Sep 27 (Sat)
12:00 AM
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NC State head coach Dave Doeren
Opening Statement
We talked about confidence all week. Wake (Forest) is a team that wants to play a four-quarter game. They’re built to control the ball and keep their defense off the field and grind you out. We felt if we could get a lead we could make them beat us left handed, per say, and so we had a good plan to get a good lead and it worked. Other than giving up some yards from a penalty stand point, we did a good job.
On WR Stephen Louis:
It starts with how hard he works. He’s a bigger receiver, so dimensionally you like that. But the work ethic that he has, not just on the football field- the way he trains, the way he’s over here watching film, the way he’s catching extra balls. You can’t be that talented and work that hard and not play well. I knew it was just a matter of time for him. He wants the ball and he plays so hard without the ball too. Jaylen Samuels did really well with that today too. He had a great game without the ball, which is something we’ve challenged him to do. Those guys are playing for each other.
On the Wolfpack defense:
Shawn (Boone) will be out for the first half [next game] I assume, for the ejection he had. Dexter Wright is back, so today was his first day of live contact since he hurt his shoulder in camp. As far as Josh [Jones] he’s playing hard, he made that tackle inside the 10 on that kickoff which is Shawn Boone’s spot and he made that play, so he’s playing with a lot of effort and energy, so it’s fun to watch.
On QB Ryan Finley:
He’s just continuing to do what coach is asking him to do. His players are making plays. I’m proud of, first of all his preparation is incredible. That’s the one part nobody gets to see, but he’s over here every night after he’s done with his academics talking to coach, going through the film. He’s all in on it and it shows. He is getting better and better at knowing the players around him. I think that’s the one thing that people don’t understand. When you transfer its hard. You don’t really know the guys. He’s gotten to know these players and, to his credit, he has taken advantage of the chemistry that is being created with certain players on offense.
Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson
Congratulations to NC State. I thought they outplayed us today. I thought it was critical that we get off to a fast start. Once again, we didn’t. For whatever reason, we never start well against these guys. Before you know it, It was 17-0 at the quarter.
To give credit to our guys, we did battle back. We made it a 10-point, two possession game in the fourth quarter. I thought our guys competed hard. I think it comes down to they made a lot of explosive plays. They did a good job on the perimeter. We did not get off of perimeter blocks. We did not tackle well on the perimeter. The ball got over our head a few times. Offensively, we were just awful in the red zone. We got down there I think four times and we kicked three field goals.
For us to beat NC State we have to score more touchdowns. I think if we scored more touchdowns it would’ve been a different game. They stopped us when they had to. They are a good football team.