Dave Doeren: "They're Really Doing Some Good Things"
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media to discuss the Wolfpack's win over Louisville and the upcoming game against Florida State.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the press conference.
Opening statement...
Our DBs, other than one play, kept the ball in front of them, played the deep ball. Offensively, we struggled until the fourth quarter. We finally got an explosive play there with Trent [Pennix] and I felt like that sparked us, then we scored 21 points in the fourth. It was awesome to have that finish. And that final drive, we get the ball with like nine minutes left in the game and eat up seven minutes on the clock and score a touchdown to make it a two-possession game after they had kicked a field goal to get a one-point game.
So that was good to see. Trent Pennix, I felt he sparked us. It was great to see him have a game like that. It was something we’ve been seeing as a coaching staff standpoint and hoping for, so it was great to have it happen. I was happy for him and for our team.
Overall, offensively, positives, I thought we didn’t turn the ball over; taking care of the football is a huge deal. I thought we caught the ball well. It was great to see [Devin Carter] come back the way he did, Emeka [Emezie] had another great game, CJ Riley had a great catch in the red zone for a touchdown, Porter [Rooks] had a drop and then came back with a huge catch there and that was the one that really sparked us; the next play was the touchdown to Pennix. Thayer [Thomas] continues to do what he does. We protected well, we had one sack in the game. They brought a lot of different pressures. Obviously, [Devin] Leary had four touchdowns and we were 3 for 3 with red zone touchdowns on our three red zone drives.
Negatives, we’ve got to get our run game back to where it was. It’s not all on players, it’s not all on coaches, it’s everybody. There’s different people and different plays, and sometimes we’re running the ball into an overloaded look, and that’s on us coaches to help them. Some of that, we have RPOs built in where Devin needs to make better decisions on when to throw it. And there were some missed blocks like you usually see in the run game when you don't do well. And there was one play where Ricky [Person] bounced laterally and he had a good vertical lane if he would have stayed vertical.
So there’s a lot of things there and things that we can get better at, and that’s the good part of it. I thought Louisville did some good things, they were definitely pressuring us a lot in the run game, and you’ve got to give them some credit on that as well. I thought defensively, Shy Battle’s interception was a great play. We really worked hard on deep balls, we thought Louisville was a vertical passing team off of the run game, and the onus was gonna be on the corners at times to make plays and they did. Ayden [White] could have had two interceptions; they would have been great catches but he got his hands on two deep balls. Defensively, they got in the red zone twice and we gave up zero touchdowns down there. They had a missed field goal and a made field goal. I thought the discipline in our pass rush lanes was really really good. Coach Wiles with the front, Levi [Jones] when he was in it as a linebacker.
The guys just did a good job of keeping [Louisville QB Malik Cunningham] in the pocket or having a spy for him, slanting one way or twisting another way and forcing him a certain direction and then tackling him, as I mentioned with Drake and Levi. We had three fourth-down stops, and probably one of the things I’m most proud of, just the way the defensive kids reacted on boots and play-actions off the run game. Those are plays that have hurt a lot of people and they didn’t hurt us in that game.
Negatives, we gave up an explosive pass for a touchdown, a huge play we can’t give up. We had two opportunities for interceptions that we dropped. In the run game they had some yards on us where we lost our gaps up front a couple times, too many times. I thought our special teams were very strong again. Trent Gill is punting the football, he’s a weapon. 43 yards a punt, six times, all six of his punts were down inside the 20 to set up our defense.
Kickoff coverage had a couple returns on us in this game where we had to tackle, it wasn't just touchbacks. Both times we were able to get them down inside the 25, so that was good to see. Had good overlap, guys getting off of blocks.
Now we get to play another road game, a Florida State team that had a lot of momentum, had won three straight games. Just had a barn burner with Clemson, it was a one-possession game. They’re really doing some good things. They’re much more physical, they’ve kind of settled in on who they are. They’re a big, strong, physical defensive line. That’s the first thing you see. They’ve got a defensive end, number 11, transferred in from Georgia, that leads the conference in sacks and tackles for loss. A defensive tackle, number 0, who I think is really impressive. Disruptive player. They’re not doing as much, they’re simplified on defense and they’re playing better, they’re playing sound, they’re playing hard.
Offensively, they’re committed to running the ball, they’ve run for 200 yards in six of their eight games. Both of their tailbacks are really impressive, they’re averaging over 7 yards per carry. They’re probably the best two running backs we’ve seen this season. And the quarterback, Henry, he’s a good athlete. He’s not just a runner, he’s throwing the ball better. They’ve got a multitude of guys they throw it to; there’s six guys with over 15 catches. The tight end leads them in receiving. It’s another opportunity to go play a huge game. November is a very important month.
It’s the first time, in my time in the league, that it’s been wide open for who is gonna represent each side of the division that they’re in. So it’s exciting right now in our conference to have several teams on both sides of their divisions, Coastal, Atlantic, fighting to get to Charlotte.
Each game is gonna matter a lot, and so we’re excited for our next opportunity to go play a game, not at 7:30, thank you. It’s awesome to be able to go play a game and not have to go home at four in the morning afterwards, so looking forward to that time slot and I know our players are thankful for that. It’s been a lot to play eight games and have seven of the eight at 7:40. So we’re looking forward to this four o’clock kick and looking forward to playing a very talented team down in Tallahassee.
On Drake Thomas’ ability to take on more responsibility and still perform...
Drake was a middle linebacker his whole life until he got here. He’s been playing sam and he’s been playing will, so it’s really natural for him and probably because he knows what’s happening on the outsides of him, it’s a pretty easy transition because he knows who’s fitting where at the sam and will positions around him.
From a leadership standpoint, he’s ready for this. He’s been a guy that has demonstrated leadership through example for a couple years, and this year he’s just been different. He’s been very confident. I think he knows he’s one of the best players on our football team. He knows that and he’s not a guy that’s cocky about that. He’s just a very confident player that brings it every day, and the guys respect him. Thankfully, he’s using his voice now to express how that’s supposed to look with his teammates, and they’ve responded to it.
On if the Louisville game was Thomas’ best of the season...
Absolutely. Fifteen tackles and then the open field tackles are things that people don’t see. He was just crushing offensive linemen in that game, too. Guys were trying to climb up and he was knocking them over in the backfield. He did some good things in coverage, had a really nice pass breakup. So yeah, he had a really, really good football game.
On Cory Durden’s return to Florida State...
I know it will be, for Cory, emotional. He’s got friends on that other sideline. I know once the ball’s snapped, that’s not gonna matter to him, but you’ve just got to keep him focused on his job. Those are discussions we’ll have with him, to not let the emotions of the game be what it’s about. It’s about executing and playing at a high level. I thought Cory really played his best fundamental of the year against Louisville. Stayed in his gap, played to his hands, pressured the quarterback. We’ve just got to keep him focused on what works for him. As far as talking to him about the other team, I’m not sure how much that helps. They’re a different team than they were last year, obviously we are too, so if there’s things that he thinks will help, we’ll listen, but when you get out there to play, it’s not gonna matter. The guys have to execute every snap. They’re gonna play hard and we’re gonna play hard.
On the value of having played a lot of close games this year...
There’s a confidence, I think. Clemson was an overtime win, La Tech we intercepted a pass to close it out, so we’ve had a lot of one-possession games here and you’ve just got to make the play at the end to put it away. And we’ve been able to do that on several occasions and not on some others, so they’re good learning experiences. I think it builds confidence in the guys that if you just keep playing and believing, and doing the things that you’re supposed to do, eventually you’re gonna break through in a game. And when you have a quarterback playing like we do, the way he is, it’s just a matter of time before he does something that helps us offensively because he’s just doing a really good job managing the game. It doesn’t matter how many seconds are on the clock, [Leary] is really good in two-minute drill, too, so I think our team is very confident in that.
On Devin Leary’s performance so far this season...
Protecting the football is the best way to win, period. All the other stats that are out there, that is the one that gives you the best opportunity to win games. When your quarterback is doing what ours is from that standpoint, he’s giving us the best chance to win. Not just because of his arm or his accuracy, [but] because he’s not helping the other team. I think at the end of the day, a lot more games are lost than they are won, and Devin does a nice job of not putting that out there and giving them a chance to play on a short field and hurting our defense. He understands that every play doesn't have to be a great play. If it gets to the next one, that might be the one where we have a guy wide open. He’s learned a lot in his time here. He’s grown up a lot and he’s done a really fantastic job with Coach Beck and Coach Proctor of just learning the game plan and being patient and taking what’s there.
On his confidence in Leary late in games...
Since the Pitt game [in 2020], I think that’s the first time I’ve seen how clutch he is. He doesn’t get rattled, the moments aren’t too big for him. I think there’s some people out there that get uptight, and he’s not one of them. And that makes him look really good because there’s people around him that are flinching and pressing and trying to do someone else’s job, and Devin’s doing the same thing he was doing the previous quarter and the quarter before that. I think a lot of times people think guys all of a sudden become superhuman in these clench situations, and they really don’t. They just execute, and sometimes other guys don’t. I think Tom Brady’s a great example too, he does all these things in clutch situations. Peyton Manning did all those things in clutch situations, and you hear them talk about that kind of demeanor. They don’t change who they are. They’re the same guy, they’re just that guy the whole game and other people aren’t. Devin’s very calm, he’s very poised, he doesn’t get rattled. So those moments for him are really good moments, and that gives us a chance in these one-possession games to be elite.
On what it takes for the team to be good defensively in the red zone...
We work a lot in the red zone, first of all. It’s an area of emphasis here. I think there needs to be a comfort zone that your players have down there. Like they know your game plan, they understand it. I think a lot of times as coaches, you spend so much time in the regular part of the field and then you get down there and there’s a lot of things that can change down there. Your coverage packages when you get inside the 10 are different on defense because the windows are different. So we spend a lot of time [in practice] down there. The kids understand what we do, they whys behind it, and because of that, they can play fast and execute, and do the things necessary. That was our best game in the red zone, we were 100% on both sides of the ball, reaching our goals. I agree with you, I think that’s definitely one of the reasons we won the football game.
On if Louisville and Florida State are similar schematically...
[Jordan Travis] is definitely a great athlete. He does some things on his own when they drop back and throw where he can extend plays, and he’s got that extra gear where he can take off and run. His speed is similar to Malik Cunningham’s speed. I think Malik is more of a slasher too, Malik’s really different, the way he changes direction. Not to say that Henry doesn’t change direction well, I just think that Malik is a little different that way. But you have to be ready for this guy as a runner. It probably does help that we just spent the last week working on QB run game as well. The designed runs aren’t always the same, we’ll have to work on what their run blocking schemes are gonna be and fit them up, and make sure we have enough people there and be super disciplined in our pass rush lanes again and in coverage, because when guys scramble obviously you can give up some big plays in scramble drill as well. Our rules on defense have to be really sound that way.
On the offense and defense being supportive of each other...
I think they believe in each other and the complementary aspect of what we preach carries over. The defense knew that they needed to help the offense and the offense knew they needed to help the defense. You could hear it in the locker room, that’s what the guys were talking about, “The defense is playing great, we need to get out there and help them.” The kids knew, they were excited to get the adjustments we were gonna make, it just took a little bit longer than we wanted to execute them. But that’s football, man. There’s some games, obviously in the Miami game, we didn’t hold them enough and we needed the offense to score more points. There’s games where you’re just gonna need to outscore them, there’s games where you’re gonna need to hold them down score wise, and there’s games where your special teams is gonna have to score too. We are playing good complementary football and that’s really good, that’s something that we needed to do to have a chance. Which wasn’t what people expected, with us having four people down, probably expected us to have to score a lot more to win. So I was proud of us for finding a way to win.
On if he dressed up for Halloween and if he could dress up as another college football coach, who it would be...
I did not dress up for Halloween, unfortunately. We had Halloween Sunday here getting ready for the next game and had a night game Saturday night, so didn’t get much time to enjoy it. Was here late last night. We did have some trick-or-treat here with the kids of the coaches and players and things like that going on. If I could dress up as any other college coach is the question. I don’t know. I’m gonna pass on that question.
On if opposing defenses may focus on the pass more and open up the running game...
It’s gonna be interesting to see. I think that’s a good question. I think you have to, defensively in college football, pick your poison at times, and we have to do the same thing here. Our offense needs to be able to play the math game. If they’re gonna put guys [in the box], we’ve got to be able to throw the ball, and we’ve been able to throw the ball to win. You guys know me, you know I’d love to be more balanced offensively than we are right now, but at the same time, I’d rather win games. If they’re gonna make us throw to win, that’s what we’re gonna do. At the end of the day, there’s a bravada about being able to run the football better than we are. And there’s no blame on anyone, we all as a program have to be better in that area. It starts with me and our offensive staff and then the players. It’s something that we take pride in, but we take more pride in winning. So if they’re gonna load it up, we’re gonna throw it out there.