VIDEO: Dave Doeren’s Press Conference After NC State Beat UVA

NC State opened their ACC slate with a 35-21 victory over Virginia yesterday, and Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren spoke to the media in his press conference afterwards. The video is ABOVE, and a bulleted breakdown of what he had to say is BELOW.

• Great to be 4-0. Proud of coaching staff and players. Appreciative of the fans today.
• Thought our guys played hard physical football against a very good football team. I think UVA is on the way up. Bronco’s done a very nice job. Bryce Perkins is a tough guy to tackle.
• Defensively had an excellent game plan, especially in the 1st half. They changed some things up at halftime, and we had to adjust as we went. Held Perkins to basically nothing in the 1st half.
• Offensively we were able to run the ball effectively against a very good defense. Ricky Person really sparked us. Brady Bodine and Reggie Gallaspy did some good things.
• Good to see Kelvin Harmon get in the end zone.
• Another home game next week against Boston College during Fall Break. Going to go ahead and start now asking people to be here to help us. Our home field advantage is as good as it gets. We need everyone in the stands next week as we play a good Boston College team.
• Ryan Finley just has to be smart about putting the defense in a bad spot. He has really good wideouts and he’s going to trust what he sees. If he feels like he can throw to somebody, he has proven he can make good decisions.
• I wish I could tell you Ricky Person is full go, but he’s not. He’s still not 100%, but that’s as good as he’s felt in awhile. He really wanted to play, and Thursday we were trying to make a decision, and he said “Coach, I’m playing, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” He’s sore right now, so we’ll see if he can play next week. That kid is a warrior. I gave him the game ball after the game. I thought he battled really tough. Proud of him.
• He’s a change of pace. He’s fast. Makes people miss. It’s what we’ve been missing back there. It’s what we’ve always had. A guy that could run you over and a guy that could make you miss. We’ve been missing that. Reggie is going to run hard. He’s going to run through people. He’s never going to get negative yards. He’s going to fall forwards, but you still want that guy that’s going to put his foot in the ground and change direction.
• Place Kicker Chris Dunn has helped him sleep better at night.
• We felt like if Perkins couldn’t run the ball today, it would be hard for them to beat us.
• That was the first time I’ve seen Cary Angeline excited after that touchdown.
• In training camp Emeka Emezie and Stephen Louis were rotating because it was a day-to-day competition to see who was going to outperform the other. Look at him and Steph as starters. I attribute Emezie’s success to learning how to follow. What Harmon and Louis do is work harder than any player in the country. He said I want to be just like you and went everywhere they went.
• At the end of the day our defensive lineman were beating their offensive lineman.
• Defensive Tackle Larrell Muchison is playing great. He’s disruptive, and so into it right now. He bought into redshirting last year. Bought into the weight room. He’s become a very good inside player, and he has a lot of energy and passion. I think our guys feed off of him.