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

Defensive line coach Charley Wiles, in his first season in Raleigh after many years at Virginia Tech, whom the Pack plays on Saturday, said you can go up I-77 or I-20 on the way to Blacksburg from Raleigh. Wiles noted he enjoyed recruiting North Carolina while he was at Virginia Tech.

He listed redshirt sophomore linebacker Payton Wilson, sophomore linebacker Drake Thomas, sophomore defensive end Savion Jackson, junior nose tackle Alim McNeill and redshirt freshman corner Shyheim Battle as among the guys that they actively recruited at Virginia Tech who are now at NC State.

• Wiles, known for making funny jokes, said that there is time to work and time to have fun. He got into coaching for the relationships and so that the players can enjoy their experiences.

• He joked that fifth-year senior Val Martin thinks he’s funny, when asked who had the best sense of humor on the line. Wiles adds that redshirt freshman C.J. Clark is another who is funny.

• Wiles was pleased with Saturday considering the circumstances leading up to the opener, dating back to the spring. He quickly learned early in the offseason that his Zoom meetings were way too long.

The interruption in fall camp stopped the momentum they were having. That pause was disruptive and forced them to have only one scrimmage in the preseason ahead of playing a fast-tempo Wake Forest offense.

Wiles was happy with how many defensive linemen they were able to roll out and use their depth against Wake Forest. There are things they have to improve, and the challenge is to make those corrections.

• One thing Penn State grad transfer defensive end Daniel Joseph has done is prove he plays extremely hard.

• Wiles hope is stay healthy and keep the depth as is, allowing the rotation to add up the reps and show the improvements.

• He felt that in the second half they were recognizing the pass protection Wake Forest was using, and the secondary was picking up on the quick passes better. The best part was that the team was well-conditioned for four quarters.

• A key to victory is winning the line of scrimmage. Wiles noted they ran the football successfully on offense, and the goal on defense was to hold Wake to 3.0 per rush or lower. The Deacons were at 3.0. He gave Wake Forest’s running backs credit for bouncing a few runs outside, but otherwise Wiles was pretty pleased.

• Junior Alim McNeill is very hard to handle for offensive linemen. Wiles said that McNeill will be a nose tackle in the NFL, and McNeill is a smart player that gives him a real knack for the position. Wiles joked he is not spilling the beans on anything, McNeill’s dominance is on video.

Wake Forest put two linemen on McNeill all night and at times even had three on him in pass protection.

• Wake Forest being in obvious pass at the end of the game, and McNeill’s presence inside, allowed the Pack’s pass rushers to make plays one-on-one.

• Wiles is really proud of his career at Virginia Tech and what they accomplished. He was happy to raise his children in Blacksburg, and he has a lot of pride in his time there. But his career is now in Raleigh. Obviously, he knows a lot of the players there, but it’s about NC State’s defensive line now. He wants to stay at NC State for the next 10-15 years.

He admits he is personally happy that there will not be fans there which will keep it about the football game Saturday. He noted Lane Stadium is not an easy place to play.

• Wiles has been at Carter-Finley Stadium on the other side, and he said it’s a very similar environment to Lane.

• Wiles played for Frank Beamer, but “Beamer Ball” really developed in Blacksburg.

Dave Doeren said it could not have gone much better on offense Saturday, and he called it a tribute to offensive coordinator Tim Beck and his staff. Doeren noted that Beck was not able to use spring ball to evaluate his roster, so it was more than just the pause and quarantine issues.

• Doeren expected a four-quarter game against WFU. He wasn’t sure how much the element of surprise would play out early. A lot depended on the quarterback, and redshirt junior Bailey Hockman got into a rhythm early.

• It is a unique year in which a lot of guys will be looked at like starters. Eventually, redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary is going to be on the field. It’s just a matter of time, and that is the case at every position. Both quarterbacks are going to keep working and trying to get better.

“It’s a long year, man,” Doeren said.

• Junior running back Ricky Person Jr. made that jump pass throw work all week in practice, which allowed Beck to have faith on gameday to make that call.

Doeren later added it was a great catch by redshirt sophomore Devin Carter. Carter’s mom was beaming to get a chance to see it in person. Fifth-year senior tight end Thomas Ruocchio’s father did a great thing with the petition and it made a difference.

Doeren called allowing parents to attend the game the right thing to do.

• Beck has a lot of gadget plays that get banked through camp. A lot depends on how the other team plays defense and whether the circumstances of the game allow it.

• It was great to play a game, but it’s hard to beat what you have on gameday with all the fans. He looks forward to havinng it back to normal whenever it happens.

• Beck has a blend of a lot of coaches in him, and Doeren’s sure there’s a lot of Tom Herman, some Urban Meyer, etc. What Doeren likes is Beck picks from the things he learned along the way to fit the players that they have. Doeren really enjoys how well Beck uses the personnel.

• The DNA of what they want is to be is being very physical on both sides of the ball. He thoughts that it was a joint effort in running the football — linemen, tight ends, wide receivers.

• Person had great attention to detail on that first play of the game. It was not designed to be a lateral, but it was forced into one on a nice play call by Wake Forest. Person knew to jump on the ball and prevent a turnover.

• The three running backs want to make plays and win, and they understood why the carries were divided up. Doeren noted there are guys that are not ready to be out there for 60 plays after the quarantines.

Doeren thinks that redshirt sophomore Trent Pennix and redshirt freshman Delbert Mimms will both play at some point at running back, as well.

• The bottles of syrup for pancakes is for fun and not exclusive for offensive linemen.

• The move of sophomore Ikem Ekwonu from left tackle to left guard was to get the best five on the line. Ekwonu is a special player who can play either tackle or guard. It’s going to be a big week for Ekwonu because Virginia Tech has some good interior defensive linemen.

• Defending Wake Forest is hard because of how up-tempo they play, and the fact is the defense was out there for 90 plays. They stayed in shape when they were not on campus, and then they had the want-to on Saturday.

• Doeren said it had been too long between having their postgame celebration.

• The hard part of preparing for Virginia Tech is they don’t know who is going to be on the field for them. Wiles and cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell have been helpful in that, but Doeren adds that there is a new defensive coordinator at Virginia Tech.

• Once the game gets going you forget about no fans are there, but you do feel it in the pregame.

• Adam Clark and Pete Roley, who handle operations for the football team,do a phenomenal job planning for the road trip. Eight buses will be going up. Doeren noted he likes a road trip.

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