on Tuesday?
No, I'll see the final part but I won't watch it. I don't have enough time.

Have you started to do the Calculus?
I don't like Calculus, I just know our strength of schedule is real.

You look at who we've played and who we've beaten, we have a very strong schedule. We didn't win all those games but we were in a three-second game with South Carolina and they have seven wins in the SEC right now, and we were in a three-second game with Clemson. They are pretty good.

We deserve some credit if we win out, and we'll see where that puts us. We have to win out first.