VIDEO: Doeren Talks 1st Scrimmage

NC State had their first Fall Scrimmage this morning in Carter-Finley Stadium.  Head Coach Dave Doeren talked with the media afterwards. Here is the video. I will post a transcript later.

Transcript

“I wanted to see them finish plays, finish blocks & finish runs.  I wanted to see if we could catch the ball with people on us, throw the ball with people in our face, kick the ball with people around us.  The live part of the game.  I had to see how we finished.  Also, I wanted to see some response.  Whether it’s a good play, can a player control his emotions.  Or if a player makes a bad play, can he get up and move on from it.  It’s just going to be valuable tape 3-weeks out from our first game.  I thought there was a lot of good effort out there today.”

“It was a pretty back and forth day.  The offense moved the ball around pretty good and the defense came up with some stops.  I was impressed with both sides.”

“I thought the tackling for the most part, being live, overall was good.  I thought our contain in the pass rush lanes was good.  I like some of the down-the-field plays our offense made.  We were able to get some chunks.  That’s one of our goals…to get more chunk plays in the pass game.  We were able to see some of the young guys…Nyheim (Hines) had a touchdown on a long pass today.  I was able to see him do some things.  I’m looking forward to watching the film on those guys.”

“I thought the specialists did ok under pressure.  Kyle (Blambard) kicked the ball really well.  The snapper hurt him on a couple of snaps early in the scrimmage, with a high snap and a low snap, and he got roughed.  He made a 53-yarder and a 47-yarder.  He kicked the ball pretty good.”

“Shadrach’s (Thornton) been great.  He’s had a tremendous work ethic, attitude and focus.  He’s been really the same guy every day.  I’m proud of him.  He’s doing a lot of good things.  He’s grown up a ton.”

“The offensive line is still a work in progress.  The film today’s going to be big.  I know we’ll shuffle the deck again.  Even if we don’t want to change, the five we have will shuffle again next week, because we have to cross train some guys.  They’ve got to be able to play left and right side.  They’ve got to be able to play Tackle or Guard.  They have to be versatile enough to do that.  Tony Adams will be our backup Center, so he has to play some Center.  That allow us to move some other guys around.”

“I thought all the receivers stood out.  Matt Dayes had a couple of drops, which is unexpected for him.  Ramos, Alston, and Cherry continue to be consistent.  I mentioned earlier that Nyheim had a big play.”

“Quinton Schooley is our starting Center.  Tony Adams is our starting Guard.  Whether Joe Thuney is starting at Left Tackle or Left Guard still remains to be seen.  Will Richardson, Tyler Jones and Alex Barr are all a part of that equation.”

“Some people lose their mind when they get in the stadium for the 1st time.  They’ve been on the practice field.  All of a sudden they are like “Wow.”  It’s big to get in here for them.  I’m anxious to watch it.