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Full transcript: Dave Doeren's weekly press conference

NC State Wolfpack football head coach Dave Doeren held his weekly press conference Monday, recapping Saturday's 45-24 loss at Virginia Tech plus Saturday's scheduled game at Pittsburgh.

Here is the full transcript.

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Opening Statement

"I would like to start by saying that Khalid Martin was back with us today. Very happy that he was back, he's in our team meeting and it was a scary moment. We don't know how long it's going to be but all the scans, all the X-rays, all the imaging have been positive. Now it's just a matter of returning and how long that takes. Thankful to God and all the health, safety and medical teams that were a part of that situation we say thanks to them and Virginia Tech's staff.

"As you know, Teshaun Smith is now out for the year with his other shoulder. Tay will help us at practice, be a part of what we're doing as far as helping the guys mentally.

"We do expect to have Payton [Wilson] back with full go and with Tanner [Ingle], we're hopeful.

"As far as the game goes, it always starts with me and we did not perform the way that we thought we would. We got to do a better job preparing our team. We knew it would be a game of adjustments, not knowing with all the things that were out there, who might play, who might coach. We knew they had a new defensive coordinator, so not having film on them, we knew it would be a first quarter where we needed to hang in there and get used to what they were going to do and adjust accordingly and didn't feel like we did a good job there as a staff or the guys even handling some of that.

"For me, it's an opportunity to learn from that situation. It's a loss for sure but it's also an opportunity to get better. So as a staff, as a team, we knew it was a game where we needed to win on the road with turnover margin and be like we were on the line of scrimmage the previous week and we were not.

"Virginia Tech beat us up front with six sacks in our backfield. Then we turn the football over twice at quarterback and, because of that, had a tough start.

"Defensively, we did not stop the run and I felt like for us to be good on defense, we need to be disruptive, we need to be in the backfield, we need to create takeaways and those things did not take place in the game.

"Our specialist, Chris Dunn, hit his career long. 53-yard field goal, it was great for him to get that. Everything about it the snap, hold, protection, kick. Trenton Gill 47-yard net, Thayer [Thomas] had a good punt return for us. So those were good things that happened in the game.

"As a staff, it's obviously an opportunity with this football team, to learn, to grow and to continue to fight and grow from an experience that we don't want to relive. And we'll do that, these are experienced coaches, they're great young men, they're prideful young men that care a lot about each other and this university. And we all hate losing. More than that, it's about giving ourselves an opportunity to win and being physical, going out there and competing for four quarters and being coachable and doing a good job with adjustments.

"This week, it's all about overcoming what we just went through, moving on and having a great day. We did this morning with our meetings. Guys have had a good workout and look forward to getting in with our trainers to see where we're at to prepare for our practices that will start tomorrow. But it's a long season and there's a lot of opportunities in front of us. I know this, this team has been through a lot and they will fight and stick together and fight even harder.

"Offensively, I do think we ran the football efficiently, I thought our backs were physical and we had one negative play in the backsfield in the run game, the rest of them were very efficient runs and some explosive runs. Our red zone offense continues to score. I thought Devin [Leary] came in off the bench and moved our offense, scored a couple drives for us.

"On defense, our third down defense was something we wanted to improve and did. But it starts with stopping the run in that scenario. Not having Payton [Wilson] and Tanner [Ingle] hurts but schematically we've got do a better job, and players just shedding blocks and holding edges and tackling. A lot to work on and look at it as a great opportunity to do that.

"As we head into this week against Pitt, Pat Narduzzi does a really good job with this football team and he's got an experienced staff. They're a very physical, experienced team. They play complimentary football.

"Offensively, Mark Whipple is a really good football coach, I've known him awhile, coached against him. He's very creative, uses a lot of formations, tackle-over formations, motions, has good receivers, good backs. I think their quarterback, Kenny Pickett, is a really good football player. 66 percent completion rate, he's played a lot, 31-game starter, very accurate, mobile. I think he's a very underrated quarterback and has a good receiving corps. Freshman [Jordan] Addison is electric, 21 catches. They've got a bunch of backs they bring in and [Vincent and A.J.] Davis. Their freshman [Israel Abanikanda], who played a lot in the last game, is a physical guy. I think they're all different from each other and they do a good job behind the offensive line and probably the best center in the conference, if not the country in [Jimmy] Morrissey leading their offensive line. They've only given up two sacks.

"Their defense is fast, they're disruptive, they pressure, press coverage. They're only giving up 10 points a game and 177 yards per game. They have 17 sacks in three games and 34 tackles for loss and they've created six interceptions. They've got a lot of defensive linemen, they rotate. Charlie Partridge coaches them and does a great job with those guys. Whether it's [Patrick] Jones, [Rashad] Weaver, [Calijah] Kancey, [Deslin] Alexandre or [Devin] Danielson, they've got a crew that they rotate that are disruptive. [Paris] Ford and [Damar] Hamlin have played a lot of football for them in the secondary. Then their linebackers and nickels all do a good job and they're used in their blitz game. They do a good job of disguising, they're going to put a lot of guys in the box, they're going to force you to throw against press coverage.

"Special teams wise, they've got a very experienced special teams coordinator, he's been there a long time with with Pat. Their punter is averaging 43 yards and does a nice job there. A great challenge for us and a great opportunity just to get back on the field and get better, so look forward to that.

Is part of the maturity process of the team bouncing back from a loss like Saturday?

"Yeah, it is, for sure. It's a team we knew like I've told many times, we're still very young on defense, but the youth of our team blending back in with the returners.

"In some cases, those returners are back as you see C.J. Riley had an impact, Tyrone Riley's playing a lot of football on offense.

"Defensively, we didn't have some of those guys back so you got to see some guys playing. [Rakeim] Ashford played a lot and then had to come out, then Khalid [Martin] went in and got hurt, then Devan Boykin was playing so we're still going through the growing part of the chemistry.

"I do think handling a win in week one and now handling a loss in week two, they're two different opportunities, two totally different scenarios and you're getting a lot of different feedback as a player, publicly and privately, about those things. And how do you handle that? So for us, it is an opportunity to face adversity early in the season and look forward to seeing how they respond."

How do you think they responded to losses last year?

"Last year, I think guys were just trying to play. They were just trying to, 'What plays are we running?' and 'How do I do that again?' I mean it was a different lineup every game. There were so many guys that were just out of high school on the field and didn't have a lot of game experience to draw from.

"You do see Malik Dunlap playing so much better than he played a year ago because of all those games he had. So he's playing with more confidence so you're seeing that growth in players like him.

"Jordan Houston, [Zonovan] Bam Knight, guys have played a lot last year. Once we get Payton back out there, Drake [Thomas] is playing hard. You see those guys playing with more confidence. Last year, I think they'll tell you, they were just trying to understand what to do. Now I think it's more, they know the defense or the offense and they're just trying to play fast."

How much progress has Devin Leary made and what stood out on the film as far as his play, as well as Bailey Hockman’s?

"Devin has worked hard. He was obviously disappointed with the circumstances he had and understood it and battled back through it and prepared well last week, practiced well and got in the game. I thought he threw the football well.

"He was decisive, he operated the offense the way that [offesnive coordinator] Coach [Tim] Beck would like him to do it and he was into the game.

"We got in a situation where Bailey had thrown a second interception and you could tell that he just wasn't in it. Nothing against him, he battles, he's tough, all those things, but sometimes it's just not going your way. We needed to spark the offense and thought Devin gave us an opportunity there to see how he was and where he was at.

"Like I said last week, we need them both, they're both going to get reps this week and we'll see who's the most ready to lead our team this weekend."

Is there any update on Rakeim Ashford’s status?

"It's a day-to-day thing. We'll just have to see where he ends up. If we were to play today, he would not go. We're just going to have to see how he responds.

"He's had his shoulder since back in junior college and sometimes it bothers him, sometimes it doesn't so we're just going to have to see where he ends up. I know he's rehabbing and doing everything he can."

Devan Boykin and Aydan White are both listed in back-up spots in the secondary. What have they done over the offseason to earn those roles?

"Both of them are mature. They come to work every day, great attitude, they're consistent. They learn well.

"Devan's learned multiple positions, strong and free. Both of them have really bright futures here.

"Aydan, starting on our punt return unit at corner last week, did a really nice job. He's made plays in practice. He was our fifth corner going into the first game. With Teshaun out and Chris Ingram out, that just elevates him that way. He's a guy we're excited about.

"Being consistent every day for freshmen is a hard thing, it's just such a transition from high school to college. Those two guys have been able to do that, they've come in and every single day they're organized, they pay attention, they work hard, you know what you're going to get and, with guys like that, you can continue to help them get better each day."

Last week you talked about how most of the defensive problems were correctable. How disappointed were you Saturday and how big of a fix is this?

"The problems we had were different. I didn't feel like the run game, in this game, was external on the edges. That's where the problems were in the first week. We were out of our gaps at times inside.

"As coaches, we've got to do a really good job of helping our guys and we got a little bit less diverse in what we do in that game because we didn't know what the quarterback scenario was going to be. They were very different from what they were a year ago with all the motions and things. We worked so hard on all these jet motions and all the things that they were going to be doing and it wasn't that. It was a lot more quarterback-based run game, just straight ahead at you.

"We've just got to do a good job of settling in with the guys and Coach [Tony] Gibson's defense is about being versatile, it's about changing the looks, having disguise and blitzing. We got away from that. I think Tony will tell you he's disappointed in what he did in the game. I know he wants to pressure more, he wants to move the guys around more and we got a little bit 'just be where you're at.' That wasn't good for our guys.

"We got to help them more. That falls on me and the staff and the players just got to do a good job executing what we call."

Are they in a better position next week to execute knowing what they're going to face?

"Not necessarily. I mean, I think in week one, it wasn't that we were in bad defenses. We, again, had guys in the right gaps, and with Wake Forest's slow mesh offense guys got impatient. You watch that film, you'll see a guy on the edge and he thinks the ball is going inside and he ducks inside and the ball goes out. So it wasn't a function of what we were calling, it was more of a function of the patience and the discipline required to defend what they do.

"Last week's game, I felt the other way around. I felt like we just were kind of playing catch up the whole game, and when we did get them in third down, we stopped them. But there's just too many explosive runs, and you can't give up 300 yards rushing and win a football game. It's impossible when you turn it over like we did.

"A lot of things we got to work on. I think getting Payton back is is a helpful part of that. Our top two tacklers are Payton and Tanner, and we missed them in a run-heavy game. So the personnel piece does function into that, but the guys that are in there have to be able to make the plays, and we have to put them in position to make the plays first.

A lot of coaches have talked about all the lost reps and conditioning and training and everything from the offseason. I'm curious how much of a concern is conditioning for you guys right now between that, along with, as you discussed before, all the time lost in August with contact tracing and so forth?

"The conditioning is really per player. The guys that missed a lot of time are the guys that you worry about. The guys that didn't are in good shape. It's more along the lines of who was out for 14 days or 20 days, whatever the case may be.

"When it comes to missing practice time and missing reps and all that, it matters a lot. When you have a young football team, every rep is a critical rep. You don't know what that one rep is going to make something click, and when it comes to muscle memory, it takes a lot of repetitive days of work to get that muscle memory. So it is an impact.

"I think if you're a veteran team, it's easier. Those guys have banked reps. They have game experience. It's easier to overcome it. Still, as a coach, you would like to have that time with those guys.

"But when you're talking about a freshman, compared to a redshirt junior, that's a lot of reps that are not there. Every rep you miss in those situations is a rep that hurts you."

To follow up on that. With the guys that, when you said as a per player basis, maybe they were a little bit behind with conditioning, how do you balance trying to make that up and getting them as well as you can but keeping them fresh at the same time and not over pushing them? I imagine that's a balancing act you got to do now.

"If you have a rotation, that's how you manage it. Look at those guys and keep them fresh. If you don't, it's a lot more challenging.

"The practice piece is important, that you're seeing the volume that they have in practice because you don't want to burn the candle at both ends and then you have soft tissue injury. You have to rotate, you have to, I think, if you have that luxury, I should say. You have to be able to rotate guys."

You said you have things you guys want to correct on defense, things you've seen from your own so you watch a film, which you also have to at some point move forward to Pittsburgh and what do they do. How do you balance it throughout the week, making sure we correct ourselves first before we move on to what we need to do next week against?

"That's a great question. Normally we'd play on a Saturday and the guys would come in, Sunday afternoon, and we would go through the game with them as a team. Go through the special teams with them and then offense, defense would talk to them as units and go through those things.

"We'd watch the film and then we'd walk through the corrections that need to be made. And then the next day they're off, and then we start the next team, and within the individual sections of practice. If there's things that carry over, then you're working on those corrections continued through your individual and trying to make an action plan to help them.

"With us not getting home till almost 5am from Virginia Tech the other night, Sunday was their off day. We did those things this morning, and then tomorrow we'll move on to Pitt."

Have you ever been to a point with a young team or a team where you get to that day where typically you will cut off and move towards the next team, but you still have mistakes and as a team leader, make sure we correct before we move on?

"I think there's plays that happen. I think everyone in this business copycats things and the first thing you're not doing well it's going to show up in the next game if you don't correct this. You'll card those plays and run them even though Pitt may not run a play that Virginia Tech ran. We'll run them again and just make sure the guys have got that fixed.

"I think you have to understand that your problems don't just eliminate themselves in one film session. If it's a schematical thing, then you're spending your time on it from a scheme standpoint. If it's fundamental thing, and you're drilling those fundamentals. And if it's an 11-on-11 play where everyone needs to be a part of it, then you're running that play against the offense or defense to make sure they've got it."

With this being the COVID-19 age, and you guys having your first true road game last week, what did you learn from the restrictions that you guys have to work through when it comes to traveling and how can you apply whatever it is you may have learned that you can do better on your way up to Pittsburgh this week?

"Well, this is a different trip than the last one we bussed, and so you know on the bus trip you're takin,. for us it was, eight buses to spread out 80 players and staff. So that we had enough space between us on the bus and sitting within the bus with guys that would not contact trace you out. Whoever your roommate might be in different, things like that.

"This is a flight, so this one will be different that way, on how we go. So it'll be our first flight of this period. We'll have to see but there really isn't a lot of carryover on the travel piece just because we're going a different way."

In game one the offensive line gave up one sack and then Saturday gave up six sacks to Virginia Tech. After the game you were asked about it you said you wanted to watch the film before you made your conclusions on the pass rush and pass blocking. What were your takeaways, and how does that improve against the stout defensive line in Pittsburgh on Saturday?

"In this game we had seven different offensive line linemen play, and each of them lost a pass rush that ended up being quarterback pressure or sack. Some of it is just pass rush fundamentals. They did have a scheme on one of their blitzes where we did not have a linebacker picked up, and he scraped over the top and made a nice play. Schematically they got us on a play.

"Then there's times where the quarterbacks hot, and there's gonna be an unblocked player and you have to get rid of the football.

"Just looking at what we need to do, each guy just got beat. As you guys know that other team is on scholarship, too and at times they win. We got to do everything we can to play with better fundamentals. Sometimes, whether it's a speed rush, or you overset or you're too aggressive or your hand placement, there's just little things that happen.

"Pittsburgh's got a really good defensive line, and their backers come hard, their nickels, their corners. It's going to be a great opportunity to face a really good defense, and I know our offensive linemen take a lot of pride in protecting the quarterback. They'll work really hard this week to shore that up and face the challenge that we're going to have."

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