Here is a recap from this week's Dave Doeren radio show, recorded live on Tuesday on NC State Wolfpack football's Facebook page.

Former Duke offensive coordinator Kurt Roper, who is now NC State’s running backs coach, starts the show. His younger brother, Zac Roper, is on the Duke staff as its current QB coach/offensive coordinator.

“I don’t know if I’ve lost to my little brother in anything, so I don’t want to start now,” Roper joked.

• There were family discussions of generalities about football, but the two brothers avoided specifics this year because they knew they were playing each other, even on the original schedule.

• Roper and his wife believe the Triangle area is “the best place we’ve ever lived,” and Roper noted how he and his brother live a few houses down and their children play with each other.

• Duke head coach David Cutcliffe is Roper’s mentor, and what Cutcliffe taught him the most is that every rep and practice needs to be at the speed of the game so that when Saturday comes around nothing is a surprise.

• Roper’s father was also a coach, and Roper always wanted to be like his father. So, he always knew that he wanted to be a college coach.

“There was a lot of football discussed and learned growing up, and it’s all I wanted to do,” Roper added.

• Roper was with Cutcliffe for so long, he really just knew one system. When he left for Florida, it was using the same system. After that, Roper has had to learn three new systems since then.

It was very difficult to learn the Cleveland Browns’ offense, the first time he did some different. Now it’s easier to adjust because he has been in more schemes, so it was not a hard transition for him when Tim Beck came on the Wolfpack staff.

• There are violent defensive players that want to take the football away from you, so the number one focus and responsibility of the running backs is ball security.

• The team's running backs are smart football players that study the game.

“They are a lot of fun to coach,” Roper said.

• Roper told the running backs is that he looks at each of their individual runs separately. He noted for instance that junior Ricky Person Jr. had far less yards than sophomore Zonovan Knight on Saturday, but some of Person’s runs were “unbelievable runs.”

Sophomore Jordan Houston got a triple-plus for hanging onto the football on the option. Roper noted it was a minus-play for NC State, but a great individual play by Houston.

• The running backs are a close group.

“Those guys care about each other,” Roper said.

He noted that they all want more touches, just like every skill player on offense.

• Each defense they play is different. How they format runs may be more productive in some games than others. Roper though preaches to the running backs that they have to read their keys, get to the line of scrimmage and be their own blocker because you cannot wait for every block to be made.

• They take a lot of pride in pass protecting. That’s one of three goals for each game, along with protecting the football and making plays. The running backs are motivated to play beyond college football, and to play in the NFL you have to be good pass protectors.

Officials don’t let you do much celebrating on the field, so they have been looking for ways to have fun on the sideline, especially for the defense to celebrate. Hence, the dog bone for the turnovers came up while brainstorming.

The hope was to create disruption and havoc to get turnovers, but Doeren joked the dog bone was what was needed to finally get some in a game.

• Several things have changed on defense since Virginia Tech. Guys have gotten reps and better, especially in the secondary, and having redshirt sophomore linebacker Payton Wilson back helps.

Doeren also credits defensive coordinator Tony Gibson for mixing it up in coverage and moving guys around. Both Doeren and Gibson were disappointed after the Virginia Tech game, and Gibson deserves credit for sitting down and fixing it.

• NC State leads the ACC in passes defended, and Doeren noted some of those are dropped interceptions. The new secondary coaches, all three of them, have done a nice job building confidence.

“That’s a huge key,” Doeren noted. He added that players were, at times, previously afraid to try to make a play in fear of a pass interference penalty.

• All three wins this season were different, and Doeren noted that in addition to the defense, the special teams deserves credit for playing a big role in the win at Virginia.

“That’s the complementary football that we need to have,” Doeren said.

• Redshirt junior punter Trenton Gill’s kickoffs were excellent. Doeren noted that Gill did a great job of getting a high snap down on the missed 51-yard field goal. Gill has really been trying to improve on pinning the punts inside the 20, and this was a turning point game for him in that regard.

• Doeren thought Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong was a little confused by NC State’s defense. They made it an emphasis to stop the run and make Armstrong beat them with his arm. Doeren felt that NC State also handled the size of the Virginia receivers fairly well.

• The coach liked that junior safety Tanner Ingle was able to hang out on the sideline after being ejected for targeting. It’s hard when tackling the sliding player, but Ingle has to learn how to do that better.

• Junior defensive tackle Alim McNeill had his best week of practice before the Virginia game.

• NC State has had a lot of growth, but there is a lot more in front of them. He is very proud of the players for the way they have handled the challenges so far.

• Redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary and the offense got behind the chains in the third quarter due to penalties. They have to help Leary out by not hurting themselves, but Doeren also felt that they got a little conservative and tight and trying to not mistakes.

• Doeren doesn’t think the wet conditions factored into the passing game. Beck was put into a tough spot calling plays when you had first and 20, for instance.

• Noted they brought a military group in the offseason to help build chemistry and leadership. This team really embraced the program. The coaches said in their first team meeting in January that the chemistry and competition had to be different.

All the subsequent accountability in quarantine were done by leaders on the team and it stemmed from that program.

• Freshman receiver Porter Rooks has been consistent, but they have been waiting to see him be more aggressive. That’s the normal progression in a freshman.

• They went hard in practice Tuesday. Took some time to get used to the wet grass, but as it went on there was a lot of energy and physicality.

“It’s more about the energy and the attitude, and that was fantastic today,” Doeren said.

• As an assistant coach, Doeren used to be in charge of punt return team, so he likes to work with Todd Goebbel in it. They have forced three timeouts this year with the punt return team on the field, in addition to the block on Saturday.

They also have a valuable returner deep in Thayer Thomas.

• Last season they turned it over a lot. They talk a lot about turning ball security drills into a habit. They train everyone, including the offensive linemen, on ball security, and they even all stretch with the football in their hands.

“When we take care of the football, we win a lot of games. It’s something we got to make a staple this season and every season after,” Doeren said.

• Duke has turned it over 19 times this year, and that’s why they are 1-4. He knows Cutcliffe and his assistants are great coaches, and Doeren can relate to what they are going through. Without the turnovers, Duke would have a lot different record, and NC State knows that.

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