VIDEO: NC State Head Coach Dave Doeren Talks After Beating Georgia State 41-7

Head Coach Dave Doeren spoke with the media in his press conference after NC State crushed Georgia State 41-7 today. The VIDEO is above, and a BULLETED breakdown is below.

• Good win for our football team. A lot of 1st time things happening. Guys scoring their first touchdowns and making some big plays.
• It was good to see Redshirt Graduate Senior Running Back Brady Bodine score a touchdown for us. He’s been an awesome teammate and good leader.
• Freshman Running Back Trent Pennix scored his first touchdown. Great to see that.
• And then Redshirt Freshman Matt McKay getting in there at the end. Good for him to get out on the field and get some quality snaps at the end of the game.
• Obviously Redshirt Graduate Senior Quarterback Ryan Finley was exceptional. 31 of 38. I know he would like the interception back. 370 yards passing. If you know Ryan Finley, he wants other players to get credit. I love that about him.
• Defensively…keeping them out of the end zone. Gave up some runs, and runs after the catch, and some missed tackles we need to clean up.
• Redshirt Graduate Senior Wide Receiver Stephen Louis seemed fine as far as any injuries outside of a concussion. He’ll go through the protocol and take the steps necessary. Other than that, I think we came out pretty healthy.
• Redshirt Freshman Running Back Nakia Robinson got his first reps.

On Redshirt Freshman Wide Receiver Thayer Thomas…

• Thayer is playing at a high level.
• I think sometimes guys get categorized. Sometimes people think that a walk-on overachieves and they aren’t that great of an athlete. He is an overachiever, but he’s a tremendous athlete. Great quickness. Much faster than people give him credit for. Good ball skills. Works really hard. He’s tough. Had a good game today.
• Took advantage of an opportunity with Jakobi (Meyers) still being out. His first 100-yard receiving day.

Difference between Junior Wide Receiver Kelvin Harmon last week and today…

• Had a good run after the catch. Had a good week of practice.
• Sometimes you need to play a game to see where you’re at. Kelvin’s a great competitor. As soon as he put something on tape, he’s going to watch it and get better, and that’s what he did.
• Coverage systems were different. Had more off-coverage. More free access stuff today. Caught the ball well. Ran crisp routes. Gave himself a little more space on the sideline. Last week he kind of ran out of room a couple of times.

On Freshman Running Back Trent Pennix…

• I said earlier in the week that Trent playing last week, even though he wasn’t productive, was going to help him this week, and you saw that. He’s going to continue to get quicker and play faster. He made a guy miss out in space, which is great to see from that position for us.

On defense giving up 7 points, and then shutting them out the rest of the way…

• They’re resilient. People are moving the ball at times, but they made corrections. Offensively GSU had a couple of extra days to prepare, and they did somethings they hadn’t put on tape. Had to adjust. Hit us on a route early and got some field position. Thought the guys settled in.
• Really did a nice job on third down. 4 for 13.

On what needs to be improved in the running game…

• Need to get on film and really dig in it.
• See where some of the linebackers were coming free. That’s not part of what we do. Want to make sure we are fitting those guys up. Always handle the first level first. Need to see what happened on film.
• I know it’s not where we want it. Got to continue to work at it. Get our Offensive Line playing together. Reps for our running backs and tight ends. They are still young. All that’s going to help over time.