NC State coach Dave Doeren discussed senior quarterback Grayson McCall's concussion and the "what if's" about the 34-30 loss against Wake Forest last Saturday.
NC State (3-3) hosts Syracuse (4-1) at 8 p.m. Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium on the ACC Network.
Here is a transcription of Doeren's opening statement.
Opening statement:
“Recapping the game, like I said after, I was very proud of how we responded after a really tough moment with [senior] Grayson's [McCall] injury. In reflection, probably 30 years of being on a college field, the scariest moment I've had, and felt so bad for him and his parents. I thought our trainer, Justin Smith, our head athletic trainer, did an amazing job on that field with his team and the docs managing the chaos at the moment, keeping everybody calm. Did a tremendous job, you know.
“After the game, when information was coming back on how everything was going, communication was great. Got to spend time with Grayson and his family at the hospital after the game. All the scans and things they did came back clean. He was in good spirits, has been released. Actually, Saturday night was released, with his girlfriend and his parents recovering.
“He's in the concussion protocol, and we'll give him time to go through all the steps that he wants to go through before we talk anymore about kind of what the next steps are. I think it's only fair to him and his family to allow them that opportunity and be supportive of him as he goes through this tough time. Thankful that he is, for the most part, OK. It's just a concussion.
“When you see a guy get hit in college football or in pro football in the head, it's one thing. But when the helmet comes off and then he gets hit, that's another. That was a really weird thing. I don't think there was any malicious intent. There was a clean hit from the side when his helmet came off and the other player coming in. That's a tough play.
“A lot of people have asked me about the play. Was it targeting? Wasn't it? I'm not here to criticize our officials at all. I do think that the rule probably needs to be studied. The letter of the law that rule, he was not a defenseless player as a runner. If you hit somebody with the crown of your head or you launch yourself into somebody's head with the crown of your head, that's targeting. In that particular case, it was the front of the guy's helmet that actually hit Grayson.
“Obviously, when you see a play like that, you think, ‘Why does it matter what part of the head hits him at all?’ Scary moment. Talked to him on the phone a little bit ago. He's in good spirits. He's excited to be back around the team. And we'll go through all the proper steps with him and be there right behind him. When I was talking to him at the hospital, we were talking about the play itself. He hadn't seen it. His dad and mom were in the room. He said, ‘Coach, I thought about sliding. Then I said, no, I'm not doing that.’ He just has given the game so much. He's such a competitor. He's such a warrior. I know myself and everybody around here, we are pulling hard for him. It's just not what you expected in the game.
“Turning from that event to our sideline, seeing our guys and how emotional they were, because in the moment, wasn't even thinking about the rest of the guys, thinking about him. Like, ‘Dang, how are we going to get these guys back on track here? This is tough.’ It was. There was a lot of tears on our sideline. I was proud that we got back in the game. [Freshman quarterback] C.J. Bailey came in and did a really nice job. Didn't get a lot of reps last week as a backup. You never get as many as the starter.
“Then the disappointment is that we didn't finish. Really disappointed in that. It's something we take a lot of pride in as a program. And had plenty of opportunities in the fourth quarter, really 10 minutes left in the game, 10-point lead. Multiple, multiple times, plays presented themselves to us that we could have got off the field defensively or made a play defensively or a third and three on offense, where we don't protect the way that we're capable of. Just felt like we didn't finish. That was disappointing. Really disappointing as a coach. And so I own that, as always. I got to get our team to finish better. Our players will own that as well. They got to finish.
“I’m proud of C.J. this team will battle for him. I thought [sophomore running back] Kendrick Raphael really battled in that game, ran hard, protected well. Our outside receivers continued to improve. I thought Noah Rodgers and Wesley Grimes, Terrell Anderson, Keenan Jackson, all caught the ball well and did some things with their legs after the catch. [Junior tight end] Justin Joly did the same. Made a really nice play on third down and strained for a first. We ended up scoring on that drive and had the touchdown later in the game.
“Negatives, we had two turnovers that we forced on defense that we got zero points out of offensively in the third quarter. We opened the third quarter. We scored right before the half. Knowing we'd get the ball back to open the third quarter, I thought, ‘All right, we can get some momentum here’ and didn't — went three and out. So that was a disappointing drive.
“We got beat in protection on some critical spots. We had some guys wide open on a couple plays, and C.J. got rushed and couldn't get the ball to him. We had K.C. [sophomore receiver Kevin Concepcion] on a screen and go. Then on that third and three, we had a high-low route, and he couldn't throw the ball to him. We got to be better. It wasn't just on the O-Line. There was two on running backs and then on the O-Line. We got to be better in those moments.
“On defense, we got two takeaways, and then we had a couple strips we didn't capitalize on. One of them was one of the plays I'm mentioning. [Redshirt freshman nickel Tamarcus] Cooley does a great job stripping the quarterback. Ball's right there, and three of our players are there, one of theirs, and they get the ball back. That would have ended the game.
“I thought our DBs played man-to-man coverage very well in the game Didn't make enough plays when we were in zone defense. Obviously, they out-jumped us for one in the corner of the end zone on a third and 10, which is a play we need to make. We had poor eyes at linebacker a couple times on play action, and then the roughing penalty was a critical error.
“We were really good on third down defensively, eight of 11 successfully. We were 0 for three on fourth down, and those were all in the fourth quarter. Our special teams was really kind of a wash in the game. We were three of four on field goals. I think our punter is better than he showed. He had one extremely good punt. They called us for being in the backfield, which I don't see on film, which hurt his average. He did have a shanked punt earlier in the game, and their punter did as well. Really, the special teams were not a factor for either team in that game, and in the past, they have been. Now we move on.
“We're at the halfway point of the season, 3-3, obviously not where we want to be, but we have a lot to play for, and excited about the next opportunity with Syracuse. They're a 4-1 team coming off an overtime win on the road at UNLV. Really good quarterback in Kyle McCord, obviously a nationally known guy from Ohio State. Really good arm, poised, experienced. He's won a lot of games.
“The receivers have a lot of experience. [Trebor] Pena is a guy we've seen for a long time, and he's a good returner as well. [Oronde] Gadsden was out last year, but the year before we played him, and he made a lot of plays on us, and receiver No. 7, [Jackson] Meeks. The running back, [LeQuint] Allen, is an experienced back, and they get the ball to him in a lot of ways.
“They're putting up really good numbers on offense, particularly in the air, and will be a great challenge and opportunity for us. Defensively, they play a lot of different things. They've been four down. They've been three down. Some the entire game. Sometimes they do both in the game, so there's a lot, really, two systems that they're merging.
“No 10, [Fadil] Diggs, is a disruptive player, plays defensive end and linebacker, has eight TFLs and four sacks. They're big up front, really big D-Line, a lot of experienced nine guys in their defensive depth chart that have been starters at one time. Pena, like I mentioned, is a really dynamic returner.
“Excited to have our night game at home. We've had three straight home or Noon games. I know from a crowd standpoint, we've always had great energy in our night games. We'll be in our all-black uniform and hope that we have an incredible crowd. You know, with our fans, I know all of us wanted better than 3-3. Trust me, no one's more disappointed than me and our players, but I also know NC State's about fighting and not giving up, and that's where we're at. We've been in worse situations and rallied and had really good finishes, and that's what we're going to try to do.
“We've got six games, six opportunities. We'll take them all one at a time. We'll work our butts off. A lot to play for, a lot to fight for. I know it's frustrating. I feel your pain, but I know one thing about this school. We don't quit. We dig in and fight, and we stick together, and that's what I'm asking for with our fans. We need your help in this game.
“Crowd noise matters at home. You're playing a team that throws the ball on the road, and having you behind us would mean a lot.”
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