Head coach Dave Doeren held his weekly press conference Monday afternoon to discuss this weekend's game at Mississippi State.

Here is an edited transcript of Doeren's press conference.

"Just starting with a recap of our win over USF.

"I was really proud of the the staff and players and how the guys prepared. It was great to be at home in front of the crowd. There's a lot that goes into that.

"Felt like we were physical. I thought we played fast. I thought our guys executed the game plan in many ways. We were able to come out of the game healthy, which is always a critical piece, and play a lot of guys and many of them played well. Some of them getting their first reps out there and making their plays in the stadium for the first time. So that'll be a huge growing opportunity for that group.

"As a team, we only had three penalties. It all starts with not beating ourselves, and I was pleased with that. I do think we could even be better. We had one encroachment penalty on defense and couldn't find the one penalty they called on the offense. But we could be better, but it was much improved from where we were a year ago.

"Offensively, we rushed the ball, well. Bam [Knight], Ricky [Person Jr.] and Jordan [Houston], were all very productive. The O-line and tight end group and receivers all battled in the run game. Rush for 290 plus, and not have any balls on the ground from a fumble standpoint, proud of those guys for that. I thought our receivers really strong blocking and that was something that was a point of emphasis for that group.

"Devin [Leary], at quarterback played well. He got the ball to a lot of people. He had a few plays I know he wishes he had back. I do like how he got better as the game went on. I think there was some rust there at the beginning for him, and then he just settled in and played pretty good football for us. Distributed the ball to a lot of people.

"Negatives, I think we missed a couple opportunities, left some plays out there. Thayer [Thomas] wide open and under threw a ball which ended up being intercepted and he had Porter [Rooks] on a corner route that we missed. And then just some fundamental things in protection, gave up a sack and guys can do some things better there.

"I think there's nothing like game day when it comes to correcting the things that you might get away with in practice when it's not live. It really shows up. So offensively very pleased, but also a lot of things we can work on.

"Defensively we get the shut out. Three takeaways, two of them were in the red zone, and I thought we played the ball well in the defense back area, better than I've seen us play it as we're attacking the football, breaking on balls. Didn't give up an explosive play for a touchdown. obviously, with the shutout.

"I thought we tackled well. For our first game, there's only a handful plays where guys used poor mechanics.

"Had several three and outs, had a fourth down stop. So it was a good performance. Didn't have any sacks. It's probably one area, you'd love to see us get some more sacks there. But, at the same time, you got three takeaways and a fourth down stop and a handful three and outs, like we had four three and outs.

"I do think the deep ball couple times got down the field on us, and we didn't play it well. There was the one with [Derrek] Pitts and one was Cyrus[Fagan] where we can clean that up.

"And when our backups, the reserves, came in the game later on, there were several times guys just didn't get lined up quick enough and communicate the way they need to. So that'll be great opportunity for the coaches with those guys that are in the second role, or the third role, that got in there just to clean up some things with them. There's nothing like game day for that.

"I was really pleased with our special teams. I thought we played the field position game. We punted the ball three times inside of their 10 and downed it. Two with Trent [Gill] and one when we brought [Ben] Finley in to do it. Had some positive returns with Thayer and Bam, and it was great, those three specialists we have our really good players, and it's nice having Chris Dunn back to full health.

"But it was a good day. It was really fun to have our fans back and the student section was awesome. They are my opinion, the heartbeat of the fan environment, and when they're on it changes everything in there and they were awesome. They were there for four quarters. They were there early, and they change our stadium in a good way and just thankful to them and really want them to be a partner with us for the year. No matter what, you guys make that such a special night and day and so please keep coming back and bringing that energy, student section. It was awesome. I know our fan base appreciates it and I do feel like you set the tone for what's going on in there with the fans with your energy. I know our players feed off of it. So we thank you for that.

"Having the fans there, the band there, the whole thing, the fireworks, the fly over, it was an awesome, awesome day. And appreciate to everybody on that.

"Now on to our first road trip, go to Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville and play a tough Mississippi State group. First time in a while that we'll be preparing for crowd noise. And the cowbell will be in full effect, I know. And we look forward to that. We look forward of the pageantry and the noise and fanfare and everything that goes into it, it's going to be awesome.

"I have great respect for Mississippi State's program. I have for a long time. They're a blue collar, tough group. Very similar: passionate, tough. I like what they're about. I've always respected how they play. Now, Coach [Mike] Leach, have known him a long time. He's a winner. He's a builder of programs. He's done it multiple places, and is very innovative, offensive coach and have great respect for him.

"His offense is unique and have played against them when he was at Texas Tech. Obviously, we've got some coaches here that work for him. But Brian Mitchell and Ruffin [McNeill], who've been around their offense.

"Defensively, they're very aggressive. They're like us in a 3-3-5 alignment. But there's a lot of line of scrimmage movement, lots of stunts, lots of blitzes, and we got to be able to handle their style play up front and stay ahead of the chains. It's not a team you want to give long yardage type things to. They do a lot of good stuff. You want to try to stay ahead of the chains, which we were able to do last week.

"I thought they showed a lot of grit in their game. They were down 20, and 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter. I know they didn't play well up until that point, but they sure played well the final 13 minutes. Their quarterback showed a lot of poise bringing them back.

"They've got a lot of size, O-line and D-line are massive up front. They got a lot of guys have played for him that are back and a few transfers. So it's gonna be a good football game. I'm excited to go play against a team like them from the SEC, and to get to do it in their their stadium with the fan base that they'll have.

"So with that, I'll open it up for any questions."

You mentioned in your opening statement how you guys didn't have any sacks, but it seemed like either Cade Fortin or Timmy McClain were off their spots or uncomfortable for most of the night. Were you happy with the the pressure from the front, the defensive line?

"I think what you're looking for is getting the ball back for your offense. And there's a lot of ways to do that.

"You may not sack the quarterback as many times as you want, but you got to hit him, you got to pressure him, you got to get him off the spot. You got to force incompletions. And we did some of that.

"There's some areas we can be better. I think it's a multitude of things, I've always felt. A lot of times you don't get sacks and people immediately blame the D-line. I think there's a lot of people that rush a quarterback for us. There's linemen, there's linebackers, sometimes there's DBs. But there's also coverage things. Guys have to give the rush a chance to get there with how we play coverage.

"There's a lot of things that this tape will show us that we can get better at and you're right, we have to be a team that can do that against a Mississippi State offense. And again, it's, yes, you want the sacks because you want to put them in long yardage situations, but more so you want to force the interceptions.

"You want to get that ball where like LaTech had a pick six on him when he was scrambling around. You got to try to get him out where he doesn't want to be. Get him out of his comfort zone not getting the time that he normally has and and get the ball back for your offense with the pressure that you create."

You mentioned maturity the other night, about how your guys handled the game and there's a second part to that of how they handle success after the fact. What did you sense from them in light of how they were handled it the other night on game night?

"I thought we were good on game night. We didn't have any after the whistle type stuff or guys were doing things the refs were worried about. Yeah, we celebrated interceptions. But that was us as a team, not us taunting anyone. And I thought our guys did a nice job understanding how to have fun and do it within the rules.

"As far as being mature enough to handle success, our first conversation we had after the game, 'You enjoy it for 24 hours, man, and soak it in. When we get back to work, we're on to the next one and that one doesn't matter anymore.'

"And the guys were hook, line and sinker with it. They understand it. Now we got to go do it. But they definitely understood where I was coming from with it."

Looking at Cyrus Fagan, in his first game in an NC State uniform, he had the pick, it looked like he got into the backfield and made a couple plays against the run. What did you see from him? And what are you looking to see from him going forward?

"Well, Cyrus plays the ball well. I think he reads the quarterback well. He breaks on it before the ball gets there a lot. Does it in practice too. He's a ballhawk.

"As far as the tackling aspect, he did. He had one really nice one. They ran a perimeter screen and Tyler Baker-Williams turned it back and he came up and hit it.

"He brings a lot of energy. He does it every day. He's one of those enthusiasm type players that I think feeds the team in a positive fashion. We're glad he's here. I think he's created really needed competition in the back end with Jakeen [Harris], and it's going to make Jakeen better and make Cyrus better.

"They know they got to play off each other that way."

How much are the SEC versus ACC you speak to your team?

"No, I don't really have to say a lot with that. It was brought up in our team meeting yesterday. We're playing another Power Five team, and from a conference that gets a lot of notoriety.

"And it's an opportunity for us to continue to earn respect. Obviously playing on the road against a team like that from their league. If you find a way to win that game, it's, it's good for your team. It's good for your program. So our guys are aware that we're playing an SEC team.

"It won't be something I talk about five days in a row, I can tell you that, but it is something worth the conversation."

The ACC kind of had a tough weekend, this past weekend. From a coaching standpoint you look at it as an opportunity to for your team to move up in the ACC?

"There's a lot of football left. We talked as a team the other day about it, and we can't get too high with our win. And in those teams that lost, they're going to get better.

"I think there was some good games played. You had UNC-Virginia Tech at Virginia Tech's a good football game. It was a one possession game. Last night, another one possession game with Florida State-Notre Dame. There's good football games, Clemson-Georgia was a heck of a football game. It wasn't like we went out and laid an egg. I mean, there were a bunch of competitive games. And we were one possession away as a league of making a bunch of good things happen.

"I told the team this, you watch the playoffs every year, there's usually three teams in the playoffs with one loss. Usually one team's undefeated and the other three aren't. We're only one week in. There is so much football left, and we just need to focus on us, and being the best we can be against a good Mississippi State team."

Bam Knight garnered a lot of attention in the preseason, a lot of people are saying that he was going to be one of the conference's premier backs. I actually want to ask about Ricky Person. Do you think that during the USF game, that he was kind of basically playing with a chip on his shoulder and that made him like have to stand out a little bit more saying like, 'Hey, I'm here to?'

"You probably should ask Ricky that. I think Ricky played really well. And so did Bam.

"I think those two guys, they're really good friends, they feed off of each other, they cheer for each other, and they need each other. To play this type of football for as long as we want to play you need to have a rotation back there.

"I think we're in a really good situation. We look at them both as starters. I'm sure from a competitive standpoint, Ricky's trying to prove himself. I'm sure Bam is too. They're both pretty humble guys that want to be the best they can be.

"From a personal standpoint, I think he would be better to speak on that than I would."

How important is a game like this? How big of an opportunity is it?

"Well, it's a great opportunity. I mean, you go play against a coach like Mike Leach. He's done nothing but win everywhere he's coached. In a stadium that I've been reading about it all day, just the fanfare, the noise, 61,000 but it sounds like 100,000, like the whole thing.

"It's going to be an awesome opportunity. And then we're on ESPN. So great audience for people to watch the game and, and then come home and get a home game the week after. So it's a great opportunity for us."

What do you remember about preparing for Mike Leach's offense when you were back at Kansas, what those weeks were like to prepare for them. And how much has their offense evolved or is it still a lot of the same principles?

"Yeah, we had four games with them when I was there. It's a tough offense. They were at Texas Tech at that time. They were in their sweet spot. They were playing really good.

"[Michael] Crabtree at receiver. I can't remember, Graham Harrell might have been the quarterback when we played against him. I can't remember if it was him, or I'm not sure, they were all just throwing for 5,000 yards every year.

"They could score, man. For us defensively? We had to do a lot. It's really like playing on third down on first and second down in a lot of ways. His passing game playbook's the same first down, second down third down except for short yardage. He can run his his run plays whenever he wants.

"But he does very, very good at what they do. They don't do a ton. There's not a ton of formations. There's really good understanding of spacing and timing in their offense and doing things after the catch with it. You have to be able to tackle in space, and I think their screen game is really underrated. I think their perimeter screens is no different than us running a stretch play. They get the ball out quick, so you can't get to the quarterback, and then there's lead blockers for a wide out. Can you shed blocks and tackle in space?

"I think he's got a great system. He understands ins and outs, and as a defensive coach, you've got to have answers. And you can't be one dimensional. You have to be able to do a lot of different things against them. Because if you sit in one thing, he can just pick you apart."

Drake Thomas looked like he looked like he was running around like a defensive back on Thursday night. And he doesn't seem as thick as he was last year. Is that true? Is that something he took on himself and then what do you like in those results?

"Yeah, Drake has changed his diet about nine months ago or so and really leaned out. He's, I couldn't give us exact weight, low or high 220, low 230 area, probably. But he's just body fat wise change that. I think coming out of last year, had the opportunity to do a lot of rehab from his shoulder, and he's in really good condition right now.

"And you're right, he looks great. He's playing fast. It's the best football game I've seen him play. I thought he was really elite Thursday night."

How hard is it to prepare for a team with an odd front when you don't know which gaps the pressure is going to come in? And how helpful is it to go against your ones on defense in scrimmage to help you prepare for Mississippi State?

"It helps you know, that we're 3-3-5 so there's a lot of carryover when you look at some of the coverage aspects, some of the pressures. So there are similarities there. With regard to the stunts, they do a lot of different run game stops and pass games stunts. Some are similar to ours, some aren't.

"You just got to practice them. I think it helps that we are a three down front now. It is getting them ready for what all those IDs are. But we'll have to get out there and simulate you know some of that stuff for the offense so they can get used to how it is, and we'll do some good on good so we can get our guys doing that for them."

Coach coming into the season, you talk about the depth you guys have in the secondary. Is this the week where that that that comes into play?

"Yeah, it will definitely test, not just our depth, but our conditioning. It's going to be a lot of running in the backend this week to be able to rotate when we need to. It'll be hot there. I'm sure at night, maybe not as hot, but it'll still be a warm night in Mississippi. We'll have to take advantage of that depth, and I'm glad we were able to play so many of those guys last week."

Chris Ingram said, he didn't really want a lot of drop off from the ones to the twos in the secondary because know, if those twos have to come in, they have to perform at the same level as the ones. What was your assessment of some of those reserve defensive backs play against South Florida?

"I think some of these guys we look at starters, even though they don't take the first snap. Like we generally, not just in the secondary, but you see that with our defensive front too.

"At corner right now you can see Derrek Pitts, or Chris Ingram, you can see Aydan White in the game. On the other side, you know, you can see Shy Battle in the game, or Teshaun Smith, and we look at any of those guys on the field of starters for us. There isn't a drop off, in our opinion.

"There's a drop off at the end of the game. We started putting some guys in the game that are not in that boat yet. They're still what I would consider developing. Joshua Pierre-Louis is a guy that comes in and does some good things, and then you can see the difference between him and Tyler at times on getting lined up. Tyler can line up faster than him. Those are little things that they come out.

"Jakeen played, and then Cyrus played equal reps. We looked at as both guys are going to help us. Same thing with the running back position.

"I think in general, when we put in younger players, you hear the volume of your communication go down. They're not as confident because they haven't played as much. So they don't speak as loud, they're not as quick. They're still processing information, while the others aren't. They're just putting it out there. They know what to do.

"And I think that's where it shows the most. I think we gave up 170 some yards after we put in kind of all the reserve, developmental players. Thankfully, they didn't give up a touchdown. It's valuable minutes, but there's some frustrating moments that goes with them."

With the play on Thursday, how did you handle the extra time lead up? Did you jump right in? Or do you try to give a little bit of time to regroup and get on a normal Monday, Saturday kind of schedule?

"We brought the team in on Friday and treated that like a Sunday. So watch the film with the guys, got them to put the game to bed, we call it, and moved on, gave them Saturday off to recover.

"Coaches went out and recruited on Friday. And then we were off Saturday as well, watched all the college football that we could and came back Sunday with a little bit of lead time because we didn't have to break down our game. It was already put the bed. So it allowed us to jump into Mississippi State as a staff on Sunday right away as opposed to breaking down our previous game, which we had done that on Friday.

"With the players, they'll be on the field like a normal week, but just with a little more rest in the front end of it."

I know you're focused on your team. When you're watching like Saturday, the ACC results come in, are you watching from any kind of conference perspective? Are you thinking we're gonna play Clemson and I'm staring at what Clemson is going to do later in the season? Can you do both? Or is it more strategic?

"It's hard for me to just watch a game and have fun watching it. I'm learning, I'm watching. I'm trying to put myself in the head coach's shoes right there. What would I have done in that scenario?

"Yeah, I'm always thinking about our conference. I want our conference to do well. But yeah, there's strategic things. There's also relaxation too, like, 'Hey, man, I don't have to deal with this fourth down decision right here.' I'm laughing So I'm having fun with it. It's relaxing. Try to not put any stress into my life that I don't need to, but I enjoyed it.

"There's a lot of really good football on on that Saturday. It was nice to watch Wisconsin-Penn State play. And then I watched the Mississippi State-LaTech game, which was another tight game. Watched the Georgia-Clemson game, another tight game. There's some really good football games on to watch.

When you're preparing for Mississippi State's offense, what kind of challenges to Jo'quavious Marks, the running back over there? What kind of challenges does he pose in the running game, the passing game and what he's able to do all over?

"He's a really good receiver for him out of the backfield. I think that's the first thing that you see. He's gifted catching the ball, and he's good at running it after the catch.

"He's quick enough he can run through there and quick enough to make you miss and as you know, they're spacing things out. So there's a lot of room in there. It's not like you're going to pack the box all day long and go one on one with the wide outs. He's going to have some lighter boxes to run into at times because you're covering stuff.

"Yeah, I mean he's definitely a guy that probably gets under the radar because how much they throw it. But he broke a lot of records there as a freshman running back with catches out of the backfield if I'm not mistaken.

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