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 31-20 win over Duke plus Saturday's scheduled game at UNC.

Here is the full transcript.

“Hope everybody is doing well.

“Starting off with our game against Duke. I’m proud of the team on how we battled back. Obviously got off to a bad start momentum-wise giving up a blocked punt. Operation time was good, we needed to do a better job formationally. It was a nice job by Duke in that situation, stenting their front putting us in a situation where we had a short edge. Thought coach [Todd] Goebbel adjusted as the game went on and did some good things to clean that up.

“Really impressed just how we played complementary football. We had to overcome ourselves in this game, and not to take anything away from Duke, but when you have eight penalties for 106 yards in the first half, turn the ball over twice in the first quarter, it's tough.

“In the second half we did not have penalties, we just played football. And it's amazing what happens when you don't beat yourselfand those are immature things by a young football team that we got to learn from and learn from now. I think it's great for them to be able to see the difference in the product.

“When they're making the decisions that they're coached to make, they blocked a punt for a touchdown. We matched them blocked punt for a touchdown. We had three turnovers, we matched them three turnovers on takeaways on defense. And so our guys responded to the situations they were in, and I think that that says a lot about the resiliency of this team.

“Can't say enough about the guys that stepped in and their roles, not just in this game but throughout the year, we've had a lot of whether it was a targeting ejection or an injury. In this particular game. Isaac Duffy Webb performed really well, graded out 91%, had no mistakes, had two tackles on third down, and Devan Boykin came in had a pass break up in the end zone.

“Bryson Speas continues to play multiple positions on the offensive line. Dylan McMahon played the most he's played this year on the offensive line and guys are battling.

“Are they playing perfect? No, but we have been talking about next man up mentality, and I think what I'm most proud of is the next man is performing like the guy was in front of them in most cases, and that along with the team rallying around those guys and guys taking advantage of their opportunities.

“Sometimes you'll have a guy as a backup who may not be playing as much as he wants and he's not going to prepare the same way, doesn't have the same intensity in this preparation or in this practice. We're not doing that.

“I told the team. I like practice right now cause the ones are competing, the twos are competing, our scout team is competing. And that's allowing us to have the situations we are on game day where all of a sudden that guy's name is called and each week it's been a different player that didn't expect to have the reps he got that was ready to play.

“And so that's been fun as a coach to see.

“Positives on offense. I think we made some really good contact catches in this game. Devin [Leary] gave guys a chance, and they made the plays.

“And we're very efficient on third down. When you combine our third and fourth downs together we're 50 percent. We were 100 percent scoring in the red zone. And I thought we played our most physical football in the fourth quarter, I thought. There's a lot of straining, a lot of competing on the O-line and in running back group. We're very physical and I like seeing that, as you know.

“Negatives: turning the ball over three times. It's going to put you in a very difficult situation. Hard to win games doing that, so we have to do a better job with the fundamentals, Two of the fumbles — Devin had the ball low on the sack fumble. He's got to be able to pull the ball up as a quarterback when you're in traffic and take care of it. And Bam's got to put two hands on the ball when he's got all those guys hitting them.

“Three penalties on offense were critical penalties. All three of them were third down or fourth down plays that would have been first downs that we then had to redo the third down and had to punt. And so all three were drive stoppers.

“Obviously the injury to Devin is tough for him and us. I hate that for a young man that’s worked so hard and was playing so well. The positive news is he'll have a normal, healthy recovery. It's nothing that'll haunt him from an injury standpoint, but it'll probably keep him out of the regular season, but we'll see how fast he can heal.

“Now I know Bailey [Hockman] and Ben [Finley] and Ty [Evans] are excited about their opportunity and they'll work hard with Coach [Tim] Beck to be ready to help us win games. And that's what it's all about, maximizing your opportunity and the guys around you helping to the best of their ability.

“Defense, we held their running backs to 1.2 yards a carry, and that was a goal going into the game. We thought their two backs for the strength of their offense.

“We're really good on third down. We were 70-75 percent efficient on third down as a defense. I thought coach [Tony] Gibson did a nice job of mixing different things up. We put different dropping coverages, we rushed for rush five or six. Goal line stand for third time this season. It just shows the resiliency and toughness.

“And really the detail, it's not being tough. They run a bootleg and both guys are completely covered in the route, and Levi [Jones] does a phenomenal job tackling the quarterback in space on a boot.

“The three takeaways and the one in the red zone by Payton [Wilson], our first interception in the game, was a big momentum play. We only gave up three explosive plays, none in the pass game, which is really hard to do in college football right now. Two of the explosive runs were quarterback keeps that shouldn't have been there was poor job discipline-wise by two of our players on those two runs.

“We had a blitz on one and Tanner [Ingle] just chased the ball instead of playing technique and the other one, CJ Hart didn't do his job. So things that are correctable. Obviously, losing a third player on the season on targeting is coaching. We got to do a better job. Our players got to understand the strike zone.

“They got to play with their eyes up. They got to understand they can't launch. They can't lead with the crown of their helmet. It has to get fixed, and that's something that we will get fixed. It's obviously something that they're doing to protect football players.

“I thought the defensive penalty on Payton was immature on his part on the sideline, and that hurt us. So these are things that we got to correct.

“Our special teams were kind of mixed in this game. There's some really bad and some really good. Obviously you can't give up a blocked punt for a touchdown, and have four penalties on special teams, those things are atrocious. But we responded.

“We had some good kickoff returns. We had a blocked punt for a touchdown. I thought our kickoff coverage was outstanding. And Chris Dunn made a clutch field goal at the end of the game, to make it a two-score game.

“So there's some good things, there's good effort, it's got to be better execution. I just think the guys are buying into preparing. They're practicing with an edge, they're seeing the results of their effort.

“Now we get to play a really good cross town team game that's been going on since 1894, and I know it's a game that means a lot to both schools, fan bases, boosters, and football clubs and teams and coaching staff. It’s going to be a hard fought game. They're very well-coached, veteran team with a lot of skill, a lot of team speed.

“Obviously they're coming off a tough loss, but one in which I think they played really well in the second half. Really tale of two halves from them down there. But they're 3-1, as you guys know. They're an explosive offense, receivers do a nice job. Got a blend of size and speed.

“You know Sam's a tremendous quarterback. Their two tailbacks are really good players, different from each other, both explosive, both good in the run and the pass game. And they don't turn the ball over a lot. They've got a big offensive line. Tight end [Garrett] Walston's a good player.

“It's going to be a good football game, a great opportunity to play against a really good offense.

“Defensively, they lost some good defensive linemen last year. They look improved in the secondary to me. I think their linebackers are the same kids and [Sage] Surratt and [Jeremiah] Gemmel do a great job. They're active. They blitz a lot.

“They give you a lot of different presentation on defense, they're both odd and even front. They play cover two, they'll play cover three, they'll play cover one. And they're bringing different pressures from all over the place, similar to what we saw in some snaps with Virginia.

“They press you up on the outsider. They got big corners that are physical, and it's going to be a great challenge, and a great opportunity and look forward to playing as we do every year.

“Our chance to play against a top-20 team on the road again and chance for our team to overcome some things injury-wise and really go up there and fight against a veteran team.

“So, any questions?”

During preseason camp you talked about how because of the Covid pandemic. You had to prepare more players because you just never knew who was going to be available. How much did that, or has that, contributed to the next up situation that you mentioned earlier and having guys come in and play at the level that they have in reserve?

“I think that attributed, and you know I think our practices, the way they were set up early on, before we had to stop everything, we were getting ones, twos, threes, and fours reps because we just didn't know what could happen at that time. We were kind of early in the process and then we had the stoppage and when we restarted practice there was only 45 guys. “Some of those were our threes and fours, ones and twos weren't even at practice. We've really repped everybody in a different way. And we've cross trained guys, as you know, at different positions in case things happen and you're seeing that play off. Ickey [Ekwonu] played guard, now he's playing tackles. [Bryson] Speas has played guard and tackle. Dylan McMahon's played center and guard.

“Like all those things we did in training camp are now paying off. Same thing at safety Devan Boykin has played both safety spots, Isaac Duffy Webb has played nickel and strong safety. We're having to do that. You see Cecil Powell playing corner and dime and nickel. “There's guys that are going to have to fill those spots and have been able to do that because of that, as you'd say, that preventative measures we took. The unfortunate part of it is, is now it's not really the COVID that's playing us you know it's some of the injuries at the same position group, we've just kind of had some piled up injuries on the O line and in the secondary they're really testing our depth.

How's Bailey maybe advanced since he got the start earlier this year and obviously you saw him get reps now, compared to the last year? You've already seen some of that, so how's he made some gains, you think, maybe even since the first couple starts?

“I think he knows our offense. I think he's in a different position as a teammate. I've said this earlier, I thought when you transfer in as a QB or as anybody really, you're not a part of a recruiting class you're kind of your own lone soldier. You're trying to win a job at the same time, and so it's hard to get to know your teammates, the same way that you do.

“Year two, I think he's more comfortable here. I think he's got a good circle of people. And he can just be himself. I think he understands what his role was, and was a very positive teammate, very energetic around his friends and teammates, and now it's just taking advantage of an opportunity.

“i don't think he'll tell you that he thought he played well yesterday or whenever, Saturday. Did some good things, did some things he could do better.

“Now just pouring all that energy into it and we got to get Ben and Ty ready too because you know they're a play away from being in the game. We've got to get some reps into those guys here with our offense and make sure all three of them are ready to play.”

Obviously Ben was a early enrolled enrollee so what do you like about having he was able to jump tie into that now he's the number two guy?

“They were pretty much in the same category. 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. So that's kind of where that went. Ben's just got more reps right now.

“But you know 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 that scenario where he has to play because you want to get the year in the weight room, I guess you'd say for a freshman quarterback, but at this point, like I said, him and Ty have got to be ready to go out there and help us and I know they'll put their time in.”

When Bailey started the first couple of games the season he always knew Devin was there already. He was coming. Now it's not that point. It's going to be him. Can that maybe help him down the road? Maybe he lets a mistake go and it doesn't dwell on him more now he knows you can be the guy?

“Yeah, he's got to play confident football. He's got to run the system. He's got to quit worrying about things that could happen if he doesn't play the way supposed to play. He's just got to go play football and let it all go.

“And I think for him it's just a one play at a time. Thought he played really good against Wake Forest, and so we just need him to get back to that. I know he'll prepare the right way, and it's his time. It’s a matter of him taking advantage of the opportunity, and I tell players all the time you know you're going to have an opportunity at some point, it's on you to be ready.

“Now it's his opportunity to go show himself, and everyone out there what kind of player you can be, and he doesn't have to go be Superman, He just needs to run the offense. That's it.”

Is Bailey Hockman a different guy now knowing what's ahead of him?

"No, I mean, he's not going to all of a sudden change who he is, you know, I think he's excited. But he's got to put the work in. I think that's what you see, you see, he's just sitting down learning, what we see are the things that we're going to do in this point of the weeks pretty cerebral at that position.

"We don't practice until tomorrow so yesterday was a lot of film, a lot of talk, they went out and walk through some things, but tomorrow will be the first day that we really get in there and start cranking the game plan with them."

Do you think with the defense playing the way they have, getting stops, making plays and kind of controlling games a little better can help Bailey and the other quarterbacks by putting them in better situations?

"It's a team game and when you're playing complimentary football, offensively, there's less pressure. You don't have to go out there and score a touchdown every possession to feel like you're going to win. As long as every offensive possession ends with a kick, we should be in the game if we play good defense and good special teams.

"We're doing that now. The defensive front is playing a lot better. Our linebackers, as you know, are making a ton of plays and the secondary has kept things in front of them. If we play like that and we get the dog bone out on the sideline every now and then, good things are going to happen for whoever that quarterback is because they're going to have field position and momentum."

We've seen you as a very emotionally even-keeled guy in victory. A couple of the last times when you were over at Kenan Memorial, you were very excited leaving the field. Just curious as to victories at those particular points in your career, what they meant to you, because they obviously seemed like they meant a lot to you at the time.

"I know how big this game is to NC State. 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, so it was great to get a win, my first win over them there.

"I probably can't do this in the proper order but 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.

"Unfortunately, one of them was kind of ruined because we had a fight afterwards and felt like we were dealing with all that crap at the end of the game instead of the win.

"I think this football team and their football team, this coaching staff and their coaching staff, it's about the kids. These guys work so hard and when you go in a locker room after an emotional win on either side, you're going to feel that and you can't just play it off, it means a lot to you."

We spoke to coach Mack Brown this morning and he mentioned something about it being 27 years since these two teams have met with them both being ranked. He said it was a testament to how much high school football has developed in this entire state of North Carolina. I'm curious to know from your perspective, since you arrived, how have you seen the talent pool and and the level of play on the high school level grow here in North Carolina and how has it helped you guys with your recruiting?

"I would agree with Mack on that. Some of this goes to the high school coaches association, they've allowed them to develop the players better, in my opinion. They're doing more on-field things, obviously not now with COVID, but the last three or four years, they've been able to do more football.

"They used to have this rule where they could only have 21 players at a practice at a time in the spring. Now they've changed that so they can have a true spring practice where they're getting their teams out on the field and developing them.

"The weight room programs are obviously better and some of these kids are investing more in the sport. You see them going to trainers and doing extra things from a strength and conditioning standpoint.

"We all know that Raleigh and Charlotte are fast growing cities as well, so your population increase means there's more talent from that standpoint.

"I do think it's not only helped us, but all the teams in the state. There's a lot of good football teams in our state, not just in the ACC, and you're seeing that statewide."

Obviously the prop gets a little more energy, they want to get more takeaways, but what else is there to it that these guys are getting their hands on more interceptions and more fumbles this year compared to last year?

"Two games ago, it was the line of scrimmage tipping the football twice. We say tips are picks. C.J. Clark got his hands on the ball. can't remember who the other one was, we had two tips.

"Then in this game, one of the picks, Drake Thomas got to the quarterback and forced a bad throw and Payton got under it. The other one, Payton just broke on it, 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.

"I think, 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.

"Tony's done a nice job of changing things up, it's not just one coverage you're looking at, there's quite a few different pictures for that quarterback to have to look at and and figure out."

You mentioned guys playing faster. Is that a matter of them thinking less or is it more just guys being a year older and making plays?

"There are several things in there. Tony should get some of the credit, I think he simplified things for him. We're not checking, doing a bunch of things at the line of scrimmage. We used to check a lot on defense. There's a few things we have to say here and there, but we're playing ball.

"We're talking more about what the offense is doing and less about what we're doing. Here's how you line up, now let's look at their stances, let's look at the back set, let's look at the tight end location, let's let the receiver splits. What's the down in distance? We're playing football as opposed to having to memorize a million things and I think that's really freed them up.

"Second thing is just our front. I feel like the the guys up front, our rotation that we have in there, there's not as much of a drop off between our ones and twos on the D-Line. As we rotate, C.J. Clark and Alim are both playing really at a high level at nose tackle right now. The defensive end position, Kante and Savion have gotten a lot better as the seasons gone on. And then Daniel Joseph comes in and gives us something, and that helps when you can rotate guys like that. As long as we can continue to keep them fresh.

"We had a problem at linebacker a couple weeks ago when we couldn't rotate, Coach Gibson didn't feel as good about the rotation and now those kids have earned playing time. You see Jaylon Scott come in, maybe only takes 15 snaps off of Isaiah, but that helps Isaiah play faster. Levi Jones comes in and takes a few snaps off of Drake, now all of a sudden Drake can play faster, C.J. Hart. Depth is important when you're playing these tempo offenses that run 80 to 100 plays on you, you got to be able to get some fresh legs in there.

Mack Brown said that he felt like his team was overrated and that the Wolpack was underrated. I just wanted to know your philosophy on ratings and then how you felt about him saying that guys are underrated as a team.

"That's nice of him to say that, I don't really look at it like that. 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. So, 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.

"I think his team played really bad in the first half and played really, really good in the second half. I'm sure he's saying he wants that team to be the team that plays every game. That team is a really good team for UNC, that second half team.

"They've been really good all year. He's got a very good football team, he's got a veteran football team, he's got a lot of speed on his football team. I think he's poor-mouthing that group a little bit right there. I think they're a really good football team."

Sometimes Hockman likes to get outside the pocket and run sometimes. Do you curtail him on running now that he's the guy now, do you worry about that because he could be one play away?

"No, I think he needs to play the offense. I think he needs to stay in the pocket when he has good protection.

"He took a sack the other night and had no business running out of the pocket. He had great protection, he could have stood there for 10 minutes, and he runs out and gets himself sacked. He needs to trust the protection when it's there and give his receivers time to get open.

"If things break down, he needs to use his feet because he can run. Running to run and running when you need to run are two different things. Understanding that you have time in certain rushes and knowing your protection rules and trusting the guys are going to take care of you."

From a statistical standpoint, Payton had a great game Saturday. After watching the film, did you see other things in there that make that kind of a special performance outside of numbers?

"He's just playing so hard. His effort, he's finally back in shape. I think when he had to take that two weeks off for the quarantining, that set him back conditioning-wise.

"It's more just all around. He's starting to play with his hands better, he was just running into things when the season started. He's separating from blocks and staying playable as we call it. He's blitzing better. He's not just, again, running into things. He's trying to slither through some things, then run through some things.

"His run fits were really good. His tackling was good other than the one screen, he missed a tackle in there, one touchdown down there.

"As he continues to get in game shape, which he's probably in really good game shape now, he's going to continue to make more and more plays.

"One thing about Payton, he plays as hard as he can play every snap. That is visible and I really respect that about him, just the effort that he plays with. Now it's just about, similar to how Bradley Chubb was here, sometimes his aggression gets the best of him and he's got to really learn how to channel that and use it every play the right way.

Glad you brought up Payton Wilson, he was obviously once committed to Carolina, but he said the culture at NC State was more for him. How do you define this rivalry? Is it the relative culture of the two schools?

"I don't know exactly what their culture is, so I don't want to speak on something I don't understand.

"I know what our culture is, it's blue-collar. 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.

"That's what we're all about here. Their school probably has their definitions of what they're all about."

What kind of relationship do you have with Mack? How much contact and interaction did you have with him when he was with ESPN and he did any of your games?

"Not much. I've known Mack a long time when I was at Kansas, he was the head coach at Texas. I recruited Texas and would run into himm time and time. Competed against him.

"He was always a great mentor in the business to a lot of young coaches and he's a first class guy. When I came here, he congratulated me when he was with ESPN.

"Now that we're on the other side of things, competing against each other, we're not talking the same way as we used to. I do know that there's respect from both sides and he's done a great job since he's come back. Obviously the last time he was there, he did a great job as well."

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