10/19/2020 football Edit

Dave Doeren knows the UNC game is always emotional

Justin H. Williams • TheWolfpackCentral

Staff Writer

NC State head coach Dave Doeren is normally even-keeled after a victory, but it was noted during the head coach's Monday press conference that some of his most animated postgame moments have come after beating rival North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Doeren is 3-0 in Kenan Memorial Stadium during his eight years with the Wolfpack entering Saturday's road meeting with the Tar Heels, and there's a reason for that. Instead of treating the rivalry like any other game, the coach isn't afraid to admit that this is always an important contest for his program.

"I know how big this game is to NC State," Doeren admitted. "Former players, boosters, alums, all those things. I take a lot of pride in being able to deliver that to our fan base.

"I lost to them in year one, so the first win over there was when Jacoby Brissett had a heck of a game. It was great to get a win, my first win over them there. One of the wins over there probably saved my job. That was the year we missed a field goal against Clemson, kind of went off skid, and all of a sudden we finished strong and that one got us in a bowl game. So that was an emotional win.

"Anytime you play a rival that's been going back since 1894, anytime you play a game like this, and you win it, whether it's home or away, it's emotional."

NC State Wolfpack football Dave Doeren — Dave Doeren is 3-0 against North Carolina in Kenan Memorial Stadium during his time as head coach of the Wolfpack. (Ken Martin/The Wolfpacker)

NC State made its first appearance into the AP Top 25 Poll this weekend and is now nationally ranked No. 23. North Carolina was No. 5 before it lost 31-28 to Florida State in Tallahassee, which caused the Tar Heels to slide to No. 14.

Saturday will mark just the third time in the rivalry that the two teams are both ranked entering the game, and the first since 1993.

North Carolina head coach Mack Brown said during his Monday availability that he believes his team is overrated and the Wolfpack is underrated, but Doeren doesn't see it that way.

"That's nice of him to say that, I don't really look at it like that," Doeren said. "Every week, we got to prove ourselves, whether they pick us to win or don't pick us to win. Whether it's no spread or we're underdogs, we got to show up.

"None of these rankings matter until the end of the season. It doesn't matter where we're rated right now. That didn't matter last week, didn't matter the week before. It won't matter until we play our last game."

The Wolfpack opened as an 18-point underdog for the road matchup with the Tar Heels after losing its starting quarterback redshirt sophomore Devin Leary against Duke. Leary suffered a broken fibula and will miss the next 4-8 weeks, although Doeren acknowledged Monday that it is unlikely Leary will return in the regular season.

When asked about the differences between the two rival schools Monday, Doeren didn't speak to UNC's culture, but he was clear in his definition of what he believes NC State's to be.

"It's blue-collar," Doeren said. "I've said it many times, I came to NC State because I felt like I fit in. A bunch of people that work hard, like to have a good time together. Very intelligent people, but very hard-working people. A blue-collar, hands in the dirt program, and that's what we're all about here.

"If you look at our fan base, they support every sport, they don't just support football, and I love that about them. You can go to a wrestling match, and it's sold out. You can go to women's basketball, and it's sold out. You come to football, men's basketball and it's sold out.

"I think that makes our fans very special."

Other NC State Football Tidbits

• In Leary's absence, redshirt junior Bailey Hockman will be the Wolfpack's starting quarterback Saturday. Hockman started the first two contests this fall in place of Leary, who had to quarantine for 20 days in the weeks leading up to the season opener due to COVID-19 contact tracing protocol.

Freshman Ben Finley will be the backup quarterback, and redshirt freshman Ty Evans is now the third-string signal-caller.

"It’s a matter of [Hockman] taking advantage of the opportunity, and I tell players all the time you're going to have an opportunity at some point, it's on you to be ready," Doeren said. "Now it's his opportunity to go show himself, and everyone out there, what kind of player you can be. He doesn't have to go be Superman, he just needs to run the offense. That's it."

Doeren clarified why Finley is ahead of Evans on the depth chart.

"Ty had an injury that kept him out for a long time that allowed Ben to get reps and just gain more knowledge and timing with the offense," Doeren said. "So that's kind of where that went. Ben's just got more reps, right now.

"The thing you like about Ben, he's very smart. He has great spatial awareness, he sees things really well, gets the ball out quick. He can run. I think that's the one thing that separates him from any of those guys, he can really run. He's a good athlete.

“I was hoping we wouldn't end up in a scenario where he has to play because you want to get the year in the weight room ...for a freshman quarterback. At this point, he and Ty have got to be ready to go out there and help us, and I know they'll put their time in.”

• Ever since NC State introduced the new "Takeaway Bone," the Wolfpack has been generating multiple turnovers on defense. In the first three games, NC State forced just one fumble and zero interceptions.

The Wolfpack brought the "Takeaway Bone" on its road trip to Virginia and has forced seven turnovers on defense in the last two games, including six interceptions. The sideline prop hasn't been the only difference, however.

"Two games ago, it was the line of scrimmage tipping the football twice," Doeren said. "We say tips are picks. ... Then in this game, one of the picks, [linebacker] Drake Thomas got to the quarterback and forced a bad throw and [linebacker] Payton Wilson got under it. The other one, Payton just broke on it, the quarterback didn't see him.

"There's just a mixture when you're talking about interceptions, there's a lot of things that go into them. It's not just a DB or a linebacker making a play. Sometimes you have pass rush, sometimes you confuse the quarterback with coverage, so they all kind of tie together. Sometimes it's just a big-time play that's made. All those things are happening right now.

"Defensively, we are playing faster than we did last year, if you just watch the speed that's being played with. Guys are running around, more blitzing with a blitz mentality. I didn't think we were doing that earlier in the year, I felt like we were kind of oozing off the ball in some of our pressures. I feel like the guys are hitting it more sudden, which from a quarterback standpoint gives you less time to throw."