Dave Doeren, NC State set to prepare for ACC opener
It’s the start of ACC play for NC State football, but that’s probably a bigger deal to the Wolfpack fans than to head coach Dave Doeren or his squad.
Doeren understands the perception from the outside that the stakes are now raised. NC State is one of a trio of league teams that will finally start conference play this week.
But Doeren’s players made it clear from the beginning of the season that they were embracing the approach of taking each week with a simple “1-0” mentality. In other words: a week at a time.
“We're looking at this as the next game, next opportunity,” Doeren said.
That next game is at Florida State, the second time in three years that NCSU has opened its league slate with a road date against the Seminoles. NC State won in Tallahassee two years ago, 27-21, and has taken the last two games overall in the series.
Florida State is 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the ACC, but Doeren cautioned that is misleading. He said the Seminoles can and will be a dangerous team once they put it all together.
“If they play the first quarter for four quarters, they're killing people,” Doeren said. “They're up 56-9 at the end of the first quarter right now. I'm sure they're talking about being a four-quarter football team. They're like all of us.
“You want to play your best football for four quarters, and they've got really, really talented players on that field. That’s one thing you see, their offensive skill is elite at every spot."
NC State also finds itself in a position of trying to put together a complete game. Like FSU, NC State has one dominant quarter, but it is the second. The Wolfpack is outscoring teams 59-7 in that frame this year. However, it has been outscored in the first (24-23) and fourth quarters (26-24) through four games.
The offense in the past two contests have struggled to establish any rhythm in the second half.
“In the first quarter, it's been pretty stale, feeling people out, making good adjustments and then taking advantage of it,” Doeren noted. “Defensively, we've played well in the first quarter with the exception of West Virginia.
“The third quarter, we got to come out of locker room hot. That's what we have to do. It’s not like we're coming out there without a plan.”
Along those lines, Doeren did not address any potential rotation or changes at the quarterback position. He saw good and bad in redshirt sophomore quarterback Bailey Hockman, ironically a Florida State transfer, during Hockman’s second quarter series against Ball State.
Doeren’s biggest issue offensively however during a 34-23 win over Ball State was not taking advantage of the plays that were there to be made.
“Third and short, fourth and short — both sides of the ball — need to get better,” Doeren said. “I thought we dropped some layup catches that are easy plays for us and got to focus on catching the football and making our layups for the quarterbacks.”
The offense will be shorthanded this week after it loses starting tight end and redshirt junior Dylan Autenrieth for the season. Autenrieth had three catches for 40 yards prior to going down against West Virginia.
He joins left tackle and fifth-year senior Tyrone Riley and starting receiver and redshirt junior receiver C.J. Riley as offensive starters lost for the year. Defensively, the Pack has played without starting senior corner Nick McCloud since the opener and have missed fifth-year senior starting defensive end James Smith-Williams for the past two games. Smith-Williams is expected back against FSU.
Autenrieth, McCloud and Smith-Williams are three of NC State’s four captains. It has left an already young team even younger.
“It's a revolving deal with your chemistry at times,” Doeren acknowledged. “So it does make it challenging.
"Like I told the team last week, we don't have freshmen or seniors, we have a football team. We need to just go do our job, and not worry about your age anymore, period. Fact that we only have seven active seniors, or whatever it is, doesn't matter anymore. We're going to have to get the most out of what we got.”
Other tidbits
• Freshman running back and leading rusher Zonovan Knight only had eight carries before tweaking his hamstring against Ball State and not returning. Doeren hinted Monday that was a precautionary measure and partially due to sophomore Ricky Person Jr. and freshman Jordan Houston running well in Knight’s absence.
He expects Knight to be able to play Saturday.
• In Autenrieth’s absence, redshirt junior Dylan Parham will likely get more reps to complement redshirt junior Cary Angeline, who is fourth on the team with nine receptions for 128 yards and is the lone Wolfpacker to have multiple touhdown catches (two).
Walk-on redshirt junior Thomas Ruocchio, who was put on scholarship for the year during preseason, is another player who could get more snaps. Doeren also hinted State may get creative in replacing Autenrieth, who was credited with being one of the Pack’s better blockers.
“Anytime you lose a part of your team, you've got to figure out how you're going to replace it,” Doeren said. “But we have other bodies, other personnel group.”
• Some may have been surprised by redshirt sophomore receiver Thayer Thomas’ display of athleticism on a 76-yard punt return for a score against Ball State, but Doeren was quick to note that Thomas is one of the quickest, most explosive players on the team.
“He is a lot faster than people give him credit,” Doeren said. “And he’s got great acceleration. His shuttle time is one of the best on our team. And anytime you're under a four-flat shuttle, that's an elite time. He's done that multiple times.”
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