NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media yesterday for his weekly press conference before the Wolfpack’s matchup on the road against Wake Forest this Saturday. You can watch the video here, or check out the bulleted breakdown below.

• Getting ready for 5 games in 1 month.
• Great opportunity for our team to get better.
• One percent better each day.
• Feel good about who we have as far as being able to play.
• Won’t gain a bunch of players back from the injury list
  • At least the guys are able to play from last week to this week and gain a little continuity there.
• We’re trying to redshirt Tim McKay if we can
• There was a point in time there were nine freshmen on the field at once against BC.

Wake Forest…

• Have a great opportunity against a very good football team. Dave Clawson and his staff have done a nice job.
• A lot of experience.
• A lot of good players.
• On offense, very fast tempo
• Receiving corps across the board is elite.
  • Playing at a high level.
  • The way Sage Surratt and Scotty Washington play on the perimeter, and what Kendall Hinton has been able to do transitioning from quarterback to slot…he’s making plays for them.
• Obviously both quarterbacks have played.
  • Not sure who we’ll see, but they are both very good players.
• Offensive line has only given up 8 sacks.
  • Their left tackle is one of the best in the conference.
    • Really big challenge for us.
• Defensively, they are sound.
  • Defensive end Carlos Basham has done a great job.
    • Very disruptive player who has taken over as that playmaker on their front.
  • They do a good job stunting and blitzing.
  • They’ve had some injuries at the Will linebacker
  • Strong safety Nassir Greer is a very good open-field tackler.
    • I enjoy watching him play.

Devin Leary named starting QB…

• Devin is ready.
• Don’t think we forced him into the position before he was ready, which for any quarterback is a bad thing.
• He’s taken advantage of not only when he was 3rd string
  • Things he wasn’t doing well, he studied. Improved those things.
• When he got his opportunity he was poised.
• Last game he threw 3 touchdowns…all on 4th down.
  • Shows a lot of clutch.
• He’s earned this opportunity, and I’m excited for him. He’s excited.
• He took all the reps with the 1’s and got a lot of work.
  • It was a good opportunity for him to get out and run it.
• Trying to make it fit him so he can play fast.
• I’ll continue to support Matt McKay and Bailey Hockman because they need to keep getting better.
  • They will if they continue to do what each has had to do now in a supportive role, and improve on what they have to improve on.

De’Von Graves & Malik Dunlap Defending Wake Forest Wide Receivers…

• Whoever is playing against their wideouts have a challenge.
  • Have an opportunity to play against really confident, good football players and a quarterback who is accurate getting them the ball.
  • They’re excited about it and studying a ton of film on those guys.
• Whether we had our starters, the 3 they put out there are as good as anybody’s 3.
  • An elite group and those guys will play hard, I know that.
• Good thing about De’Von and Malik is they are long and strong guys, so there are plays with body-to-body catches and push-offs, and they’ll be able to hold their ground.
• Going to have to make some really good plays.
• Last year they made 2 circus catches really to swing the momentum of the game.
  • They were well-covered guys.
  • So you’re gonna have to cover and not allow them to catch it with one hand.

Wide Receiver Devin Carter…

• Looking at the positives of the BC game, Devin had 140 yards.
• Last 3 weeks his confidence has grown and grown.
• Playing fast and having fun.
• Dependable target
• Can run after the catch
• Definitely a boost to that position group.

Flipping roles with Wake…

• They are the ranked team.
• Record-wise, them and Clemson have the best records in the league.
• Some of our guys were a part of those games, but not many.
• More about how we play, instead of who we play.
  • It’s not that I don’t care who we play, but I care a lot more about how we play.

Tabari Hines going back to Wake…

• Talked to Tabari about it.
  • His answer was great, he said “I can’t think about it that way. I just have to be the best me for this football game.”
• Can’t get hung up on what it was there.
• Hard not to have personal feelings about playing at the school you were at.
  • He was very quick to say it’s not about that, but playing for the guys here.