Leary, Smith & Baker-Williams Postgame Press Conference After NC State’s Victory Over Charleston Southern

Redshirt Junior Quarterback Devin Leary, Sophomore Wide Receiver Anthony Smith and Senior Nickel Tyler Baker-Williams met with the media for the postgame press conference. You can watch it here, or check out a bulleted breakdown below.

Leary

• We didn’t really execute well on certain plays that we were trying to take shots on [last week]…made that a focus this week in practice.
• Credit to the offensive line for giving me time, and giving my receivers a chance to do their thing.
• I found out after the game. I wasn’t really aware [tying NC State record for touchdowns in a game].
  • It’s an awesome honor just to be in categories with Mike Glennon and Philip Rivers.
• Whatever Coach Beck [Offensive Coordinator] calls, whether that’s a run for me, a run for our running backs or receivers, passing the ball, anything he wants or needs me to do, I’m going to do it.
  • Even if it’s running the football, if I’ve got to get a little gritty, I’m willing to do it.
• I got the call in from the sideline [the 1st touchdown run].
  • Credit to my offensive line once again…they did a great job of opening up a huge window for me to run through, and I just saw that red end zone, and nothing was stopping me from getting into it.
• [With Coach Beck calling plays from the press box] It was different for sure, but it wasn’t much different.
  • Every single series, I was getting on the phone with him…talked through everything like we always do.
  • A little changeup, but I think it works either way.
• That really started in the offseason [Emphasis on spreading the ball around].
  • We understand how many people can make plays for us.
  • We understand how many receivers and running backs we have.
  • It’s my job to distribute the ball to them.
  • It’s Coach Beck’s job to call the plays, and however he calls the plays, it’s my job to operate it the right way regardless of who’s out there.
  • Goes to show the trust we have in everyone. No matter whose number gets called to make a play, we expect them to make that play.
• I must say It probably is the best [birthday he’s had].
  • What topped it off was our band playing happy birthday to me after the game.
    • I never experienced anything like that, so shoutout to them for sure. That really made my day.

Smith

• I definitely feel like I’m a big key to the deep threat.
  • We have a lot of guys in the receiver room and running back room…not just me…not just Julian Gray.
  • A whole lot of guys that can take things up top.
• It’s definitely a big difference in the feeling that we have after this game…point difference was huge.
• We try not to look at the social media, the politics, and whoever’s talking about us.
  • We stay focused on our team and what we can do better to be the best us next week.

Baker-Williams

• One of the main things I really wanted to work on this offseason was my blitz tracks, my blitz speed, and the violence that I blitz in. When they made that call, I knew what time it was.
• I’d say it was better [tackling] than last week.
  • We emphasized it in practice, and what we emphasize in practice, we try to carry over to the game.
• We felt like we didn’t play up to the standard we know we uphold in our defensive room [against ECU].
  • We knew we had to come out this week with a new hunger and a new motivation and just go out and play the way we know how to play…fast and physical.
• It’s a factory with me, Josh Pierre-Louis and Jalen Frazier… all of us go in there and make plays.
• We don’t really keep up with the play we just made…we just go into that next play mentality.
  • The teammates celebrate it, and then it’s the next play.
  • We clear our minds and go into the next play cycle.
  • I’m trying to emphasize that this season more…just getting rid of the last play.
• Some of our technical things like our man coverage, zone schemes, our disguises, and stuff like that, we knew we had to improve from the 1st game.