NC State Head Coach Dave Doeren met with the media for his weekly press conference prior to the Wolfpack’s matchup against Duke this Saturday. You can watch the videos BELOW, and read the transcript UNDERNEATH.
I’m very proud of our staff and team and the way that we played. It felt good to play complimentary 11-man football for four quarters against Stanford, and winning always feels good. But winning that way where you get to see all three phases start fast.
Opening kickoff return, DK Kaufman was exceptional in the game, three returns for 164 yards. But the opening play of the game, we talked all week about starting fast, and he said it. He set the table for the offense, and offense goes down and scores a touchdown.
Defense comes out and stops them, and Davin (Vann) has a sack forced fumble in that opening defensive drive, which allowed us to build a 14-point lead quickly, playing complimentary football, setting each other up in all three phases. And just kept doing that throughout the game. Different parts, and winning the turnover margin, critical piece of winning.
And we were able to do that, no turnovers on offense with our starters. And line of scrimmage, obviously, Stanford had done a good job going into our game, stopping the run. And that was something we were able to do very, very well.
And I thought our special teams really helped us in that game. Three kickoff returns, like I mentioned, one of them coming off of a score by them. To open the third quarter, we get a 96-yard return to set up our offense, or a 90-yard return to set up our offense.
And so, things that you talk about, you stress over and over and over, it’s great to see it come alive during the game. And it’s a great recipe for success. Obviously, I was really proud of our offensive line, tight ends, and receivers on how they blocked for the ball carriers, ball catchers throughout the game.
I thought our two running backs, obviously, were explosive. But just ran hard, played good without the ball as well, Hollywood Smothers and Jordan Waters both. And explosive plays occur when your perimeter blocking is exceptional, and it was.
Guys were straining, man, they’re flying around. And I’m proud of those guys. And CJ (Bailey) had a really good day, 18 of 20, protected the football as a runner.
Gave his guys chances to make plays. And when your protection keeps your quarterback in the pocket where he can stand and throw the way that we did, it helps. And so, other than one play, we had a touchdown that we could have had.
It was unfortunate, because KC ran a great route, was wide open. And we got beat on one protection. But other than that, we really protected well in the game.
Defensively, we forced two turnovers. Two good fourth down stops. I was disappointed in the two explosive runs that they had. And we just gotta leverage the ball like we do most of the game on those plays, and those are knocked down, and we didn’t.
And our secondary did not do a good job on those particular plays, getting it down. And it looks bad when those kind of things happen. So we need to get that fixed.
And I know Coach Gibson’s working hard on that with the guys. It really turned into a wildcat offense for Stanford, which we didn’t anticipate, running their quarterback for four quarters the way they did.
And obviously, there’s adjustments that we made in the second half, and we played better. A lot of plus one runs, which is unique in a game. But to see us break the school record for points in an ACC game, with a true freshman quarterback was impressive.
We had nine drives and scored all nine times. And we were able to play a lot of players. On top of that, it was just a special day in the stadium, getting to see Payton Wilson and his family recognized for being put in the Ring of Honor.
Nobody else deserves it more, in my opinion, for all the things that he stood for in this program, and the way that he vocally led and backed his teammates, the adversity he went through being an in-state player. What he’s doing now in the NFL, it was great to see his family, great to see his fiance, his brother, his brother’s wife and child. Just a really special moment on the field.
And then to see Chancellor Woodson and his wife, Susan, honored also at the game. I’ve been very fortunate to have the same chancellor my entire tenure. Randy’s a great leader, and he’s taken on an incredible responsibility in the time he’s been here and done remarkable things at our university.
And he’s been a true friend, and I really appreciate the opportunity, not only to work at NC State, but for one chancellor the entire time. That’s unique, a lot of times in a coach’s tenure, especially when you’ve been somewhere over a decade, you’re gonna have multiple leaders. And that’s one of the things that’s been constant here, is that linear leadership that we’ve been able to have.
And knowing what type of human being and person and supporter that we have in him, he will be missed greatly by me. So it’s great to see them on the field, and then Coach Avent and his team down on the field, just all the recognition of great people in this program and the university, it was awesome. And it’s great to have another sellout, and the fans and the students, all the stuff going on, the pageantry of the game, it was awesome.
It was a beautiful day weather-wise, and we’re supposed to have another one this weekend. You could see the bye week helped us, we were fresh, we were healthier. And fortunately, we came out of the game healthy as well, which is always a blessing.
And now we move on to our final home game of the year, a big one. For multiple reasons, a really good opponent in Duke. I’ll talk about them here shortly, 3:30 home kick, I think the best of both worlds time-wise.
Fans get plenty of time to tailgate, get out early enough to be home at a good time. And we still get the, with the time change, it’ll be dark in the second half. So the things that can happen there from a lighting standpoint in the stadium, it’s gonna be a great environment.
And it is two parts of this game that really make it special at NC State. I think our military appreciation day is one of the coolest things that we do. With all the branches of the military that are present in North Carolina, and the representation that’s here on game day for them.
It’s a true honor to support them and recognize them. For how they fight for our country, for what they do to keep us where we are, and to have them present the way that we do in our state. Again, my background being from a family that has a father who was Navy and Sarah’s father who was Army, both our grandparents served and have so many friends now that served in the state.
So it’s cool, man, seeing that flag roll out across the field at halftime. I love that picture, it’s one of my favorites every year when it comes out. And you get off the buses on the walk of champions and get a walk through all the military and ROTC, it’s a really special day.
And then it’s senior day, and so we have 20 players on our team that are out of eligibility. And after this game, they’ll never walk through that tunnel with their uniform on again to play a game. Some remarkable young men, it’s an honor to be there with them in the tunnel one more time at home.
And some of these guys are new to the program in their last year, and some of these guys have been here a long time. And I’m not going to go through every one of them, obviously, you’ll get to see them all announced on game day. But it’s been an incredible journey with each one of them, each story is different, and their legacies, for some of them will be told for a long time.
I mean, what Davin Vans meant to this program in his tenure, I mean, he leads the nation in forced stumbles right now, what he did during Hurricane Helene. Each one of them, man, I mean, and to see them grow from recruiting them up to the men that they are now, it’s exciting to be a part of that journey. And it means a lot coming out of that tunnel, and we gotta fight for them to go back up that tunnel winners in this game against a great football team.
Duke is really doing a good job, and I have a lot of respect for Manny. Manny obviously worked here, and I’ve known him a while. He’s a really good ball coach, and has taken over a good program.
Mike Elko did a tremendous job building Duke’s roster, and a lot of those players that are still there that we’ve played against last year. Obviously, it was a disappointing outcome last year, and a poor performance, and poor coaching job by me, and a game that really set us back on track. But we look forward to playing them.
And I know this is a sellout, and we need our fans behind us in this game being loud. I mean, this is an offense that plays fast for Duke. There’s a lot of communication on film on the line of scrimmage for Duke.
And we need to make it where it’s hard for them to hear each other, and get up and cheer for our defense, and help them as a 12th man. I mean, that’s a big part of winning at home. And so this is a game where we do need your help in the stands, and get behind them and make the stadium shake.
Let’s set some decibel records in this crowd. They’re playing good football. I mean, their defense jumps off the film.
You watch it, they lead the country in fumble recoveries. They’re second in the country in tackles for loss. They’re 15th in the country in sacks.
They’re second in the ACC in turnover margin, which is the most critical stat for winning. They have four returning starters in the secondary, and I think both their corners are elite players. When you look at their PFF grades, they’re as good as anybody in the country at corner.
They have two defensive ends that disrupt and create havoc in the backfield, really impressed with their defense. And Manny does a great job coaching it. Offensively, they brought in Malik Murphy from Texas, a really talented thrower.
And his receivers, they’re all starters a year ago. We’ve played against them all. Number eight, Jordan Moore, is really catching the ball.
He had a spectacular catch in the Miami game. It was all over the media. So it’s gonna be a great matchup and a huge challenge defensively.
It’s going to be about protecting the football and doing the right things not to beat yourself. Special teams will be a huge part of it for both teams. I think that phase of the game, both teams when you watch the film are really well coached and do a good job.
And so we need to continue to do the things we’ve done the last two weeks, find a way to win, continue to improve fundamentally, and win the turnover margin, finish plays, play fast. It’s a great month. I love November, so much happening this month in college football.
And the goal is to play at your peak in the end and be a finisher. And so for the last two games, we’ve shown improvement. This week, new test, new opportunity, and a lot to play for on senior day with the military appreciation day against an in-state team.
So looking forward to the challenge and the matchup.
Questions?
Coming out of the bye-week, you get a chance to reset and you get a chance to kind of go over things that went well, didn’t go well. What do you feel like was the biggest adjustment that you made and the biggest thing that you saw on film from this past weekend that gives you the idea that things are changing?
59 points.
I mean, isn’t that a big sign that things changed? So, finishing drives, not beating ourselves. We didn’t turn the ball over. Obviously, the two explosive runs inflate your rushing stats, but we ran the football really well in that game and we were balanced.
We’ve been throwing the ball pretty well for the last three games, so it’s really not that. It’s more about being efficient in other areas on offense. And I’ve challenged a lot of people in this building and one of the big things is up front playing our five guys playing as one unit.
And there wasn’t one single guy when you watched the film that was a problem. It was different plays, different guys breaking down. And offensive lines that play well, play really well together.
And I thought our guys did a great job of that in this last game, picking up a lot of movement, stunts. They played in multiple fronts. As I mentioned last week, I thought Stanford’s defensive ends were a problem.
And our guys handled them. They did not beat our offensive line one time in pass protection. They beat our tight end one time.
But those edges were clean. Our tackles did a great job against some defensive ends and that was not the case throughout the season. So, we’ve improved in that area and now it’s a new test.
I mean, these two ends for Duke are real. And so we got to show up.
You mentioned CJ Bailey as well. What did you see on film from him that, after obviously talking about it on Saturday night, what did you see on film from him that gave you the notion that he continues his growth in different areas as well?
I thought he threw the ball really well against Cal, and so that just continued from that game to this game. The thing that he’s doing better is protecting the ball. As a runner, you saw him have a scramble and he’s got the ball where it should be, clamped.
And we call it three Cs, claw, clamp, and chin. And he’s putting that on film, doubling trouble, and protecting the ball as a runner, and you got to continue to do that because he can use his legs when he needs to, and you can’t be careless with the football when you do. And so the passing game piece of it, if we can just give him time, he’s going to make stuff happen because he’s got vision, eyes, and timing, and he’s got guys to throw it to.
And when you’re not, when you break contain and try to extend the play with your legs, whether you’re running or trying to find somebody to throw the football to, that’s when you can get careless with the football at quarterback. And that definitely took a step forward in this last game.
You were able to get Brandon Cisse back in this game. Seems like he gave you a lot of what he was giving you before the injury. Just kind of discuss his play.
Yeah, he had two deep ball opportunities, broke up both of them.
Poised, patience, timing, and strain to get the ball out. Brandon’s a really good player. We’re thankful he’s back and glad we had an opportunity to get him healthier.
He’s feeling good. So having that rotation back at corner, especially when you’re playing a team that, like this week, that, you know, will go fast. They’re a team that on film you can see he’s trying to snap the ball as quickly as possible at times, not always, but at times.
And so having a little bit of depth at corner does help with Aydan (White). And obviously, we’ve been able to get some other corners going. And Corey Coley’s been out, but that rotation’s been helpful throughout the year.
I was talking to Payton (Wilson) before the game. I was like, ‘How’s your body?’ He’s like, ‘Coach, I only play like 40 plays a game.’ He’s like, ‘this is easy.’
‘In college, we played 70 to 80, you know.’ And it was kind of crazy to hear that. As a corner, you have to play that many snaps.
It’s tough. A lot of those plays are running plays where you’re sprinting down the field. So having a little bit of rotation there is very helpful.
With the score you were able to get some younger guys in for some limited snaps. Not a lot of tape, but did anyone show you much? Or were you able to kind of really evaluate a few guys there?
Not really. I mean, it was good to see them get in the game.
I mean, it’s fun to see. And guys, I showed some of those clips to the team in the team room on Sunday, and you see how excited they are to make plays.
I mean, and some of them are older guys, too. DeMarcus Jones gets in, has a spin move, and all the guys are going crazy for him.
Some of the young defensive players got in there. Cannon Lewis had a TFL, got up and went crazy. And the guys were all cheering.
It’s fun for them. And there’s a lot of hard work. And so when they do get that reward and that taste of what it’s like to be on the field, we were able to play a lot of guys.
So that’s always a great thing. We didn’t empty the bench, but we got a lot of guys on the field, that’s for sure.
Davin is leading the country in forced fumbles. He’s also already equaled his career high for sacks. I was just wondering what you think he’s doing particularly well this season that’s leading to all this disruption and game-changing plays?
Well, I think his stamina is one of the factors.
Some of these sacks have taken place at the end of games and in the fourth quarter when some lineman may be too tired, he’s not tired at all. His stamina is impressive. I think his film study and preparation has helped him.
There’s no doubt his ability to not just kind of be a one-trick pony in the pass rush, he’s added a few elements to his pass rush game that’s helped him. And just experience. I think going through what you do as a player and getting out last year, you’ve had a lot of game reps. I don’t have it in front of me, but he’s played a lot of football here. And so that experience pays off over time.
The thing that I said in front of the team yesterday, the thing that’s most impressive not just about his sacks is he doesn’t waste one opportunity when he gets there to strip the football. I mean, the number of times over my career you’ve seen a guy hit the quarterback and not even attempt to rake the ball out, it’s frustrating.
Davin’s done a great job at doing that, and that’s why the stats are the way they are. He’s not wasting opportunities.
Colin Smith was able to be very busy with extra points and kickoffs, which is always good. What kind of went into him getting his chance on Saturday?
That’s just how it worked out last week. Colin did a good job stepping up when we needed him.
We’ll see if we do the same thing again this week. Not going to really get into that to help our opponents at all. Kanoah (Vinesett) has been solid all year.
Colin’s a guy that no matter what you need, he tries to do it for you. He’s been a kickoff weapon. I think in the game, we had a few crazy kicks that came off his foot.
I’m glad he finished the way he did because we needed him to have a deep kick after the one penalty that we shouldn’t have had. Bonehead play by one of our guys. And Colin’s been a weapon on kickoff.
And it was happy for him to get in the game and be 100% and help the team win.
You mentioned Davin taking advantage of every opportunity to go for the ball. Is that a coaching point that you guys stressed out? Or is that just him just making plays?
No, it’s a player taking coaching and applying it to the field.
I think every single time you come to practice at NC State, if you’re there for the first period, you’re going to see ball security on offense. And you’re going to see takeaway circuit on defense. And one of those circuit drills is takeaways.
It’s rushing a bag with a ball and knocking the ball out of the bag and stripping it. It’s a muscle memory thing that we do every Tuesday at NC State. Some players take drill work to teamwork, teamwork to the games, and some players don’t.
And that’s why some players end up being all conference and some players don’t. Davin’s a guy that takes coaching, and he wants to be great at what he does. And so the details of the game apply to those type of guys.
And you saw that with Bradley Chubb his senior year, he forced a ton of fumbles. I just think the best players are about the details. They are.
And there’s accountability to them. And it’s fun to see, man. There’s nothing better as a former defensive coach than the sack force fumble play.
I love that. Derrick Thomas, I idolized that dude when he played for the Chiefs, and he was a master of that, just the Tomahawk strip coming over the top.
And so I love seeing our guys do that.
I know you were at the Duke basketball game in Dallas a few months ago. Do you sense now that Duke is an assigned rival, that this is becoming a bigger rivalry or more of a rivalry befitting two schools that are so close together?
Well, now that we get to play each other every year, I think you can see that.
I mean, in the past, like I told you guys before they changed all the stuff, I mean, I play him once every seven years. So it’s kind of hard to see him that way as a rival when you never play.
But now we get to play every year. So that will add to that, being as close as we are to Durham and as close as Durham is to Raleigh, it’s natural to have that kind of feel. And I’m glad we do, definitely glad we do, because it’s been one of the weirder parts of being the head coach here was how little we played some of the teams that were drivable to our university.
And very thankful that the ACC did change that format so we get to play each other every year.
You went to the game in Dallas, just describe that experience watching NC State and Duke at that game. You seem like you had a really good time.
Yeah, me and my son Luke went and had a blast. I’ve said this before, it was a great environment. Our fans were awesome.
One of the cooler parts of that was sitting in this section I was in with the parents of our players, right behind me, right beside me, and just hearing them cheer each other’s sons on. And I really found that refreshing. A lot of times parents are obviously going to cheer for their kids.
But, man, they were so excited for each other’s sons that were playing and cheering each other’s sons on and high fiving each other when their sons would make a play. And I thought that was really cool. I actually told that story to our parent group.
Awesome environment. And it was a lot of fun. It was great to see a matchup like that and obviously the outcome as it went our way.
I enjoyed that a lot.
Last season, and this season, big, big turnaround after the after the bye. What do you think contributed to the struggles at the beginning of the year and turning around at the end? Is that just figuring stuff out as a team as the season progresses?
I know that the two seasons are alike in the turnaround piece of it. But they’re two different teams with two different problems. And last year, I think the offensive problems were pretty documented with what happened at quarterback.
And so I don’t need to rehash that. I think this year, a lot of different things happened. And it was just unique how things kind of went.
We’ve been searching for four quarters of football. We just played well in doses and not well in doses. And it’s it’s really hard to put a finger on why we weren’t better earlier in the year.
And I think the chemistry of so many new parts is part of it. Obviously, when you bring in as many players as we did, not because we had an exodus of sorts, but that’s just how it worked out for 40 some new players. It’s college football now.
And some things didn’t go our way. Some weird things happened. We’re right there in the game at Tennessee. You have a weird play, go the other way, and we don’t respond well.
I think the leadership of the team didn’t take form.
And now it kind of has. Each team evolves differently. Sometimes you can just go gangbusters and here you go, and sometimes it takes time. And last year was different than this year. In some ways, obviously, it feels similar to you because it’s coming off of a bye.
But I felt like we were getting better going into that Wake Forest game this year. I thought we were about to put our foot on the gas. And then, you know, what happened to Grayson (McCall) happened.
And that really was bigger than people understand in the moment, and a tough ordeal. And I felt like we were going to blow those guys out. I really did.
The way that we prepared in practice, the game plan that we had, the way the first drive was going, all of it. And it just kind of came apart. And we didn’t finish the game, didn’t find enough ways to win.
And then you have that chance to reset. Okay, man, here we go. We’re really close.
And sometimes you just got to get a win for them to believe it. And then here we go again, get another one. And now momentum.
Momentum is a big thing in sports. It’s a big thing. And it builds confidence.
And a lot of these athletes, that mental part of the game, the confidence piece of the game is, it’s massive. And so our quarterback is playing with confidence. And that spreads. It’s a wide net.
We have that right now. We have some definite enthusiasm.
We have some guys that are feeling better, healthy. And now we need to go play against a really good team. It’s watching these guys on defense.
And I thought Cal was really good on defense. They are, statistically. But these guys are really good.
This is going to be a really tough game.
You’ve seen roster management evolve the last several years. What is it like knowing that your seniors are going to be seniors? And that you don’t have to worry about if they’re making a COVID year decision, or different things. That this year, is it any easier to handle roster management going into December?
Man, I wish it was. If people could really understand how screwed up college football is right now, that would be the one area that somebody should do a huge story on.
You have your seniors. And obviously, when you put it in the old days, all right, you got 20 spots. These guys are leaving.
There may be two or three guys that go pro early. Maybe a couple guys that transfer that are graduates. So all right, we got 25.
Let’s go sign them, and you go find those guys. And then you have a signing period, whenever that might fall.
It was in February. Then it moved to mid-December. And now it’s the first week of December.
And this was all pre-Portal, obviously. And you’d sign your high school players. And then you’d develop the guys.
And your December was about home visits to the kids that were committed. And bowl prep, if you were in a bowl game. And sometimes hiring new coaches when guys got jobs somewhere else, or if you made changes.
But now you finish the year with your seniors. And you go sign who you think you need from the high schools. And you sign them in the first week of December.
And you’re not allowed to do home visits in December anymore. So they took that from us. And then all of a sudden, the Portal opens after you sign your players.
So let’s say we sign 20 high school guys first week of December. And you thought that’s what you needed. Well, you may have 5 to 25 guys decide to go Pro or go into Portal.
And the high school guys are pretty much gone. So whether you wanted to sign more Portal guys or not, that’s where you’re at. And on top of that, our roster now goes from 85 to 105.
But it doesn’t go to 105 until May. And so you can only have 85 in December. But you’re supposed to have 105 in May, but the signing dates in December.
So tell me how that makes sense. That’s where college football is right now. It’s been crazy.
So it’s really not like roster management. I mean, it’s roster mismanagement. It’s what’s happening.
And it’s not coaches fault. The rules that have been levied do not make sense. And I say it all the time.
I say it all the time. You wish that common sense was more common. You wish that we could get the Power Four commissioners in a room with the top 15 coaches that people think can make decisions to help college football.
And just, let’s fix this. Let’s put together a calendar that actually makes sense for recruits, for current players on rosters, and for teams so that they can build a team, a program that doesn’t have four ways to leave the program and only one way to add players and doing it in a time where it doesn’t even make sense on the calendar. So it’s frustrating.
It’s really frustrating for somebody that’s poured 12 years into a program. You sit there and you’re like, all right, how are we going to have this thing ready for next year? I mean, it’s fluid. I mean, daily.
When you hit that December 1, and you sign your guys on the 7th, and then that window opens on the 9th. And then we start school the first week of January. So you got to have that thing turned around really quick.
And then all spring, you just continue to recruit, you know, so that you can try to fill it all the way up to wherever you’re going to fall in that 85 to 105 bucket based on your athletic director. It’s different times right now. And it’s going to be fun to watch, I guess, for the media and for all the recruiting pundits and everybody else.
But as a coach, it’s different. It’s really different.
