11/23/2020 football Edit

Dave Doeren sees plenty of motivation for Saturday at Syracuse

Matt Carter • TheWolfpackCentral

Editor

There was a level of intensity during NC State’s 15-14 win over previously unbeaten and ranked Liberty Saturday that may have been surprising. The Cinderella season of the Flames likely sparked much of that.

That’s not the case Saturday at Syracuse, where the Pack will have a noon kickoff on the road on an ACC Network telecast.

The Orange are going through anything but a magical season. They are 1-8 overall and 1-7 in the ACC. The same Liberty team the Wolfpack knocked off beat Syracuse 38-21 on the Orange’s home field. All but one of Syracuse’s losses have been by double digits, and offensively SU’s season-high scoring output is 24 points.

But NC State head coach Dave Doeren is not worried about his squad being ready or motivated in its return to ACC action. Part of the reason is that while there was a win Saturday, there was a lot that needed to be improved — namely 14 penalties for 123 yards.

NC State Wolfpack football coach Dave Doeren — Doeren's squad is 6-3 overall and 5-3 in the ACC. (Ethan Hyman/News & Observer)

“We did a lot of bad stuff in that game,” Doeren said. “There are things we got to fix. There are things we have to do better. And we need to go out there and do that. Defensively, can we repeat what we did and be better? Offensively, can we get back to what we were doing and finish drives and score touchdowns? Can we as a football team not have penalties that we can prevent?

“There's a lot that should keep us on edge, and trust me, I'm going to be all over these guys this week when it comes to that because I see a lot of stuff on film that we can do better. ... We've won some games because we play really hard, and our kids find a way to win. We've also made a lot of those challenging.

“That's going to be our focus. It doesn't matter what the other team is or who they are, it's how we play when we go on that field.”

Doeren noted that his team's six wins have come in a variety of ways. The running game carried the day in a shootout win over Wake Forest. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary threw the Pack to a last-second win at Pittsburgh. The defense breaking out the Takeaway Bone at Virginia was crucial to defeating the Cavs.

Special teams and turnovers played a starring role in the win over Duke. Redshirt junior quarterback Bailey Hockman’s connection to redshirt junior receiver Thayer Thomas highlighted the victory over Florida State, and then the victory Saturday against Liberty was squarely credited to the defense and special teams.

“I think there's confidence now in all three phases that they can do those things, and now it's about putting it all together and, more than anything, eliminating helping the other team,” Doeren said. “I think that's the one area that we need the most growth in. Because statistically, we're getting better in some areas that are very important areas to win games — turnover margin is a huge area, our special teams is in the top three in almost every category.

“But when you're last in the ACC in penalties, you're making it hard. You're helping the other team. We don't need to help the other team. I think that's an area that it's preached, it's talked about, but on game day we've got to do a better job focusing in those areas and cleaning that up and giving ourselves every opportunity to be the best team we can be.”

That best that NC State wants to be is a great team.

“I think it doesn't matter who you play, you need to show up with an edge,” Doeren noted. “It doesn't matter whether we're playing a team with a winning record or losing record, it doesn't matter.

"If you say you want to be elite, then you want to be better than you were the week before.”

Other NC State Football Tidbits

• NC State plans to practice on Thanksgiving morning before having a catered meal brought in and distributed in a COVID-friendly setting. Local players will be allowed to go eat with their families afterward.

Then, Friday morning, the team will go through its last round of testing before being cleared to play at Syracuse. Doeren purposely schedules it early in the morning ahead of road games to avoid the type of situation that happened in Tallahassee when Florida State and Clemson was postponed hours before kickoff after the traveling Tigers had a positive test revealed after its arrival in Florida.

The coach noted he doesn’t want to learn of a potential problem while on the plane.

“Once we get off our walkthrough we bring the kids in and have lunch and let the guys get rehabbed. Then we'll have a position meeting and literally we just hang out until we get a thumbs up,” Doeren said.

• Doeren noted that this team has been one of the most rewarding that he’s had a chance to coach, a thought not lost on him when he reflected upon what he’s been most thankful about this year.

The coach credited an offseason emphasis on the power of positivity for helping bring that about.

“We went through a lot in January and February, I've talked about it many times, to help build chemistry and build connection, and we did it through competing and connecting with positivity,” Doeren explained. “It's something I really believe in.

“I've seen it work on this football team, and it's been fun to help instigate the change in that part of our program and help these guys really enjoy the process of developing and getting better.”