NC State Head Coach Dave Doeren met with the media for his postgame press conference after the Wolfpack’s 24-17 win over Northern Illinois today. You can watch it ABOVE, and read the transcript BELOW.

I’m just super proud of our football team. That was a great team win.

And four turnovers, force-fire defense, incredible kick, punts by Caden Noonkester and coverage by the punt team. I’m proud of how Caden responded because his last two games for him weren’t up to par. He responded.

A lot of guys responded. I challenged them to step up and play with our DNA and to put it on film. You know, it’s one thing to say hard, tough together.

When you don’t play that way, it doesn’t mean anything, and we did that today. It was a team win. Offensively, obviously, statistics are not good, but we did not turn the football over the whole game.

We punted the football really well, and we played dominant defense against a really good football team. You have to give Northern Illinois credit. That is a really tough, good football program that we just beat.

Obviously, they went to Notre Dame and won. I have a lot of respect for Thomas Hammock and that program and those players, and I’m proud of those guys on that sideline. You know, they have done a great job carrying forward what Coach Novak started a long time ago of doing things the hard way and being tough, and so I told our team, this is going to be a team that comes in here, and you’re going to have to fight to win this game, and they are not going to do anything other than try to take your heart, and I challenged theirs, and I’m proud of the way we responded, and there’s a lot of things we’ve got to do better, but when you get four takeaways on defense, you don’t turn the ball over on offense, and you punt the ball the way we did, you’re going to win a lot of games, and that’s the first of an eight-game stretch here, two more at home in a row, and I’m excited about the improvement, and we’ll look forward to working on the things we need to work on tomorrow.

Confusion with the delay of game, that ended up being a timeout at the end of the game

Yeah, I called a timeout on defense because we were tired, and I was trying to give our pass rush guys a chance to catch their breath.

We were running out of players, and it probably would have been a penalty on them. I wasn’t looking at their clock. I was looking at our players, and they were gassed.

So I was trying to get a fresh pass rush for the next couple plays because I knew they were going to have to throw to the end zone so we’d have a chance to get there.

My question is regarding you guys scoring first. Instead of chasing today, they had to chase you. How big was that to jump out in front early? It sort of set a tone.

Yeah, it helps a lot, you know, to have an opening drive, end up with a touchdown, to have a lead that you continue. It just allows you to call the game differently. Obviously, it builds confidence on the sideline as well.

And, you know, we went three-and-out, basically, on the first drive and got it to fourth and one. We felt like we could get that fake punt, which gave us some momentum there, and then the offense did a good job finishing that drive with points.

Does this game mean any more importance to you since you coached Northern Illinois back in the day?

Yeah, it does. That was a very personal win for me.

It was a program that gave me my first opportunity to be a head coach. I have really fond memories of coaching there, a lot of players that I stay in touch with from there, and set records as a coach there and have done the same here. And so losing to the place that you used to coach at isn’t something you want to carry around.

All wins are precious, but that one meant a lot to me as an individual, and I thank the players and the staff for that because that one meant a lot. That was a personal win, and I’ll probably never play them again, you know? So it’s not like you lose a game, and you’ll see them again in a year, like maybe the last time I ever see that football team. So, yeah, that one means a lot.

You challenged the team this week to be tougher, more physical, kind of get back to the DNA of what this program is. What’s it like for you as a coach to see, especially on the defensive side of the ball, kind of live up to that challenge today in this game?

That means a lot.

I think our film is our resume, period. And it’s a historical record of effort is really what football is, and an accumulation of a lot of things that happen on that field, but ultimately, it comes down to one man’s effort on a play to do his job and do it physically. And we haven’t done that well enough this year, and that’s not what I stand for.

And I told them I know who I am. I know what I’m about, and I challenged them in that team room to live up to what it means to wear that jersey. And it’s a privilege.

It’s an honor to wear the red and white, to walk around with Wolfpack on your chest and your family’s name on your back, and I challenged them. And, if you were going to send that film to the person you love the most, what would they say? Would they talk about your effort? Would they talk about your toughness? And so there was a lot of challenging going on in that team room this week, and the guys responded, and that’s all I could ask for. You know, I told them, like, I want to win this game really bad, but I really want to see our identity.

And so for one week, I got to see it, and now it’s about being consistent.

Different energy and communication this week in practice

Oh, yeah, they were challenged on how to practice. Coach Gibson did a tremendous job getting the defensive kids on edge, and they played hard. I mean, Tuesday and Wednesday was bloody Tuesday, bloody Wednesday.

It was physical. And that’s got to be what we’re about. Like, we got to play harder than the teams across the sidelines, you know? We have to.

That gives us an opportunity to be in the game every week. Not everybody’s wired that way.

Football’s just not what it used to be when it comes to tough guys, you know? And at NC State, we have to be tough. That’s our edge, and we were in that game. We were physically tough in that football game.

We strained, and obviously, defensively, they shut down a really good running back. That kid’s a good player. He’s going to play a long time.

Defensively, you guys took a big step forward today. What’s the key to taking another step forward on defense?

Just consistency. Not giving up explosive plays, which we were able to do today.

Stopping the run, tackling, stripping the football, rushing the passer. It’s consistency. I mean, I thought we played four quarters of really good defense today, and throughout the year, we’ve had good quarters and bad quarters, and it’s just being consistent, man.

Not putting your foot on the break, staying on edge, knowing that every play is a really important play in the game, and executing the game plan that’s installed, and just keeping them on edge. Our coaches have to keep doing that. I think there’s obviously a recipe for success that you got to see this week on that side of the football.

Now on the offensive side, we got a lot to fix. We’ve got to be better, giving ourselves opportunities to be more successful throwing the football.

Y’all went 1 of 11 on third down. This seems to be a recurring issue on offense. What is it going to take to get that where you want it to be?

Yeah. Well, obviously, you got to get into manageable third downs first. Being in third and eight and third and nine is not good percentage-wise.

You’re not going to succeed a lot in that down and distance, and that’s your first and second down offense that you’re talking about more than your third down. Being efficient means that you’re getting four yards on first down and half of what you need on second and putting yourself in third and short, so we have to do a better job. There’s a lot of things there.

We’re playing a freshman quarterback, and we’re putting a lot on that kid’s shoulders, a lot, and I’m proud of CJ (Bailey) for taking care of the football today.

We have a lot of growth there. At the end of the day, I’m proud of our offense for not turning the football over. I know people are upset we didn’t have enough yards, this, that, and the other.

Don’t be mad about winning. Don’t be mad about winning. That was a hell of a team win.

You made some changes to the defensive starting lineup. I was just wondering what KJ (Martin) and Isaiah (Shirley) and Tamarcus (Cooley) have shown you that earned them those opportunities.

Well, they practiced well this week. There was competition in all those positions.

We felt like those guys had earned the opportunity to be out there, and we told the other guys we’re going to rotate them and play them and give them a chance to respond. I think competition brings out the best in you. It’s not a situation where you win a job in fall camp and you keep it for 12 games, regardless of how you play.

You have to go out there and perform at a certain level. And so we felt like those positions needed to perform better and gave them an opportunity to do so.