Hollywood Smothers’ Postgame Press Conference After NC State’s Loss to Pitt

Redshirt Sophomore Running Back Hollywood Smothers met with the media last night for his postgame press conference after NC State’s loss at Pitt. You can watch the video above, and read the transcript below.

You guys are kind of in a little bit of a rut right now. How do you get out of that? What are some of the things you can draw on to get out of it?

We just got to continue to get better, man, learn from our mistakes. Throughout the year, we’ve got to figure out what’s going wrong, offensive-wise. We’ve got to get in a rhythm, you know? With defense out there struggling, we’ve just got to figure out how to make plays. That’s all that it comes down to at the end of the day.Who can make the most plays? What did they have…30 first downs? We’ve just got to keep competing. We’ve just got to capitalize.

Struggling to get in the red zone…

That’s just us not executing on first down, getting positive plays, getting a rhythm. The explosive plays are good and all, but it’s got to be consistent.

Is there something you’ve noticed that as to why the offense can’t find consistency?

Really, it’s just the details. It’s just the little details in football. From what people want to see from the outside, probably just having the right alignment or taking the extra steps. It’s just the little things. We’ve just got to zone in and focus on being consistent so we can catch a flow.

Was that something you guys focused on during the opening week?

100 percent. 100 percent. We’ve just got to make it live during game time.

You’re in the huddle with CJ (Bailey) Where’s his mind at right now? How can you guys help him be the best version of himself?

CJ is good. That’s the thing about him. That’s the unique thing about him.

He won’t ever get too down. As a leader, you need that from him. Even when he’s struggling, he’s always there.

He’s always front and center. He knows the things we’ve got to fix on offense. We all know, so he’s not ducking his head.

He’s not being a loser. You know what I’m saying? You call it what it is, but he’s been who he’s been all year.

Is this an opportunity for players maybe such as yourself to step up and try to take the leadership role?

100 percent. I’ve got to, and others do, too. If we want to change, we hate losing, so why not?

You’re two-thirds of the way. You’ve got four games left. What is on the table for NC State in these four games?

Win these four games. You’ve got to win. No other choice.

You’re tired of losing. Talking about focusing on the little things in the open week, what do you think kind of led to them not translating when the lights came on today?

Like I said, just the details. The truth is in the details.

Like I said, it might be an extra step on a route or alignment. Just the little things. When it’s game time, just focus.

Next week, you have a homecoming game, big game. Obviously, that’s going to be a big crowd back in Raleigh. How do you approach that?

We’re going to go game by game, you know? You can’t win the game next week a week from now. You’ve got to focus on right then.

Focus from Monday through Saturday. Just one day at a time.