NC State Head Coach Dave Doeren met with the media for his postgame press conference after the Wolfpack’s 51-10 loss to #14 Tennessee tonight. The transcript is BELOW.

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Definitely not what I expected to see from our team. And so, as the head coach of a team that didn’t play well, I didn’t coach well enough, obviously. We had a really good week of practice.

But we needed to play complimentary football in this football game, which means we possess the ball, we score points. I thought our opening drive was great, seven minute drive, eight minute drive, whatever it was, and we didn’t get points. We turned the football over, which we did three times, and one was a touchdown.

You don’t rush the football well, you don’t control the line of scrimmage. You don’t stop people on third and long, it’s hard to win, bottom line. And so, give credit to Tennessee, they played a good football game.

They were very physical, but we weren’t good enough tonight.

We just weren’t good enough tonight.

Bottom line, we had our chances in that football game, but it got away from us. In the second half, we’re having to go forward all the time, putting our defense in a short field. So, it just snowballed as it went.

And we had a lot of work to do, obviously, to get back to it.

Struggle running the ball

I mean, I’ll have to watch the film to give you a detail.

I mean, it looked like we were just getting knocked into the back foot a lot. I said this all week, their defensive line was our biggest concern, particularly defensive tackles. And we think those guys are really good players.

We just did not block them up front the way that we have to, to run the football. And so, it was a combination of things, and it’s impossible for me to tell you exactly what they were. But I watched the line of scrimmage all night, and it wasn’t going our way.

It was going their way.

Grayson McCall was able to get the ball out quick on that first drive. What happened after that?

Yeah, we were very efficient the first drive, and that’s what I thought we were gonna do.

Whether we scored or not, finish every drive with a kick, worst case of punt. Possess the football, keep our defense off the field. I mean, that was our game plan, right? And it was working for a while, we were in the game.

And then the pick six, and then all of a sudden, things just started to kind of unravel, and we just never got back into it. Every time we’d make a play, there’d be a penalty. I mean, it was really frustrating, and not what we expected.

How do you think you did against Nico Iamaleava?

He’s a good player, I mean, I thought against their spread, we defended that very well. I mean, they hurt us on some screens, a little shovel to the running back, and some plays like that. They got into bigger personnel, something they haven’t done a lot on film.

There was a lot of 12 personnel, two tight ends, one back tonight with their offense. And so, credit them for changing up, because if you watch them, most of their formations you’re gonna see are full lines or one tight end formations. And so, I thought they did some good things that way, but we did not.

As the game went on, stopped the run, and we were out there a lot in the second half, defensively, because of how we played on offense in the second half.

Tennessee’s pick six at the end of the 1st half. 

Yeah, man, we’re in the red zone, so I mean, that flips.

We’re gonna get three, probably, right there, at least. Yeah, so that’s a big swing.

It was an RPO, and Grayson kept the football, and the tight end was open, but he had a guy in his face. So he jumped over him and just overthrew the ball, you know what I mean? So he was trying to make a play, and just wasn’t accurate on that one.

How do you feel the fans travelled?

Yeah, it looked good. I mean, there was a lot of red in the stadium, and there was a lot of noise for us, you know? I mean, I was very, very happy with our fans. I appreciate it, you know? I mean, they sold a lot of tickets out, and we obviously didn’t deliver the game they wanted to watch.

But credit to them for showing up and supporting the football team.

What do you say to Grayson McCall after that performance?

Yeah, he’s very competitive, mad at himself right now. You know, get back, study it, flush it, and move on, and he’ll be excited to play the next game.

Yeah, I have great confidence in Grayson. And just, you know, sometimes you have games like that as a quarterback. And as a head coach, I completely believe in him.

2nd half was almost played entirely on NC State’s side of the field. 

No, it’s impossible. I mean, we have a long field on offense and a short field on defense. I mean, against a team like that that scores like they do, I mean, you can’t win.

I mean, you have to play field position football, and you have to have sustained drives, and you have to get off the field on 31. I mean, that’s how you have a chance to win against teams like that. I mean, we did the opposite.

You know, I mean, we gave our defense short fields to defend, and our offense had long fields, and our special teams weren’t good enough. You know, I mean, it was a three-phase loss. When you look at the game, all the stats, offense, defense, special teams, we lost that game as a team, and it’s a lot to improve.

And I look forward to the opportunity to do it.

What do you tell your team after a game like that?

I told them the same thing I told you. I mean, it wasn’t what I expected to see. You know, they won the line of scrimmage.

We weren’t physical enough. We turned the ball over too much. We didn’t get it done.

It starts with me. You know, I’m the one that sits in there and leads the staff, and our game planning, and all that. But this is a really good bunch of guys, and they will go back to work.

I know that, and they’ll stick together. There’ll be a lot of people telling them that they’re no good, and that’s fine. And inside the building, we got to do a great job leading, and our captains, our leadership council, all that.

So it’s a lot of football in front of us.

Tonight, #24 NC State was embarrassed on national television, getting trounced by #14 Tennessee 51-10.

Seven of the Wolfpack’s 10 points came off of an interception returned for a touchdown, which means NC State didn’t score a single offensive touchdown in the contest.

With 3:29 left in the first half, NC State was on the Tennessee 16-yard line, and Redshirt Senior Quarterback Grayson McCall’s pass to Junior Tight End Justin Joly was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. The Wolfpack was primed for a chance to tie the game 10-10 going into the half, or at least make it a 4-point game. Instead, NC State went into the half trailing 20-3.

It’s not that things were going extremely well prior to that moment, but what followed after it was nothing short of disastrous.

The Wolfpack’s first 4 drives in the 2nd half all resulted in turnovers, with McCall losing two fumbles, failing to convert on a 4th and 1 QB Sneak and failing to convert on a 4th and 1 pass to Joly.

All the while, the Volunteers continued to effortlessly put points on the board.

The betting spread of the game continued to rise as this past week progressed, and by the time kickoff arrived, the spread was Tennessee by 13.5. A 41-point margin of victory was more than enough to cover.

The Volunteer defense held NC State to a pitiful 39 yards rushing, averaging 1.4 yards per carry. Tennessee had 13 tackles for loss in the game. Their Offensive Line was equally impressive, leading the Vols to a 249 yard rushing performance.

Genuinely, Tennessee exposed NC State tonight. The disparity on display this evening was impossible to miss.

Of course, there is still plenty for this NC State football program to play for. This was only Game 2, and no matter how bad you get killed in a loss, it still just equals 1 loss.

This wasn’t an ACC game. NC State is still 0-0 in conference play, meaning if they get their act together, they can still attain the goals they set out to achieve at the beginning of the season.

With that being said, those dreams are looking lofty after the first two weeks of the 2024 season. NC State struggled against Western Carolina in Week 1, who proceeded to lose to Campbell 24-16 today, and they were pummeled by Tennessee this evening.

I didn’t expect NC State to beat the Volunteers today. I didn’t even expect them to cover the spread. I did expect them to not lose by 41 points, and look like a Group of 5 school.

A lot of people gave a lot of money to NC State’s NIL collective this offseason to see a different brand of football. With all of the players that were added this offseason, the return on investment isn’t evident through 2 weeks.

The Wolfpack have found ways through Doeren’s tenure to turn lemons into lemonade, and they have the opportunity to do so again in 2024. They get to play with a chip on their shoulder again, and prove the doubters wrong.

Unfortunately, NC State fans are tired of embracing the chip on the shoulder mentality.

#14 Tennessee defeated #24 NC State tonight 51-10 in the Duke’s Mayo Classic in Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Below is the Box Score.

#24 NC State will have a bunch of their football recruiting targets in attendance tonight when they play #14 Tennessee in Charlotte.

Here’s a rundown of who I’ve been able to confirm will be in attendance.

2025

4-Star Safety Jordan Young – #39 overall player nationally/#3 Safety/#2 player in North Carolina

2026

4-Star Offensive Tackle Ekene Ogboko – #21 overall player nationally/#3 Offensive Tackle/#3 player in North Carolina

4-Star Defensive Lineman Aiden Harris – #25 overall player nationally/#3 Defensive Lineman/#4 player in North Carolina

4-Star Wide Receiver Jordon Gidron – #41 overall player nationally/#7 Wide Receiver/#1 player in South Carolina

4-Star Wide Receiver Brody Keefe – #114 overall player nationally/#23 Wide Receiver/#7 player in North Carolina

4-Star Linebacker Thomas Davis Jr. – #117 overall player nationally/#4 Linebacker/#7 player in North Carolina

4-Star Defensive Tackle Noah Clark – #178 overall player nationally/#18 Defensive Tackle/#11 player in North Carolina

4-Star Defensive End Elijah Littlejohn – #190 overall player nationally/#14 Defensive End/#10 player in North Carolina

3-Star Defensive End Andrew Harris – #266 overall player nationally/#20 Defensive End/#12 player in North Carolina

3-Star Tight End DJ Howerton – #23 player in North Carolina

3-Star Wide Receiver Jaire Richburg – #25 player in North Carolina