After a two-game losing skid, the NC State football team got back on track with a win over Florida State last week. The Wolfpack will look to get one step closer to its first undefeated season at Carter-Finley Stadium in 32 years with a visit from Wake Forest Thursday. Head coach Dave Doeren addressed the media about the upcoming game at his weekly news conference Monday; here are some of the highlights.
On the win over Florida State: “I was really proud of our guys and our staff. I thought it was a good team win. The things that we emphasized showed up. We wanted to dominate the line of scrimmage and play physical football against a team that had been very good on their line of scrimmage when it comes to how much their defensive line had penetrated, the rushing yards that they were able to keep people at. No running back had 100 yards rushing on them in the season. It was really a demeanor challenge to our guys and I thought they rose up.
“They had zero sacks; we had five. They had five tackles for loss; we had 10. We had 177 yards rushing and [senior Reggie Gallaspy] had 100. They were at 40 yards. So I thought just the demeanor of our guys, tight ends, running backs, O-Linemen on offense was awesome. Defensively, to have 15 plays in their backfield, which created some takeaway opportunities that we were able to capitalize on, that’s outstanding. We won the turnover margin, and for us that’s something we stress.”
On this week’s festivities: “Military appreciation game and our last ACC home game for our seniors. It is senior day for us. It was planned out that way prior to the 12th game being added, so a lot of travel arrangements were made by parents and that’s why we’ve kept it that way. We will honor our seniors before the game Thursday night. I hope that everybody can be there; it’s a special group of guys to pay tribute to in their last ACC home game. An in-state opponent for us that we’re excited to play. And then on top of that, Bradley Chubb’s coming back to have his jersey number honored during the game and put up there with the greats that we have. So it’s a great thing for us and Bradley. Glad that he can make it work and his family will be here as well with it being his bye week.”
On Wake Forest: “Offensively, they’re very good at what they do. 32 points a game, almost 450 yards a game of total offense. They’re balanced in the run game and the pass game with 225 each. They’re unique in their [run-pass options] and the way their quarterback rides the run game. They isolate people in coverage. There’s a lot of QB run game, which obviously with their quarterback injured, we expect to see quite a bit of that. The two remaining quarterbacks and very athletic with their builds. Jamie Newman we’ve had in camp here in high school, we know about him. He’s a big, strong guy with a big arm. He can run; he’s a 230 pounder.
“… I think Dortch leads the ACC in all-purpose yards and receptions. He’s fun to watch and difficult to play against. I think he’s without a doubt the guy that can do things for them on offense. Their outside perimeter receivers are big. They do a good job catching the football and tracking the football. They’ve got four starters back on their offensive line. Defensively, they play hard. You see their guys chasing the football; they strip the football. They keep the ball in front of them a lot. Statistically they haven’t been impressive, but when you watch the effort that they’re playing with and the number of things they’re doing, in a short week, to get ready for it all is a challenge.”
On the short week: “It’s just hard to say, because I don’t know their game plan. It’s hard to say. The way we look at this game, we need to go be us. We need to go play. We need to play the way that we played Saturday. We were fast; we were aggressive. Our guys didn’t beat themselves. We didn’t have a lot of penalties. We just played good, fundamental, tough football. I don’t care how many days you have; if you can play like that, then you have a chance to be a really good football team. Whether they’re changing things or not changing things, it comes down to us being good technicians and executing our game plan.”
On the defensive line rotation: “I don’t think it has anything to do with how they play. We have a rotation on our defensive line. Certain guys, like [redshirt freshman Xavier Lyas] has a role. [Senior defensive end Darian Roseboro] played nose guard in that game, because we had two nose guards out. For him to be able to do that, he was one of our players of that game, it says a lot about him, selfless teammate working his butt off. You’re a 270-pound guy in there taking on a 600-pound double team. He’s a tough kid.
“But they don’t look at the snaps as ‘Hey, he made a play.’ They want that kid to make a play; they’re excited for him. They know that being fresh is part of being a D-Lineman; you have to have a rotation. I think the fact that Xavier can play some helps [redshirt junior defensive end James Smith-Williams] play better because he’s not as tired. He’s not going to play 76 snaps in a game with all this up-tempo offense. I was breaking down Wake the other day and it was play 105 of a game, that many snaps. You can’t do all that as a D-Lineman. You have to have a rotation going.”
On recovering with a short week: “I think if you don’t educate your guys to recover the right way, and that’s what we talked about on Sunday, that it was game week Tuesday as we were in the meeting room. So I’m encouraging them to take great ownership in their recovery, going to bed early. Normally on a Monday we’d be in here pretty early with the guys and we let them sleep in today. They’re going to come over later tonight because it’s a night game. So we’ll do some things with them tonight actually. But we talk about, ‘Hey, here’s the test and here’s the plan.’ So we’re going to do the right things.
“We’re going to be smart and we’re going to educate on the right way to recover. How we practice is a big part of that and this plan we have we have we used last year against Louisville, and I thought our guys played really fast in that game. I think the plan we have is really good and now the guys have to, it’s like a prescription you get at the doctor’s office. He gives you the pills you’ve got to take them. So guys have to understand why we’re doing it and then go do it and follow through with it. They’ll feel great by Thursday night if they do that.”
On having Bradley Chubb and other NFL alums visit: “I think it’s awesome to have [Chubb] here. Last weekend [B.J. Hill] was here. [Nyheim Hines] came back during his bye week; Jacoby Brissett was here earlier in the week. To me, it’s just a tribute to the experience they had when they were here. For them to want to take their one week out of a 16-game regular season, come here and hang out says a lot, I think. Just about the quality of experience that they had, the way that they feel about their alma mater. The way they feel about the coaches that coached them and the players that they played with.
“B.J. Hill was hanging out in our hotel Friday night and wanted to eat breakfast with us Saturday morning. And it just says a lot, I think, about the culture here and the way these guys are. If I’m a young player and I’m at NC State and I’m seeing all these guys that I’ve been watching hanging out on their off week, I would think that would say something to me. Because they can go anywhere. Those guys have got a lot of money now. They can take their off week and fly to the Bahamas if they want to. And they’re here, watching football. I think it says a lot about them.”
On if defensive tackles Shug Frazier and Eurndraus Bryant will play: “I hope so. They’re both way better. But we haven’t had a practice yet. But I hope so.”
On the combination of senior Reggie Gallaspy and freshman Ricky Person at running back: “I’ve said it before, offensive scheme, when you’re blocking things and the runners are different, and you’re fitting those runs as a defensive team. Reggie’s different than Ricky. The ball gets there at a different speed. [Gallaspy] is running over people and through people and Ricky’s putting his foot in the ground and cutting back or bouncing. As a defender, it’s just not the same. You can’t just run in there, run in there and run in there and it’s the same, same, same. It’s different. It’s a different speed; it’s different angles. So that change of pace, I think, helps. And it keeps those two guys fresh, to have that rotation where when they’re in there, they can really go. It was great having [Person] back and I hope to have that rotation the rest of the year.”
