NC State coach Dave Doeren had an emotional press conference about a wide-range of topics, but the most important one was the shooting at University of Virginia late Sunday night.
Virginia’s football and academic community is reeling when former walk-on running back Christopher Jones allegedly killed three Virginia players while on a bus, and two other players were taken to the hospital. Jones, who was on the 2018 UVA roster and from Petersburg (Va.) High, was caught Monday morning.
Junior wide receiver Level Davis Jr. of Dorchester (S.C.) Woodland High, junior wide receiver Devin Chandler of Cornelius (N.C.) Hough High and junior linebacker D’Sean Perry of Miami (Fla.) Gulliver Prep were pronounced dead. Chandler and Perry died on the bus and Davis at the hospital.
Junior running back Mike Hollins of Baton Rouge (La.) University Lab and student Marlee Morgan were wounded in the shooting.
“This is terrible news,” Doeren said. “It’s really a challenging situation for their school. Hateful people, just a lot of evil out there. I hope everyone can pray for them and help them through this.”
Doeren likely has numerous connections to the Virginia tragedy. However, two are obvious. He offered Chandler at Cornelius (N.C.) Hough High. Former wide receivers coach George McDonald, now at Illinois, was the point man for Wolfpack.
Chandler ended up picking Wisconsin and then transferring to Virginia. Chandler played with NC State redshirt freshman safety Sean Brown at Hough, along with former Wolfpack cornerback Mario Love, who transferred to North Carolina A&T.
NC State Rivals saw Chandler and Hough play against NCSU junior wide receiver Porter Rooks and Charlotte Myers Park, and previously interviewed him after being offered by the Wolfpack.
Doeren also worked with Virginia offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Des Kitchings from 2013-2019 at NC State. Kitchings had worked under Tom O’Brien in 2012 at NC State, and O’Brien has was a long-time assistant coach at Virginia (1982-96 and 2013-14).
“Football and coaching is a brotherhood, and we definitely are here alongside them and support them and suffer with them,” Doeren said.
The Virginia tragedy put the loss vs. Boston College in perspective, but falling 21-20 to the Eagles on Saturday still stung a lot. After analyzing the pass inference call against NC State junior outside linebacker Drake Thomas since the game ended, the conclusion was clear to Doeren.
“The play that they ran, we practice [against it] all week,” Doeren said. “Drake Thomas made the play in practice all week. He knew the play was coming and I thought he made a terrific play.
“His timing, he broke on the football and had both arms extended. I thought he beat the receiver to the spot. He did everything we would ask him to do.”
Doeren sent the play in to the ACC office, which the Wolfpack do on a weekly basis with certain plays. Doeren said he can't comment on what the ACC communicates to him.
Doeren and the Wolfpack couldn’t have scripted a better start to the game in racing out to a 14-0 lead.
“After those two drives, we had a hard time scoring,” Doeren said.
Doeren lamented going for it on fourth and goal at the one-yard line and having BC blow up the quarterback run for a loss. Doeren credited the Eagles nose guard for making the key play.
“I thought we called a good play and we didn’t block it well,” Doeren said. “That is a play that should have scored because we had enough blockers at the point of attack.”
Turning ahead to Louisville at 3:30 p.m. Saturday won’t be the easiest, but the Wolfpack have been resilient in recent years, not allowing one loss to affect the team’s effort in the ensuing game. The Cardinals could be playing without starting quarterback Malik Cunningham, who hurt his shoulder, and also has an injured hand. He tried to brace himself on a fall against Clemson before halftime. The Cardinals fell 31-16 to the Tigers and carry a 6-4 record and 3-4 in the ACC.
Doeren said the players have Monday off, and then they’ll discuss the Virginia tragedy Tuesday morning and game plan for Louisville.
“We have a lot on our plate,” Doeren said. “There is a lot going on right now, but that’s the world we are in.”
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