NC State Football
What Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson had to Say About Wake Forest This Week
Here’s what Wake Forest Head Coach Dave Clawson had to say about #21 NC State this week in his press conference.
We play a very good football team this week, and another nationally ranked team in NC State.
It’s the 116th meeting, and this game has been played non-stop since 1910. It’s about to end in a few years, so enjoy it while we have it.
Dave (Doeren) has done a great job with the NC State program for the last decade. They are always one of the top teams in the ACC. He’s done a phenomenal job. They’re well coached and talented. They do a great job recruiting. In some ways, what they’ve accomplished this year after losing their starting quarterback is really a credit to him and their staff.
I’m sure they went into the season expecting to have Devin Leary all year. But they’ve adjusted and have had 2 gut-check wins. To come back and beat Florida State the way they did was a great program win. Then to come back and beat Virginia Tech the way they did. They had 19 unanswered points. They’re not a good team, they’re a good program. As always, they are extremely talented.
The defense we’re about to face is one of the best in the entire country. People talk to me all the time about how old we are on offense. They’re the same on defense. They’re giving up a little more than 17 points a game. Their starting 11, when you include the third corner has a combined 285 starts. Those guys have been there forever.
In my opinion, Tanner Ingle is among the very best football players in the country and in the ACC. He’s a heat-seeking missile. The plays he makes as a blitzer and the tackles he makes in space…he’s a 1st-team All-ACC player. If you had to list the Top-3 elite defensive players in the ACC, Tanner Ingle would be 1 of them.
They have all their linebackers healthy this year. Last year they lost Isaiah Moore and Payton Wilson, and Drake Thomas had a great year. Now they have all 3 of those guys. Those guys are all high-level ACC players.
They have a really gifted front.
The 3 corners who play the most have been there forever. It just seems like we’ve been playing against these guys for 4-or-5 years, and every year they get better.
The defensive coordinator, Tony Gibson, knows this system inside and out. He does a great job of mixing up calls and keeping you off balance. This is an elite unit.
On offense they are getting better. I think they’ve found their quarterback in MJ Morris. Certainly what he did coming off the bench last week to throw for 265 yards and 3 touchdowns, and lead a comeback win.
They have a really good offensive line. Similar to Louisville, this offensive line combines for 134 starts, so they’re older.
They have dynamic backs.
Thayer Thomas is a receiver who seems like he’s been there forever. This is his 5th year at punt returner, and he can do a lot of things for them.
This is a really talented, good football team. They lost their quarterback and kind of had a hard time finding their footing. I think they found it last week.
It’s an ACC game on the road. The NC State environment is always a challenging one. They have a great home crowd and it’s a difficult place to play. It’s always loud and their fan support is great. This will be a really tough game for us.
We have to fix our problems, make our corrections and then apply them against a talented, well-coached football team. It’s going to be a tough game, but we’re excited to play again. (Press Conference)