Chris Ingram: "We're Just Focused On Syracuse"

NC State cornerback Chris Ingram met with the media to discuss the team's mentality heading into Syracuse, facing the Orange's system, and much more!

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the interview.

A few days after a tough loss... where's the defense? Where's your head at after all this, and how are you guys kind of turning the page and looking forward to the next challenge?
This next challenge, which is Syracuse. We're kind of just trying to brush it off, not necessarily look over what we did wrong but fix all the things that we need to fix, which is pretty much third down stuff, basically the penalties that we had.

We're just trying to make everything right so we don't have to deal with it on Saturday. Now, this week, we're just focused on Syracuse, and we know what we have at stake.

Is everyone feeling maybe a little healthier than the last time we saw you guys on Saturday?
Yeah. Pretty much everybody is ready to hit the ground rolling, man. We're really pissed off right now. That's pretty much what it's been. We real pissed off because we know what's been at stake. We’re just ready to take it out on Syracuse for real.

The last couple weeks, you've been getting more and more snaps, more and more reps. Are you getting back to form that you were a couple years ago, before your injury? How are you feeling here, late in the season?
Oh, yeah. We here. We down here, deep in the season. A couple guys banged up. My preparation has always been the same. I'm still prepared, ready to go... just waiting on my number to get called.

When that happens, I just got to show up and make the plays that I'm used to making.

Joshua Pierre-Louis has kind of taken another step this year, it seems, he’s more comfortable. Just, what does he bring to the defense, and what kind of player is he, both in practice and when you guys get into games?
My boy, JPL. Oh, yeah. He a dog, man.

I like how he plays. It's kind of a reflection of that room, with Tyler Baker-Williams and him. There’s no drop-off, really.

I really like what he brings to the defense. He’s bringing that dog mentality. He’s real scrappy. He’s put himself in position to make plays, and he’s a real good athlete, so I'm really excited about him and what he's become.

Bam was just talking about Demie Sumo, the freshman running back. We've been hearing a lot of good things about him all year from coaches, the other players. As a older guy, what have you seen from that young freshman in practice this season?
I call him Lil Demie Lovato, Lil Demie... yeah, I like him. He brings juice, too. I really like him. He real... It's a little different. He’s a little different, it's just you aren’t going to be able to understand it until you see it.

I feel like it's a complement to their room as well, with Ricky, with Zonovan, with Jordan, all of them boys. They were really like, you could tell it's a reflection, and then he's just taking his God-given ability and then allowing them to teach him. He's learning, doing what he’s doing, and just doing the best he can do with the role he’s playing on his team.

Is he going to be a guy in like three or four years, all of you older guys be like, "Yeah, we told y'all. We told you guys that he's going to be really, really good for us."
Like I said, Lil Demie Lovato... you’re going to have to see it. I'm telling you, you’re going to have to see it. That man, he's real talented, and he's smart as well. I don't think he understands how smart he is... I just feel like he could take it to that next level, but that's with everybody in the game when they first enter college.

You're going from playing a team who may throw it 50 times to one that may want to throw it 10. As a corner, how difficult is that going from, every play, knowing the ball may come your way to almost kind of just having to stay focused for when it does?
It's pretty much like you said. You just got to stay focused, stay locked in, keep reading your keys, and don't get bored because that one play you fall asleep, the ball might be on top of your head, so you can't really go to sleep on this.

Also, try to get, as far as involved in the run game, just to stay a part of the game. Don't try to just worry about pass. We like to be in the run game as well. Go down there, get your nose on the ball so you can probably make a play, get the ball on the ground.

I can appreciate that sentiment of being pissed off, but I'm curious how you kind of turn those emotions into something positive on the field.
It's just, like I said, taking that pissed off mentality that we had coming in here on Sunday. We watched the film. You watch the film, make the corrections, and then you go out, go through the walk-throughs, fix the little things, and then just try not to... Well, we won't make those repeated mistakes again because we’re going continue to harp on it and continue to fix those things. Once we do that, I feel like it's going to be real, real, real good.

Is it more of like a serious tone in the locker room on Sunday when you guys come in and watch the film for a loss than, say, a win? Maybe a little less joyful and a little more serious.

I feel like, as far as a team-wise, I feel like we really want to continue to make that step. We want to keep taking that step forward. I mean, we're always in a good mood. We all love each other. We all like to joke around, but I feel like once we know the things we need to work on, we're going to look at those things on the film and we're going to take it as serious as possible and then take it off film. Because you never want to go into the next week and have those same mistakes on the film because other schools, other teams, they're looking at those mistakes that you may have, and they're going to try to pick at it.