WATCH: Duke Scotts’ Postgame Press Conference After NC State’s Win Over #8 Georgia Tech (with transcript)

Redshirt Freshman Running Back Duke Scott met with the media for his postgame press conference last night after NC State’s 48-36 win over #8 Georgia Tech. You can watch the video above, and read the transcript below.

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To ask the obvious question, what’s going through your head right now, and how does it feel?

Oh, it feels great. I’d like to thank God for just the blessing that he gave me today, the opportunity, and I’d like to thank my whole line. They blocked their behinds off all day.

It’s surreal for my first start to be an upset. It’s a surreal feeling.

You almost ran for 200 yards. When was the last time that happened in your career, and how neat was it to do it against a Top-10 team?

Oh, shoot. The last time was probably in high school, probably at my semifinal game, and it feels great.

We game-planned it. Again, the o-line blocked so well. The holes were there, and I just had to hit them.

What was your mindset coming into today, knowing that you’d be the guy to get the ball?

I knew I had to come with a different mindset. I knew I was going to carry over my game. I was going to be physical. I was going to run hard, as hard as I possibly could, and then I had a chip on my shoulder.

I was doing it for Hollywood. I knew he couldn’t play, and I knew there’s nothing he would want to do more than to play, so I knew I had to do it for him, too.

What was it like for you to be in this moment now, where a year ago, you were just sitting on the side, not being able to get in the game, and now you’re showing what you can do?

It’s a blessing. There’s so much work that went on, and stuff that wasn’t really recognized in that time period, but I just knew I had to keep my head down and just pray on it. I’m just blessed to be here.

Did Hollywood give you any advice ahead of the game?

Yes, he did. He just told me to be calm, be patient, and don’t try to hit the home run, because it’s going to come, and it’s going to develop itself.

The funny thing is, right before I ran the 72-yard run, he was like, ‘Hey, this is the one. I feel it,’ and sure enough, it popped open.

What was it like seeing all those fans rush out on the field in front of you?

Oh, it was awesome. Especially being a part of it. You always see it on TV, the fans rushing…the crowd. It was awesome to be a part of it. You’ve got to take a lot of good pictures. Just interact with the fans.

You had mentioned not trying to force it, let the plays come to you. What was that like when you actually saw the open field in that long run to get you guys inside the five?

It felt like a routine play. Just don’t expect it. Don’t try to just go for it. Just react to it. When you see it, you’ve got to hit it, and that’s all I did every time.

I want to say that you are the third player under Coach Doeren to have at least 196 rushing yards in a game. What does that mean to you? What do you think your ceiling is in your career?

It means a lot to me. It’s a great start. From here, I just expect to get better and better.

Every time NC State and Georgia Tech would go down, sometimes they would get the field goal, but you guys, every time there was that opportunity where it seemed like Tech could come back, you made that offensive play. If you don’t mind, speak to that, and speak to how the defense gave you that opportunity to create separation when they would limit them in the red zone.

It’s a bend-don’t-break mentality. So when they would bend a little bit, and they didn’t break, we knew offense was going to make them pay for breaking.

That was our whole mindset. Every time that they didn’t capitalize on being in the red zone or something, and the defense held them, we knew we were going to strike back even harder.