NC State Head Coach Dave Doeren met with the media one last time today after practice, leading up to the home opener this Saturday against Charleston Southern at 12:30pm.

Doeren emphasized that the team was embarrassed with the way they played. The players are fully aware that they didn’t play at the level they expected or are capable of.

“Yeah, I think disappointed, embarrassed, and all the things that go along with not playing the way that you want to play is pretty indicative of the feelings coaches and players had. Not to take anything away from ECU, they played a really good football game, but we did not perform to the level we wanted to.”

The coaches turned the intensity up a tick or two this week, as well as the physicality. The missed tackles were a point of emphasis this week.

“We needed to practice better, obviously, so we had a very challenging week of practice, a very competitive week of practice. It was spirited. There was a lot of good mindset changes, in my opinion. These guys understand where they’re at. They’ve got to earn it every week, every single week. The rankings are going to be what they are, but the way that you play should be a personal thing for you. That is your résumé as a football player and as a coach. I look forward to getting back on the field and seeing these guys in Week 2.”

Redshirt Junior Quarterback Devin Leary, who was the ACC Preseason Player of the Year, didn’t live up to those expectations against East Carolina. In Doeren’s opinion, he was trying to do too much, attempting to make things happen that weren’t there.

“I think he was just taking things that weren’t there. I told him, ‘Take what the defense gives you. When they’re not there, it’s okay to burn it or throw it out of bounds.’ Sometimes, it felt like, in that game, he was trying to be perfect in some ways and not make mistakes, and when you do that in any position, you usually make more. Just go back to the reads Coach Beck gives you, play fast, trust your ability, and protect the football.’”

According to Doeren, the Wolfpack missed an audacious 26 tackles against the Pirates, which to quote him, was “pathetic.”

“We missed 26 tackles. Absolutely pathetic. This week we emphasized the importance of running to the football and getting the proper angles. We overran the ball a ton in that game on defense. This week in practice, we were physical. They were flying to the ball. There was a lot of pads on pads. They were getting there, sprinting to the near hip. We challenged the scout teams to give us a better look, too, so we’d have to compete harder or be embarrassed, and they did. These kids really worked hard. Last year, as you know, we were a very good tackling team. Well, we practiced at a pace that was a little bit different, so we had to get back to that. They were exhausted coming off the field Tuesday and Wednesday for good reason.”

This week was a bit of an “I told you so” kind of a week for the coaches. The players were humbled in a good way.

“I’ve said this a couple of times this week, for those of us that are parents. You tell your kids things over and over and over, and they have to sometimes fail before they say, ‘Yeah, I should have listened.’ We had one of those moments as a team. I think these guys sometimes think they know more than they do. I’m glad we got a win. I’m thankful for that. I’m thankful for the opportunity to learn and grow from the errors that we had. There were some positives in the game, too. I’m not trying to be all doom and gloom. There were a lot of good things that happened, but there’s enough negatives that make you feel like there’s so many things that we’ve got to do urgently better.”

Doeren addressed the status of Redshirt Junior Linebacker Payton Wilson, who left the game against ECU with discomfort in his shoulder, which he had surgery on last year. While he is still “day-to-day”, he did return to practice on Wednesday.

“Payton Wilson is day-to-day. You’ll find out on game day just like our opponent will. We’ll see where it goes. He’s in a great spot. I met with him this morning. He’s in a really good spot physically and mentally. We’ll keep progressing him and see where he ends up.”

Lastly, the Wolfpack head coach addressed whether or not his team was relieved to have some of the preseason hype brought down a notch.

“Yeah, I guess. It’s whatever they feel on that. To me, like I told them at the beginning, we’re going to earn our spot at the end of the season based on 12 weeks of regular-season play. The first week wasn’t great, but we all know, at the end of the year, it’s not going to say your record and then next to it, ‘This win was lucky.’ They don’t say that. It’s a win. That’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to finish this regular season down the road here in three months, and everything that we do during the week will lead to what we do on the weekend, and the results of those games will give us the ranking we deserve.”