Dave Doeren’s Postgame Press Conference After Virginia Tech: BULLETED

Head Football Coach Dave Doeren met with the media for his postgame press conference after #24 NC State’s 22-21 come from behind victory over Virginia Tech last night. You can watch it above, or check out the BULLETED breakdown below.

• What a great comeback win. I can’t say enough about the grit and determination of our guys and staff.
  • To be down 21-3, it’s a pretty incredible victory.
• The way M.J. Morris sparked us, brought us back, and made plays, and guys making plays around him, it’s pretty impressive for a true freshman to do that.
• It was a great night. I thought the military appreciation piece was special.
  • Our game operations folks definitely deserve a shoutout for that.
• For our fans that stayed for 4 quarters, thank you for not giving up.
  • When a team gets down like this, they need everyone they can get behind them.
• Thayer Thomas had huge plays.
• Trent Pennix, coming back, made some huge plays.
• The defense had 1st half and 4th quarter shutouts.
  • You’ve got to give Virginia Tech’s Quarterback some credit…Grant Wells made some nice throws in that 3rd quarter, and some guys made some nice plays.
• We just kept playing. That’s one thing about NC State going back to Jimmy V: “Never quit.”
  • That is something our team and university has embraced, so Chancellor Woodson: light it red, man. Light it red. That was a pretty special win tonight.
• I promise, for the future with that Quarterback, it’s pretty exciting to see what he’s done on really only a week and a half of reps.
• We have a big one coming up. I’m going enjoy the Friday and Saturday without football for me, and I’m going to enjoy this one tonight.
• We gave up some big plays at corner and had a couple penalties that hurt us that gave them momentum [in the 3rd].
  • We were able to get back on the rails, but they completely won the 3rd quarter, but we won the 4th. It was a heck of a football game.
• I was proud of the O-line, Tight Ends, Runnings Backs, the way Jordan Houston ran, and M.J.
  • That was big, not giving them another opportunity [running at the end of the game].
  • That 3rd-and-3 by Jordan, I thought, was an excellent run.
    • He just grinded it out and did what was necessary to win.
• Coach Tim Beck really called some key playcalls there in the 4th quarter.
  • The tight end pop pass that we ran off the quarterback run to Pennix that was uncovered, we got them confused, was a really nice play call timing-wise.
  • The screen out of empty trips formation, we got them in Cover 0, and as soon as I saw them lined up that way, I was like, “Throw it to Thayer,” and he did the rest.
• Coach Tony Gibson was really aggressive in the 4th quarter.
  • We moved Tyler Baker-Williams out to corner, so there was some really good adjustments made by our staff in the second half, and they deserve a lot of credit for that.
  • Coach Gibson called a couple of timely blitzes.
• He [MJ Morris] was moving us better [in the 1st half].
  • He was 5-of-6 passing, and I thought Jack Chambers missed some throws.
  • I just felt like he [MJ] was more accurate.
  • They both ran the ball fine, but we need to be able to throw the football if a team is going to pack the box like that.
  • They were playing Cover 3, and they had a true freshman corner out there, and we had to be able to throw to win, and he was more accurate.
  • That’s what kind of led to that. Both of them practiced well, so it was really more just a feel in the game.
• Payton Wilson finished 2 plays and got 2 sacks.
  • It was awesome seeing him play like that. I was excited for him to make those plays.
  • He was super happy in the locker room, having an ear-to-ear smile.
  • I love that kid. He played his butt off tonight.
• I think it says a lot about the heart of this team, the chemistry of this team, and the love of this team.
  • Florida State, it was Jack that brought us back, and this one, it was M.J.
  • The kids just don’t quit here. We’ve built a culture here of persistence, perseverance, and love, and it shows.
  • That was a tough moment; we were down 21-3, and I’m running up and down the sidelines, hitting guys, saying, “Don’t quit. We’re gonna find a way to win this football game. Just keep playing, You’re the magic in this thing.”
    • They started doing their jobs.
    • There was a lot of time left in the game still. I looked up when we were down 21-3, and I think there was 8 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, so there was lots of time to come back and win that game.
    • I knew our defense could hold them.
    • It’s hard to put in conversation to understand what these guys feel for each other.
    • There’s not many teams that can do what we just did. There’s not.
      • It takes a special group of guys and leadership to do that.
• We won’t give up, period.
  • That’s never going to happen as long as I’m the head coach at NC State. We’re never going to quit, man.
• As far as readjusting goals, the focus was on winning this next game, getting bowl eligible, and keeping our home winning streak alive.
  • This team can still win 10 games. All of those things were discussed.
  • More of it was just, “How do we win this football game? What do we have to do with our quarterback injured to give ourselves a chance to win? How can we get better.”
• Some of it was really good. Some of it was really bad. We found a way to make a few more plays than them.
• I’m going have to watch the game. Right now, it’s kind of surreal.
  • I think it was our 1st touchdown we scored late in the 3rd quarter [when momentum shifted].
  • That’s where I felt like the sideline, all of a sudden, believed.
  • I think he threw a touchdown to Thayer on a slot fade, so we finally completed a downfield pass, more than 20 yards down the field.
  • I think that was kind of like, “Hey, we can do this.”
  • We’d been dinking and dunking with throws, but once that happened, you could just feel it. Sometimes, all it takes is proof.
• He’s a very gifted ball catcher [Freshman Receiver Terrell Timmons].
  • He can go up, track the football, and elevate.
  • He’s got really good speed, and he’s just coming on.
  • Our defense has been raving about him on scout team.
  • I felt like we needed another playmaker on offense that could stretch the field.
  • Anthony Smith is out, so we’re looking for another vertical threat in the pass game. You saw a glimpse.
  • This guy is really special, and once he learns the offense, he’s got a huge upside.