LOCKER ROOM REPORT: Wolfpack Players
No. 18 NC State quarterback Devin Leary and linebacker Drake Thomas met with the media via Zoom to discuss the Wolfpack's 31-30 road loss to Miami Saturday evening.
NOTE: Click on each player’s respective thumbnail to watch each interview.
Devin Leary
How much talk was there on the sideline to lift up Devin Carter following the dropped pass on the final offensive drive?
You know, it was tough. Devin’s very hard on himself, but I told him he’s a leader. He’s a guy that everyone on our team looks up to. We didn’t really execute a lot this game. I think that’s a certain play that we didn’t execute that we would have liked to, and yet Devin was pretty hard on himself. I went up to him and just told him, “Hey, we need you. We still need your energy. We still need your spirit. You’re a leader on this team, and control the controllables at this point.”
Does it shake your confidence in your receivers when they have nights where they’re not holding onto the ball they normally do?
No.
Was Miami doing something to open up the passing lanes for you as a means of prioritizing stopping the running backs?
They were giving us a whole bunch of looks. Early on, they were loading the box up. As you could see, they were trying to stop the run first which opened up some passes. In the second half, they started giving us a couple more different looks whether it was pressuring out of zone or pressuring out of man. At the end of the day, we have to handle what they give us. We’re a team that prides ourselves on running the ball inside and outside zone no matter what type of defense that we’re facing. The lack of execution today really hurt us.
With all the mistakes piling up, did the team ever get down on itself, or did you feel like you were in the game at all time?
No, we never got down. We knew it was going to be a four-quarter game. We knew it was going to possibly come down to the last possession, and that was our mindset the entire game like it is every single week. I wouldn’t really say I had a sense of anyone being down or any sense of anyone losing confidence. It was good to see everyone preaching 1-0 no matter the situation, no matter what is going on on the field. Once we have an opportunity, we need to seize the moment. That was the mindset the entire game.
Is it good news that the goals for the season are still in front of you?
Obviously, it ’s tough when when you put in so much work, and something we always preach here is going 1-0. We want to win each and every week. We don’t want to look too far ahead or look in the past. We want to focus on each and every week. Obviously, this game didn’t go the way we wanted to, but we’re going to put it to bed tomorrow, get right back to work, and continue to take that 1-0 approach.
Drake Thomas
How much did Isaiah Moore’s absence change things for you in terms of stepping up even more?
I knew I had to step up. With [Moore] not being out there, I had to control and run things a little bit more. Obviously, I didn’t do a good enough job.
Is there an added disappointment to allowing Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke to back up his words from his infamous press conference this week?
I’m very disappointed. I’m unhappy with the performance.
Was there a miscommunication on Miami’s third-down conversion on the final drive?
I don’t know. I’ll have to go watch the film. It’s a play that the other linebackers discussed, and it wasn’t the same personnel out there. I take responsibility for not talking to the next guy up and not informing him on what he’s supposed to do.
How disappointing is it to know that, if one of the small things that went wrong went right instead, the game’s outcome could have been changed?
I think when you start thinking about stuff like that, that’s when your season goes south. It’s over. You can’t change it now. What happened happened.