NC State Wolfpack football head coach Dave Doeren met with the media on Wednesday via Zoom, the new go-to format in today’s COVID-19-influenced world.
The eighth-year Pack leader discussed the fallout from having to pause football for eight days after an outbreak that impacted the football program.
We analyze the highlights of what he said in this News & Views format:
NEWS: There is not much clarity on what would cause the postponement or cancellation of a game. Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente reportedly expressed some frustration Wednesday over the issue. The Hokies-Wolfpack contest was moved from Sept. 12 to 26 after NC State’s outbreak.
DOEREN: “I think it's more about position decimation than it is about numbers. When you end up where you don't have a position group that can function that's a bigger problem maybe than having 11 guys where it's one in every position group. If you lose seven of your eight offensive linemen that you travel with, then you're not going to be able to play. Whereas, if you lose seven guys, [but it's] one from each [position] group, you are.”
VIEWS: This could become the de facto position of what forces changes in the schedule. Doeren would note in a radio interview with Adam Gold conducted later Wednesday that it would be impossible to play a game if your offensive line, for instance, has been wiped out.
It’s interesting that Doeren used the offensive line comparison twice. When talking with Gold, he noted it’s difficult to cross-train another position with the offensive line unless you happened to have a defensive lineman that played offensive line in high school.
Regardless, the Big 12 has set the minimum number of available players in order to play at 53, but even if the ACC adopts a similar position the more realistic scenario is probably position-specific.
NEWS: Much of the discussion during the Zoom call centered around contact tracing procedures and how that, more than positive cases, has disrupted practices as much as anything.
In recent times, half of NC State's roster has been out of practice. The Wolfpack resumed team activities Monday, but it has only been easing back in after eight days off. The first practice was helmets only.
DOEREN: “Like I said, it’s quarantining that’s getting a lot of the guys. [Half the team out of practice is] a real number. The dorm got us early when the campus had all the students back in the dorms. A lot of the dorm guys got quarantined, and so that’s a lot of players. That’s 33 guys that live in that dorm, so that’s a big chunk of people.”
VIEWS: Earlier in the Zoom, Doeren confirmed what was previously found to be true in studies done at Miami and Virginia Tech — that there is not as much extended contact at practice. Doeren said it’s off the field where there have been issues, citing the specific dorm example above.
Thus the true challenge and perhaps the biggest obstacle facing ACC teams this fall: finding a way to isolate players so that a few cases don't multiply into an extensive amount of players out in quarantine.
NEWS: There was some actual football talk on Wednesday, with Doeren noting that they had a successful scrimmage on Saturday that went back-and-forth as opposed to when the affair is typically dominated by one side of the ball.
Doeren also went into detail about the depth chart at quarterback after starter redshirt sophomore Devin Leary and a standout on defense at the scrimmage.
DOEREN: “[Redshirt junior] Bailey Hockman is our second quarterback right now and then it’ll be [freshman] Ben Finley.”
“[Sophomore] Rakeim Ashford, the safety that transferred in here, had a really good day defensively. He had a lot of nice tackles, a big pass breakup, an interception. So he did some nice things in the scrimmage that day as well.”
VIEWS: Finley, the younger brother of former Pack three-year starter Ryan Finley, arrived in the spring and has made a quick impression on new offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Tim Beck. Beck told The Wolfpacker in an interview over the summer that he was excited about the Phoenix native.
“Ben’s going to be a good player,” Beck said. “Ben is very reactionary. He can’t really tell you what he’s doing or why he’s doing it, but he does the right thing.”
The development on Ashford would be a particularly positive one if it holds. Depth at safety was perhaps the biggest question mark on the defense entering preseason camp. Ashford was a late addition after he decided to bypass a sophomore season at Jones College in Ellisville, Miss., where he was an all-conference performer as a freshman in a strong JuCo league, and enrolled at NC State shortly before camp began.
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