Full transcript: Dave Doeren's weekly press conference

NC State Wolfpack football head coach Dave Doeren held his weekly press conference Monday, recapping Friday's 44-41 loss to Miami plus previewing Saturday's scheduled game against Florida State.

Here is the full transcript:

"Anytime you lose a game that goes down to the wire, it's obviously going to be a heartbreaking loss. It was an emotional loss. However, I was very encouraged and proud of the way our guys prepared, fought and improved from how we played two weeks prior against UNC to how we played that night.

"Obviously, there were a lot of things that we did well. There were a lot of plays that were made a lot of tough plays that were made. It was a really good football game and one we just didn't finish.

"Miami's quarterback I thought played an elite game. We wanted to make him have to throw it to beat us and he was able to do that. I thought he threw the deep ball as good as I've ever seen him throw it in that game, so he deserves credit for that. Obviously, we need to be better defending that. But it was a heck of a football game.

"I thought we started fast. Our first drive offensively was a great opening drive, really creative play calling to get Bailey on the throwback from Thayer. The offensive lineman blocked it really well.

"I thought we struggled in the first quarter defensively, gave up 21 points and then shut them out in the second quarter. We did a nice job of adjusting there and were able to build a 10 point lead going into the finish of the game and had our chances to win.

"I thought the kickoff return by Bam was huge, to kind of put the game in our advantage. It was a great momentum play on special teams.

"Chris Dunn drilling a 53-yard field goal after a penalty that I thought should have gone our way to give us a first down right there. It showed a lot on his part because that's not easy. It was great for him to make his second 50-plus field goal of the year.

"Then it just comes down to four or five plays in the game. There were plays that had nothing to do with Miami, routine plays that we could have made that would have put the game away and we weren't able to do that.

"There's a lot of positives and there are negatives that our team will learn from, our staff will learn from and together we'll continue to fight.

"Offensively, I'll start with the positive first. We scored on six of our first seven drives of the game. We were efficient on third down, except for the last two third downs of the fourth quarter, which ended up being costly.

"I thought Bailey played well, gave us a chance to win, threw the ball into some tight windows. With the exception of two throws in the game, I thought he was really, really good. I know he'd love to have the one back that he missed to Emeka, and obviously the last one was a little off target.

"We had zero drops in the game at receiver, tight end and running back and we were 100 percent scoring in the red zone.

"The negatives, we weren't able to put the game away. We had the ball with six minutes and 15 seconds, got a first down and then three straight plays we were off the field. We would have loved to be able to consume more clock than that and drive the ball and get a score if possible. Then obviously the interception at the end.

"On defense we played hard up front, I thought our D-line improved. We were physical at the line of scrimmage, I thought we shedded blocks better. I thought Daniel Joseph and Alim McNeill played much better.

"Negatively, we just didn't make enough plays that helped us in the game. They were going to score points, we were playing with some injured guys, some backups for injured guys in the secondary. We knew they were going to complete some passes and score some points, but we weren't able to get any takeaways, which would have helped us gain a possession.

"And there were two critical moments in the game where they were able to make plays where we had a guy in position and didn't. We had four penalties, whether they're questionable or not, they were called and hurt us on drives. So things we got to improve.

"I thought our special teams were really good in some areas, the field goal by Chris that I mentioned, the kickoff return, our punter Trent Gill and the coverage by Tyler Baker-Williams, I thought he was outstanding.

"I hate that we lost a possession on the ricocheted kick that bounced off of one our guys. We knew they were going to squib it and our guy was trying to avoid it and obviously didn't do a good job of that.

"I think there's a lot of positives from that game that we can carry forward, there's opportunities to get better, and I'm encouraged by how we responded from our last loss. I know that we'll get the same type of resolve from these young guys.

"We've got four games left and an opportunity to really have a great close to our season. I'm excited about what Bailey did and the confidence that will come from that.

"From an injury standpoint, we hope to have Drake Thomas and Tanner Ingle back for this game but until we get on the field, I can't confirm that. It's trending in the right direction.

"Now we get ready for a very athletic Florida State team and a quarterback that's very dynamic. He has really changed their offense. I know he was injured in the first half, but he was on the sidelines and seemed to be pretty normal. Just looking at him during the game because I watched it Saturday.

"Like you always see from Florida State, great receivers Terry and Wilson. At tailback, they have two guys that they rotate in that are different from each other. The tight end is a good pass catcher. They've had some injuries on the offensive line but the quarterback is what's changed them.

"Obviously, we'll have to see who they put out there. I'm not sure we'll know until game day on that.

"When you look at the other side of the ball, another defensive line that has two great defensive ends. Big thick, long. No. 11, Robinson, is 6-5, 260 and No. 13 Kaindoh is 6-7, 265 and Cooper inside at 331. So a very formidable defensive line that can run.

"Asante Samuel at corner has made a lot of plays for them in the secondary. I really like watching their Will linebacker, No. 1 Emmitt Rice. He's very active, has good speed and gets to the football.

"They're a good football team, an athletic football team and a team that obviously has a new staff and has played really well. They've blocked two punts, blocked two field goals this year. Beat North Carolina in a huge upset, so we know they're capable of playing lights out.

"For us, it's just another opportunity to improve, work hard in practice and try to be better than we were the week before."

Obviously, Carter-Finley Stadium when it's full, it's just an electric place. With the game close on Friday night, it would have been electric. That little extra juice that you guys could have gotten, not to make an excuse, but just how important would that have been in a close game on Friday night if you would have that?

"I mean our home field advantage in a night game is as good as anybody's in the country. So yeah, I think it could have helped our energy on defense probably.

"It would have hurt them offensively with cadence. They changed a lot of plays at the line of scrimmage in that game, that would have been challenging for them to do.

"There's a lot of things as a home team that we're losing out on with the COVID-19 part of this. Both teams have the same thing, so it's just part of the deal."

You talked about Bailey's confidence, the way he played. It struck me watching him that there was a lot of confidence in a lot of the throws. When you took a deeper dive into the film, what else did you see and what is maybe the most repeatable element of how he prepared for this game to carry that over going forward?

"I think just being the guy getting the reps, the game plan was built for him, which it was in the Wake game as well.

"I think when Tim can do that, knowing who the trigger guy is a difference. As opposed to where you bring in a guy in off the bench and hoping he gets it as good as the first guy. It played to his strengths.

"Bailey did a nice job preparing and looking at the different things that could happen. I just thought he was quick with his reactions. He didn't sit there and wait, made quick decisions, he gave his receivers a chance to throw, he used his feet a couple times to extend drives on some scrambles, which he can do.

"I think just having the success and seeing his guys make those plays for him is just going to lead to more success for him."

You mentioned Florida State's QB, Travis. Obviously, you guys are going to prepare as if he's going to play. When you look at it from him, is he in the same mold as D'Eriq King? How do you prepare to face another dual-threat guy like Travis?

"He's built differently. You can't really say he's like D'Eriq King as a passer yet because you haven't seen enough film of him having to throw like that. But boy is he quick and can he run.

"He's electric running the football, I mean he's like Lamar Jackson that way with how fast he can accelerate. The run he had on Pitt the other day, the 88-yard touchdown, I mean he was out the gate.

"He's scary with his feet and so it does a lot for him on his own, similar to D'Eriq King where he can extend plays that aren't there. Just not enough film to tell you what kind of passer he is, not that he can't, but there's not a lot of body of work there to say that he can do the things D'Eriq King does with the throwing part of it."

How much film do you need on a guy before you think you got him figured out?

"It helps to have four or five games, just see you can see a lot of different situations.

"As you know, some games are a lot different. Maybe they're behind and they're just having to throw it all over the place or they got the lead and they're running it more. There may not be a two minute drill in a deal, they may not have a backed up drive or a red zone drive.

"Maybe he didn't throw a pick, you want to see how he responds. So it takes a little bit of time and you want to see different defenses. Some defenses are blitzing more than others or playing different coverages than you play so the more games you can have the better."

I want to ask you about something you brought up, which was the penalties. Watching your game certainly and some of the Triangle games throughout the year, there's always a couple of questionable penalties throughout the game. But coming into Miami, you guys have been flagged just over eight penalties a game. As you move forward how do you address that with your team to be penalized less? I know that's something you talk about frequently throughout the week.

"One thing that we can prevent like Dylan McMahon jumped offsides when we were on offense at guard, and that's something that, as an offensive lineman, you got to know the cadence, and that should never happen.

"But then there's penalties that are judgment calls by officials, and I can talk as much as I want about that, but like I thought C.J. Clark's play on the quarterback was a good play. I wouldn't have coached him to do anything different right there. Those plays sometimes get called, sometimes they don't, and there's not a lot I can do.

"Payton Wilson's play on the sideline, he can't do that. We can't hit a quarterback going out of bounds, so those are conversations we're going to have.

"So just really a matter what type of penalty it is. Sometimes there's pass interference penalties where a guy doesn't play the ball, and you can coach him better. Sometimes the guy played it perfectly and they called it, and there's nothing you can do about that.

"Just think some of the things, there's human error in officiating. We understand that they're human. As coaches we got to do everything we can to play within the rules and still be aggressive when we play the game and sometimes games get called really tight and everything gets flagged. Sometimes they let everything go, and they don't call anything. So, it's really challenging that way when it comes to coaching because you want to give the guys the opportunity to play a certain way and know that the refs are going to be agreeable with it."

You mentioned the receivers not having any drops on Friday, can you just speak to how strong of play that you guys have gotten from that group this season and the improvements that they've made from last year?

Yeah, I'm really proud of that group. You know Coach [George] McDonald takes a lot of pride in having a group of guys that's dependable, that works hard.

"I think from Emeka [Emezie] to Devin Carter to Thayer Thomas to Porter Rooks, you got a group of guys that have really increased, Porter wasn't here, but improved their production from year ago, and really improved counter production. We had a lot of dropped passes a year ago.

"And we add Cary Angeline into that, there's another guy that's very dependable, that gets a lot of balls. Yhey're giving quarterbacks targets, they're making tough plays for them, and all that does is allow your quarterback to have confidence to give you a chance. And those guys are making those plays, the contact catches, and as you've seen here in the past we've had receivers like Jakobi Meyers and Kelvin Harmon that can make those tough catches in games and make big plays for you, and you need that in order to extend drives."

Wanted to ask you about Devin Leary. I know obviously he was injured several weeks ago, but is there any update on his status I know initially it was given four to eight weeks and know where he stood at this point?

"Yeah, nothing's changed. He's doing really well, everything's on time, but it's not going to speed up. It's four to eight weeks, and we're still letting him heal. He's doing a great job, he's around a practice. He's encouraging his teammates, but we're not going to see him until postseason play, if he could play again then,

Wanted to go back to that fourth quarter. Obviously, Miami ends up with 213 yards compared to just six for for NC State. Did you feel like there was a difference in the offense that maybe took their foot off the pedal at all or was it just a matter of not making the plays necessary to get there?

" No, I think they just outplayed us. The same plays that we were getting yardage on in the first half and then the third quarter, we're reaching guys, we're knocking guys off the ball, and now they're penetrating and disrupting. You got to give them credit.

"We didn't make the same type of blocks, same type of line of scrimmage movement that we saw in the first half, that we saw in the third quarter, when we were efficient running the football. You can go back and second guess what you were doing, but Tim [Beck] was calling plays that worked well for him earlier in the game, where we scored on six of the seven possessions.

"You got to give them credit for beating the blocks that they weren't beating earlier in the game. We thought we could wear him down there and we didn't."

This year on special teams you guys have blocked two punts, Bam [Knight] had a kickoff return and Chris [Dunn] had long field goal. Moving forward the last four games of the year, how important is it for that unit to keep playing at that level or even higher?

" I'm really proud of the performance. I think Todd Goebbel deserves a lot of credit, too. He does a great job schematically and just getting the guys excited about being on those special teams, and blocking punts, being motivated to kick off return.

"We went from like second-to-last and league to second in the league in kickoff return in one play. I mean it's amazing what happens when you put Bam back there. We're excited that Bam has kind of emerged in that role. We've been searching a little bit. We had Ricky [Person] back there, we had Jordan Houston back there. Bam goes back there and changes the momentum of a game.

"Obviously we're going to leave him back there and let him work."

[Knight] told us after the game that he probably should have taken a knee. Does he have a green light at the end of decision based on his judgment, stay or go?

"It depends on what are the ball's kicked. Anything in the middle of the field as long as they can catch it going forward, we're pretty good with those guys bringing that out the endzone.

"Obviously we wouldn't want to bring it out of the back of the end zone, but if they can catch it within the front of where the numbers or your lettering would be in the end zone, we're going to bring it out if they're going forward. We don't like taking things out of the endzone if you're running sideways and things like that to catch a football."

You move down Tyler Baker-Williams to safety this game. How do you evaluate his play and also is that something that could maybe give you some depth even when you get Tanner back?

"Well obviously we didn't tackle well in the UNC game, and we felt like we needed to get somebody at free safety that was just bigger, that can handle the run support things that happen at that position. Josh Pierre-Louis had done some good things at nickel for us this season. We felt like moving Tyler to free would help us in run defense, and it did.

"I thought Tyler, he played 90 snaps in that game at free safety, you gave up one touchdown on wheel route, other than that I thought he played a really good game. Made a lot of plays, led us in tackles, didn't miss any tackles. And so there was a lot of improvement at that position.

"So having versatility there, to answer your question, does help. When we get Tanner back, does Tanner go to free and Tyler go back to nickel? There's a lot of things.

"We need to play better in the back end, and obviously getting Tanner back, one of our defensive captains, would help us play better. But until then, we need to improve fundamentally and get back to doing some of the things in coverage at corner. I thought, until this last two games I thought, our corners have done a really good job at not giving up big plays.

"We got to get back to the fundamentals that we were playing with there."

Cary Angeline had another efficient performance on Friday night, catching all four of his targets and found the end zone again. Was that something that was discussed over the bye week, getting him more involved in the pass game and can you just speak to his performance on the field this year?

"Cary is doing a great job. I think he's a big target. He probably has the best hands on our football team. It's hard to cover a guy that 6-7. I mean you can have someone on him, and his advantage obviously is not only his height, but his wingspan, his catch radius is huge.

"We do look for him at times. We're always looking for ways to get him the ball. We actually called a few other plays for him, he just couldn't get out on some things that we were hoping he would.

"Cary's going to be a part of the game plan and, and I know the quarterbacks look at him as a safety net because how big he is. He's a mismatch issue for guys, particularly in the red zone you got Devin and Emeka on the outside, Thayer or Porter on the inside and then Cary, whether we put them on the number three or number two position working on a linebacker, a lot of times that's good for us."

How easy is it for you to preach to your team not to focus in on what Florida State's record is and just the type of athletes they bring in year in and year out regardless of where their status is in the conference right now, and what are the things that you use to preach that message this week for your team?

" I think our guys know. We play Florida State every year. We know what kind of talent they have. They beat us last year. They just beat UNC. So we have great respect for their program.

"Obviously this is a weird year. So you're seeing a lot of ups and downs out of teams because of the ins and outs of players, like with lineup changes and your lack of ability to maintain chemistry at certain position groups. I don't know if you can look at any team's record and give it a whole lot of credit. You don't know what's going to change week-in and week-out in the lineup, which changes the team immensely at times.

"We know we're going to play a fast, athletic team that has a really good defensive line. Terry's one of the best receivers in the conference when he's healthy. We will not overlook these guys one bit. We got to play, as well as we can play to win."

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