Head Coach Dave Doeren met with the media for his weekly press conference yesterday before NC State’s matchup against Syracuse this Thursday night. You can watch it here, or check out the BULLETED breakdown below.

• Excited for a home game Thursday night.
• Military Appreciation game.
  • Very special night. My favorite night in the stadium.
  • The representation here from our state for our country.
  • Wear a uniform to represent and honor them.
  • Love the fanfare, the pageantry that goes along with our Military Appreciation night.
• Taiyon Palmer is out for the year with a knee injury.
• Ricky Person is out, but not long term.
  • He will be back, but won’t play this week.
• Same with Justin Witt.
  • Two guys that have injuries that should bounce back but aren’t back yet.
• Emanuel McGirt and Bryson Speas have waited their turns to play.
  • Now they have a shot and I look forward to seeing them compete.
• A good time for us to have a bye week.
  • A lot of information for us to study
  • Digest a lot of film without a game right at the end of it.
  • Had some good practices
  • Had Saturday off
  • Had a really, really good practice yesterday coming off of that. And again this morning
• Offensively we’re running the football well.
  • Playing really good football in the red zone.
  • A lot of first downs.
    • #1 in ACC in first downs.
  • Got to improve our efficiency on 3rd-and-short.
  • Need more explosive plays
  • Need to be more efficient in pass game. Period.
• Defensively…
  • Stopping the run.
    • Top 10 in the country.
  • Doing a really good job on 3rd down pressuring the quarterback.
  • Doing well in total defense.
  • Some routes we have to get off the film and be able to stop more consistently.
  • Have to get more takeaways. That’s the biggest thing defensively.
  • We have to do a good job as a staff putting these guys in a position to make plays, and for them to make them.

QB Situation…

• Bailey Hockman will start for us at quarterback. Came in the Florida State game and showed a lot of poise and guts. Competed.
• Devin [Leary], who also came in to the game at Florida State and did a good job, will have an opportunity. Came in cold at the end and threw it around well.
• I feel like they are giving us more in the pass game. Those two guys give us a better shot with their arms right now, and Matt will continue to work on the things that he can.
• Matt McKay is doing a really good job in a lot of areas and needs to improve on his pass game.
  • He will. I’m really impressed with how Matt came to practice the last two days. He’ll get better.
  • An incredible young man.
• I was proud of those guys. Just like at the beginning of the season, those are tough conversations to have.
  • Bailey and Devin handled their role, and improved in their roles. Took advantage of the opportunity presented.
  • Matt will do the same; I know he will.
• Going into Ball State, we weren’t throwing the ball efficiently enough. Got into the game and weren’t moving the football.
  • You saw us get Bailey a series in the second quarter so that we could make a better evaluation of if it would be better.
    • Had not given him real game reps, just mop-up reps.
    • We felt like he did well there.
    • Been improving in practice.
  • Devin had been getting better in the things we were doing.

Devin Leary’s chances of playing against Syracuse…

• He could.
• I don’t think I should give you my game plan today — but he could.

Syracuse…

• Know a lot about this team.
• Really, really good at taking the ball away.
  • 12 takeaways.
• Offensively, they are an uptempo team.
  • Very good skill at receiver and running back.
  • Quarterback can throw it and extend plays with his feet.
• We’ve had some good games against Syracuse and I respect coach Babers and his staff quite a bit.
• Defensive front is arguably 1 of the best in the ACC.
  • A lot of respect for their defensive linemen and rotation at defensive end.
  • Make a lot of plays for them and help their coverage with the pass rush.

Running Backs…

• Jordan Houston and Zonovan Knight are very critical now to us, and Trent Pennix.
• Both have shown the ability to make plays, be consistent, and get tough yards. Playmakers.
• Will get more opportunities with Ricky Person out.
• Look forward to seeing them take advantage of that.

Injuries leading to unity…

• Adversity forces you to do that. You’ll either fight or fail, and we’re going to fight.
• These guys will stick together, compete, find solutions and stay positive.
• Best thing any family does when going through tough times, and that’s what we are.
• We need the 12th man to be real.