Dave Doeren: "It’s Going To Be A Great Game"
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media to discuss the FSU win and preview Wake Forest.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the press conference.
Opening Statement...
Starting with our win over Florida State, it’s hard to win on the road. Especially when you have to go play in a place like Doak Campbell in Tallahassee with the fanbase they have and the tradition and the players they have on their roster.
I feel like they’ve improved a lot as a team since we played them a year ago. They’re a much better team. You can see the identity of their team, and to this point that was the best defensive line we’ve played against. They were really good up front. A lot of those kids are gonna have a chance to play in the NFL if they keep progressing. I thought they played really hard against us on the defensive line. So I was really happy to get that win and continue to raise the bar in our program.
Beating Florida State four out of five years is not something a lot of people can say that they’ve done. I’m not saying that to knock them, I think they’re a great program, that just says a lot about what we’ve been able to do here over time. This year, beating Florida State, Clemson and Louisville all in the same season is a first for me in this program, probably a first for most people in one year, to beat those three teams. When I first got here, and I know that was a while ago now, those teams were all 10+ win teams. They had Teddy Bridgewater at Louisville and they were coming off an 11-win season, Florida State was in the national championship, Clemson was climbing, and all three of them were 10+ win teams. It’s good to sit here and see the progress we’ve made, and same with our opponent this week.
Those are really good football programs, and they’re financially invested football programs. It says a lot about what we’ve been able to do here, and it says a lot about our staff and our players, and the development of our players.
In the game, I felt like we really played complimentary football well. I think we fed each other, we assisted each other, we lifted each other up. When they got momentum, our offense would score. Our defense in the first half played outstanding football and played really well in the fourth quarter.
Individually, I thought Tanner Ingle probably had his best complete game, and he’s played a lot of football for us. He was patient, he triggered when he needed to trigger. He had a good football game. He communicated well, tackled really well.
I thought Josh Pierre-Louis played really good football for us in that game; he stepped up. We plan on having Tyler Baker-Williams back this week, so Josh stepped up and there was really no drop off there. I thought Betty played really well at linebacker for us. Cory Durden stood out on the D line and was one of our players in the game, pressured the quarterback a few times. The interception Josh had, [Durden] was there on the quarterback as it was thrown.
Offensively, I thought Trent Pennix and CJ Riley and Porter Rooks and Chris Toudle and Ricky Person all stepped up and made big plays in the game. Bam Knight ran really hard, guys protected the ball. I thought Devin Carter and Keyon Lesane didn’t catch the football but blocked really well, played with great energy, and did a lot of dirty work for us. A lot of guys had to step up. You’re used to hearing Emeka [Emezie]’s name and Thayer [Thomas]’s name and Devin’s name in the reception category, and it wasn’t their day for that. It was their day to do other things for us.
I thought Trent Gill continues to set up our defense with his kicking and punting. But just overall, we protected the ball well. The one turnover offensively was on a hail mary, which happens. We had three explosive plays for touchdowns and we knew we needed to do that. They’re a really good red zone defense.
The time of possession was 35 to 25, so our offense sustained drives and kept their offense on the sideline. And Devin just continues to be productive with four touchdowns, had a nice run at the end to move the chains.
Negatively, and it was a battle up front, their D line won some times, and that’s a good D line. Giving up three sacks, obviously, is something we’re not gonna sit here and say that’s good, even though that’s a good D line. We can’t allow that. I thought, from a negative standpoint, we had a couple of drops on nakeds. Dylan Parham and Trent Pennix both had opportunities that could have been big plays for us. And then we had four pre-snap procedural penalties.
Defensively, we had seven three-and-outs and two fourth-down stops, so nine of their possessions we were off the field without points. Stopped the run, it was a really really good running tandem. Even though we expected the quarterback to be a part of their run game, but the running backs averaged 1.4 yards per carry and had only 36 total yards rushing. And that’s who they were going into our game, they had rushed for 200 yards in six of their eight games. I thought we adjusted well, with a quarterback that we didn’t expect to play against.
Obviously more of a passer. Didn’t give up an explosive for touchdowns, we tackled well, on third down we were 14 of 16 on defense. Third quarter, special teams let the defense down. We let up a surprise onside kick and the defense let up back-to-back scoring drives, and then they responded and got back into form. So I was proud of them for not flinching when momentum was going the wrong way there. They just hung in there and got back to what they were doing. 0 for 2 in the red zone on defense is an area we can get better.
Special teams wise, other than the surprise onside kick, which was well executed by them and poorly played by us, I thought we were really good other than that. Trent Gill had five punts down inside the 20, four inside the 10. Our gunners on our punt coverage, Anthony Smith made a great play downing the ball on the 1-yard line. Keyon Lesane, they were trying to double him and he was still winning at times. It was a good win.
Our last road game coming up, we’ve played four out of the last five on the road. It’s a tough schedule that way, and playing the team with the best record in our league with Wake. They’re a really good football team, a well-coached team. Staff that’s been together, there’s good staff continuity. Systems haven’t changed in a long time. Receivers are really good players, the quarterback has been playing at a high level. And they’re a high-scoring group and they’re playing with confidence on offense.
They lead the ACC in a lot of categories. Number one in turnover margin, 10 fumble recoveries, which is crazy. We’ve forced 10 and have one recovery, and they’ve got 10 recoveries. So the ball has been bouncing their way on defense and they do a great job of ripping the ball out. Their two receivers average 17 and 20 yards per catch, their two running backs that we’re gonna play against [average] 5.5 and 4.5 per carry.
It’s going to be a great game and a great challenge, and I look forward to the opportunity for the guys on our staff to compete against theirs. I have a bunch of respect for coach [Dave] Clawson and what he’s done not just at Wake but before Wake.
I think we both take a lot of pride in developing players and getting guys to play hard. It’s a rivalry that's been going on a long time. 129-year-old rivalry with, I think this is the 115th matchup. There’s a lot of people that feel a certain way about playing this game, so it’s great to be a part of it at this point in the season where both teams are relevant and are playing for a lot.
Update on Savion Jackson...
He’s day-to-day. It’s just gonna be a matter of time, something that we’ll just have to monitor and see. Obviously, he was walking around on the sidelines so it wasn’t anything major from that standpoint. But we don’t know yet.
On Ricky Person’s development as a pass catcher and how it’s helped the offense...
One of ricky’s goals was to play better without the ball, from a handoff standpoint. So as a pass-protection guy, as a route runner, as a ball catcher, on special teams. Any way he can help us when he’s not running the football, and he’s worked hard at that and takes pride in it. Both of those guys catch the football well out of the backfield for us and make plays. It’s just another way to get a good player the ball, and the way they were covering defensively, there were one-on-one matchups with linebackers on our backs on times, so we were able to get him the football and let him make some plays with his feet that way.
On addressing the emotions of having a lot on the line this week...
For us, since we lost that game to Miami, we’ve been approaching every game as a must-win game. We’ve been in a playoff mode for the last two games. The difference in this one is it’s an in-state team. Outside of that, there isn’t a difference. We have to win this game, the next game, and then next game to be in Charlotte, as far as us controlling it. A lot of people are making this into the game, but to me it’s not. It’s the next of three. We have to go undefeated in November to control our destiny. So that’s how we look at this. It just happens to be against a rivalry team and a team that has the best record we’ve played.
On the type of challenge Wake Forest’s wide receivers present...
The only thing I can say to that is we get to go up against guys like that in practice every day. Devin Carter and Emeka and Thayer and Porter and CJ Riley. Those two guys for them are really good receivers. They’re making plays, they make contact catches. He throws it up and it’s a challenge, we’re gonna have to play really well in the secondary, we’re gonna have to help our secondary with pass rush, with underneath coverage, with changeups. We’re gonna have to compete, and I think you can say the same for their secondary against our receivers. Both sides have difficult wideouts to defend.
On if Devin Leary is getting the respect that he deserves nationwide...
I don’t know. I really don’t have a pulse for that, I guess. At the end of the year when you guys decide who the All-Conference players are. He’s on watchlists. I see that. I guess you’d think he’s getting attention that way. I think the guy is playing really good football. His stats don’t lie, and the film doesn’t lie. Hopefully he’ll get what he deserves at the end. Hopefully people will see that and not just vote on people that have a certain thing on their jersey. I hope they look at the stats and the performance and actually pay attention to what happened on the season when they place their votes.
On if this is a typical progression for a second-year quarterback or if Leary has exceeded that...
I don’t know. His last season wasn’t normal. He lost 30 days to COVID. It’s hard for me to answer that. I think last year was really unique for him. He had 30 days out with COVID, and then he broke his leg after four games. He really didn’t play last year like a normal first-year starter would get to play. I think what he is doing is outstanding. I think the best thing about him is what he’s learned in the past year, both as a player and as a player that couldn’t play watching the guys. He did a heck of a job paying attention and not wasting the opportunity to develop when he couldn’t necessarily be on the field all the time.
Devon Betty had an extended role against FSU. Was that relative to Florida State’s run game or just you wanting to take another look at him?
We felt like he had worked really hard and made some plays in games. We were trying to get some more production at that position, and we felt like he had earned that opportunity through his play and the way he has gone into games and just produced. He’s got a nose for the football. Losing Isaiah [Moore] and losing Payton [Wilson], I felt like just getting another guy out there that had been successful at making plays in games, not just knowing the defense. I think right now there’s really a four-man room without playing freshmen, when you talk about Jaylon Scott and Betty who have to back up everybody at this point. We’re down in that room unless we’re going to pull redshirts on guys, and we’re trying not to do that with Caden Fordham and Jordan Poole. They’re guys that we are trying to keep at four or less games. Betty has been very productive. He’s played well. In this program, when you earn the opportunity through your play and through your attitude and through your coachability, you get rewarded. So, that’s what happened.
On what it does for the wide receivers to have Leary spreading the ball around so well...
I think the biggest thing that it does is that you better be running your route to get the ball. His favorite guy is the guy that is open. He’s going to go through the progression and find that guy. He’ll use the rules of the coverage. If it’s one-on-ones, he’s going to look at the matchups with the DBs and see where he likes that matchup. I think our offense is built around using different players in different ways and allowing plays off of plays to help you. Sometimes those plays happen to be the tight ends or the running backs. Sometimes they are to receivers. I think if you’re in a room where just one guy gets fed, you’re going to have a room of guys who aren’t very happy. In our case, we spread the ball around. I think that creates better practice out of guys because they know they can get the ball. Guys are going to practice hard, and they’re going to be ready to play. They know that they’re coming in to play, they’re not just coming in to block. Even Dylan Parham, he blocks a lot for us, we throw the ball to him. He’s scored two touchdowns this year. There’s going to be guys that get rewarded for the dirty work, I guess you would say. C.J. Riley is a guy that has blocked a lot this year, and he had two catches, one big catch in the game for a touchdown. I think that’s the thing that Tim [Beck] and Joker Phillips, they pay attention to that. Like ‘who is doing the dirty work? How can we reward that guy and give him some stuff for the work he is doing in the run game?’ I like that. I like the way they do that for those guys.
Could you tell that Chris Toudle was someone who could put on weight and get more physical when you moved him to tight end?
When we recruited Chris, we weren’t sure what he was going to be. We knew he was a big, athletic guy. He played receiver. He actually played Wildcat quarterback at times. He could run and catch. He has a body type that we didn’t know if he’d stay at receiver, move to tight end, or even be a guy that segued to defensive end. He’s got a big frame. He’s a hard-working young man. We knew that he would develop because of his work ethic. We just saw a stacked receiver room and a tight end room losing Cary Angeline and Dylan Autenrieth. We just thought it was an opportunity to get him on the field and see what he could do. I think he was at a point where he needed that, too. He was kind of down. He had been here a couple years and hadn’t sniffed the field, really. He needed a chance to help us more. It was just a win-win for the tight end room and for him. It was the same thing with Trent Pennix. With Bam [Knight] and Ricky [Person] back, we wanted to find a role for Trent. He’s a very athletic guy. The tight end room is a room that we wanted that production out of. Cary led us in receiving a couple years ago, so our tight end is an important part of our offense.
Are Pennix and Toudle two of the biggest mismatches in the ACC?
Yeah, I think the tight end Louisville has, [Marshon] Ford, is similar to those two guys as well. I don’t know other than that if there’s anyone like them in the league, that can block on a defensive end or a linebacker with physicality but then run and get away from guys. Get away from safeties, nickels, and linebackers. They are definitely a matchup problem for people.
On the team’s mentality of controlling what they can control...
Going back to preseason, I think the staff and this team knew we had a chance to be really good if things happened the way that we thought they could happen. I don’t know when it was, but during training camp I met with a bunch of the leaders and it became very clear to me that for us to become who we want to be, it has to be about getting better every day and not about chasing the championship. We’ve talked enough about that. We need to focus on just getting better and staying in the moment as a team. And about not allowing what we want at the end of the season to happen get in the way of how we get to that place. That was a player-delivered message to me that I really loved. It’s been me and our staff holding them accountable to that goal that they set to stay in the moment and really be a 1-0 team each week. Stay there and not let people talk us out of it. I think that’s been, and I know everyone says the next game is the most important game and that’s true, but not everybody embraces that. I think this team has.
On Sam Hartman’s running ability...
Any time your quarterback can extend drives, it evens the numbers in the run game. He does a nice job of managing their offense, giving their players a chance and making plays on his feet. He’s a competitor. I have a lot of respect for Sam. He’s gutsy. You watch him, and he’s a guy that doesn’t get too high or too low. He seems very poised watching him on their sideline. He’s willing to take hits. He’s willing to throw his body in there as a blocker on the run game. I like the way he plays. It’s similar to, not that they are even close, but to the guy from Louisville. I really liked how Malik Cunningham played football. I had a lot of respect for him. Same thing with Sam Hartman. I have a lot of respect for how he plays. I think he’s a tough kid who plays hard and manages the game. It’s similar to what our guy does. I think Devin is a tough kid who is very poised and manages the game. You’ve got two really good quarterbacks competing against each other in this one, and it’s going to be a really fun game to be a part of.
What will Tyler Baker-Williams’ impact be, back on the field against Wake Forest?
Defending the slot in this league is a tough, tough day of work for some people. It can be really challenging. T-Bake, as we call him, and Josh Pierre-Louis last week, they’ve done a nice job of limiting the production in the slot from people. It’s going to be hard again. Number 5 [Jaquarii Roberson] is a really good player for them in the slot. He makes a lot of plays. They get you in one-on-ones with the way they run their RPO game. It gives us a 6-foot-1, 210-pound tough dude who can run defending that guy. He’s a guy that has played a lot of football. He’s very savvy. He plays with poise. He doesn’t panic when the ball is in the air. He can fit the run. He can blitz. I think Tyler is a really good football player for us in the slot. Again, that’s another matchup that will be important in this game for both teams.
How big is it for the sideline guys to bring the energy and also to accept that role?
We call them the juice squad here. For us, that’s the fourth phase of complementary football. It’s the passion of our sideline. It’s defense, offense, special teams, and then love and passion and camaraderie and brotherhood. Celebrating the fact that we are playing football and cheering on our brothers that we care about. That’s something that has taken time to cultivate. These guys have bought in. They are part of that. Our players thank them for that. When we sit in on team meetings and we talk about the players. It’s just like the guy who caught the touchdown. You’ll hear them giving guys props for how much energy they brought on the sideline. And they’re thanking Cyrus Fagan for helping them, Tyler Baker-Williams in this game was right there with Josh Pierre-Louis the whole game talking to him and applauding him and picking him up. I think that part of our game is just another way to showcase the passion that we have for our teammates. I think it’s a bad message if you’re a player that is not playing in the game and you’re sitting on the bench while your brothers are out there going to battle. I think that’s a bad message. It’s something we don’t want in our program. We want the opposite. We want our guys to stand up and cheer and really help and bring enthusiasm to our fans as well. I think it’s energized our fan base as well, at times, where they get sitting down too much. They see our players and they have no choice but to get up. Our guys are like that. It’s been good.