Dave Doeren QA: Clemson presents many challenges
NC State head coach Dave Doeren met with the media after practice on Thursday for the final time before Saturday's road game at Clemson. Everything the second-year coach had to say is below:
Any shot at redshirt junior left guard Joe Thuney playing this week?
No, he'll be back next week, we're hoping.
Is it still the illness?
Yeah, he feels good; he just had a deal where the doctor said it was a three week recovery. You've got to wait for the recovery. He feels good, we're just waiting for the virus to be gone. It's one of those deals.
How is redshirt junior Alex Barr done in his place, switching from the right side?
He's playing hard. Like any big guy, there's limitations to what you can and can't do, but you can't fault his effort. Anytime you're 6-8, you've got to be a knee-bender and I think when he gets fatigued at times, he plays too high. He's really trying and competing hard; he's a very intelligent guy that tries to play within the system and use technique.
What have you seen from the Clemson front seven this year, that will obviously be a big match-up?
They're the best front seven that we're going to play, without a doubt. They have the pass rusher in college football in [Vic] Beasley. All of the other guys are just playing so hard, like their defensive tackles. It's a challenge. Their linebackers are way better than what we played against last week. They're bigger, they play with their hands, they shed blocks, they're very multiple.
It's going to be a really, really difficult challenge for our front, and then you're doing that on top of the crowd noise. This is going to be a challenge for our offensive unit, and I know they're excited. We've practice in loud noise every day to be ready for that. We've just got to be able to get out there and get it going with our tempo and all of the different things we do — shifts, we hope to get them where they're not set, play fast and go.
Does it help to have played that Florida State defense last week?
I'm sure it does. Our line saw the best defensive tackle in college football last week and maybe the [Lorenzo] Featherstone kid, with how he's playing at end, it gives you a chance to be ready for Beasley. Not that he's Beasley, but he's similar — a high motor, long, lanky, quick-twitch guy.
You talked a little bit about sixth-year senior safety Jarvis Byrd on Monday. He was obviously ahead of schedule playing in those first couple of games, did he have any kind of setback?
No, we're just trying to use the strengths of our guys. Everyone knows Josh Jones is a really rangy coverage player, and we've played a couple of teams where the slot receivers were guys that we were concerned about. Josh is a better coverage player. You wish you could get him in all of the time and flip it around, but you'll see Jarvis playing this week. He's had a good week of practice, and he'll be out there.
He had a good game against Clemson last year when he was in there.
He sure did, he tackled really well in that game.
Going into your first ACC road game of the season, does it help to have played South Florida on the road already?
Yeah, it helps to have won on the road [but] it's totally different. Clemson is the loudest stadium that we'll play in on the road probably, with all of the pageantry that goes with their games and things like that. It helps to have gone on the road and played well, that's for sure.
We've changed our hotels up at times at home games, just to get used to being in different places more. I'm hoping the way we've done helps the guys when they travel.