NC State OG Dylan McMahon Focused On Miami's Defensive Front

NC State redshirt freshman Dylan McMahon has played both guard positions this season.  He discusses the differences between the two spots, Miami's defense, and much more with the media.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.

Obviously playing left guard this past weekend... was that much of a difference for you? I know you've played there before in the past, but mainly right guard this season. How was that transition?
It wasn't too bad.

I worked it all week, but the only difference is just getting used to who you're playing with, with your left tackle, getting the different fits.

So it wasn't too bad, coming in. I got used to it during the week, getting able to get our fits right with Icky. It wasn't that bad.

You got Miami this week. Defensively, who would you compare them to?
I would say their defensive line is probably a lot like Mississippi State. They got big guys up there, big, strong guys. They're fast. It's going to be a fun challenge.

Along along those same lines. You just compared their defensive line to Mississippi State. Do you guys go back and watch some film from that game to see what worked, or do you strictly watch the Miami game from last year and see what worked? How do you kind of get an edge against a defensive line like this?
We're focusing on their tells and what's going on there. We've watched stuff from... because we played them last year, obviously, and it's a bunch of the same guys. So we really use a lot of that tape to see what was going on last year to carry over to this year.

Through the first few games, you got to play with the same combination, and then obviously, Chandler Zavala was out this previous game. Does that throw things off, where it should take a lot to kind of work Eason into the rotation?
 I didn't really think it threw things off really that much at all.  Eason came in there, and he did a great job.

In practice, he always comes in and works with us anyways, so Coach Garrison does a good job of making sure, if something like that happens, that we don't have any fall off at all.

Eason came in there and played really good, so I didn't think there was too much of a transition at all really.

Individually, do you prefer pass blocking or run blocking?
Individually, I prefer run blocking because I grew up at a high school that ran the triple option. So we didn't do too much pass blocking in high school.

Obviously, you guys go in as a group and watch film each week. Sometimes, some of Icky’s blocks, do they get you guys fired up?
Oh, yeah. It shocks us, every single week. We know who we're playing with. Icky, he’s a different breed, and coming in and seeing that stuff, it definitely fires you up.

Where are we at right now with confidence, and how far can this team go? I know you guys haven't peaked out, but what's the ceiling? How far can you guys go moving forward?
I think if you put a ceiling on it, it just limits yourself.

We can go as far as we want to take ourselves. Starting off going three weeks back to the Clemson game, I think we're coming into this stretch... a few more games, and I just think the energy in the air is just like we're not losing, coming into this game.

We're confident, and we're playing great teams coming down, teams that can beat us, and we can beat these teams. The confidence in the air, I think it's really good and we can really play with some swagger and just have some fun... go out there like no one's going to beat you at all.