North Carolina State University Athletics
Dave Doeren Press Conference - September 8
9/8/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Opening Statement:
Well, we're excited to start the season 2-0, get those first two games behind us and have the record that we do. I think a lot of people, regardless of who you're playing, at the end of two games would take being 2-0. Their aren't too many teams that are 2-0 right now. We saw a lot of things good and bad throughout the two weeks. We're definitely focusing on improvement.
Our run game is averaging six yards per carry, no turnovers and one penalty throughout the game. On offense, we averaged 6.6 yards on first down on offense. We were 3-for-3 in short yardage.
Defensively, we didn't tackle well. Mostly in the first half, is about as bad as I've seen us tackle. We're definitely going to work on that this week. Because we tackled so well in week one, I was surprised to see that from our guys. To say the least, we'll make a big point about it tomorrow. They're a prideful group and they'll bounce back and play better. They need too. We have to play with better technique in the front, the D-line, linebackers and safeties when they are in the pit. We locked a lot of people out, which is what we want to do, but we didn't shed. Shock and shed is a principle that is about beating blocks and getting to the ball is something you have to do, particularly against a spread team. Most of their pass plays were run blocking schemes with passes to the outside. There is a lot of stress in those offensive systems and our guys have to beat blocks. I felt like our corners, nickels and strong safeties improved in coverage in this game. From the free safety position, there was some good and bad. It was good to get [Germaine] Pratt in there. I know we there were some tackles that Hakim Jones usually makes, he is usually a sure tackler for us. I thought Dravious Wright played his best game and Josh Jones is playing a lot better. Jack Tocho is playing with a lot of confidence right now and Juston Burris.
We didn't play the way we were capable of playing defensively. We did a good job for the second week in a row of stopping them at the end. Big thing on defense is we need to tackle better and play in there backfield more, I don't think we're having enough tackles for loss with the players we have up front.
We had a great second half for the second straight week and an even better fourth quarter. We were physical. I thought our runners and catchers were physical with the football in their hands and made people miss. That's a mindset, that's a demeanor and an attitude that I've been waiting for our team to have that we've been getting better at. We aren't where we need to be, but we're getting better at it.
Now, we get to take our first road trip. We get to play in a great stadium, a pro stadium in Tampa. We're excited to go play on the road with this football team. It's a young team, it's our first road trip. To be able to go to a place like that, it's a great venue.
They have a great tailback in Marlon Mack and a great receiver in Andre Davis. I'm not sure what his status is for this week. He didn't play last week, but he was their team MVP a year ago. He's a really good receiver.
They're a pro style offense. There head coach is a very good coach, he turned around Western Kentucky's program. He coached with Jim Harbaugh. He's been with some really good coaches. They're going to be physical on offense.
Defensively, they have forced nine turnovers in two weeks which might be the best in the country. They're very long and play good defense. They are gap sound, they have strong defensive linemen that get off blocks. We're going to have a great challenge this week with our offensive line.
Their kicker is a Lou Groza finalist, so we know they'll have a chance to make kicks once they get into the red zone. We got to do a good job of tackling protections.
We're excited about the opportunity. One thing we haven't done well is play well on the road, so that's one thing that I'm geared up to go change. It's a challenge to do it. In college football, the best teams are the ones that play well at home and on the road. That's going to be our mantra for this week is to go take our focus on the road and be able to play four quarters of football somewhere else.
On what makes a team successful on the road:
Well, I think we were beating ourselves on the road and at home last year. With all of the changes that we made to our lineup, the issues we had at quarterback. We turned the ball over a lot. We had a lot of young guys playing at receiver a year ago that had penalties. They had a formational penalties last year that aren't happening anymore.
Maryland had six turnovers on Saturday and won at USF, which is miracle. We can't turn the ball over, especially on the road. The game we just played, we had no turnovers and one penalty. You're going to be in every game if you play like that every game. We got to play like that on the road. I think part of that is having leadership on your team to keep the guys locked in and focused. The fans will be yelling at you instead of cheering for you. We have to block that out. We didn't do that well last year, the year before that they didn't do that well. For us to take another step, we need to be winning on the road. That is a great challenge for us this week.
On emphasizing tackling in practice and avoiding injuries:
Anytime you play against a spread team, if you tackle well, you played well on defense. When you don't, you don't play well. There are going to be a lot of big plays in space in those types of games. We do tackling drills in practice, whether we're taking him down or working on footwork. On full padded days, you can take the guys to the ground. DB's work on sideline tackling, open field tackling drills and back shoulder tackle on a quarterback so you don't lose contain. To be honest, it's taking those details from a practice setting and going into the team period even though it's not in a live setting and going to the thud like it was going to be a live tackle. Those are habits you have to create in your defenders in practice. You don't have to take people to the ground to get good at tackling, you have to play full speed to the thud. A lot of times in practice, you'll see DB's run over and slow down a few yards away. That's a bad habit, we want guys to run and get to full balance like they're going to hit him and then go by his back hip.
We're a young defense. The biggest disappointment was our older players that tackled poorly. That shouldn't have happened. It did. It was all in the first half, probably three-fourths of those tackles were in the first half.
On impressions of Jacoby Brissett so far:
He stays in the zone. In the spring he was doing too much, but now he's doing what he's coached. He's reading pre-snap coverage, distributing the football. Last week he didn't put our defense in a bad situation and he made some plays with his feet, which was great to see. He had a couple of 10+ yard runs on his own. If he can manage the game and be accurate like he's been he'll have a good season.
On USF's quarterback situation:
They had a competition going into training camp, so I know the kid that's playing, [Steven] Bench. He visited here when he transferred from Penn State. He's an athletic guy. He was a really good runner in high school. I think a lot of him. I know he'll be geared up to play against us, since he visited us last year. He's a good athlete with a strong arm. Being at Penn State and being at USF now, he's been coached by some good coaches. I'm sure he's excited about his opportunity.
On philosophy on the road:
I've done it a lot of different ways. I'm just going to tell them, `Hey guys, here's the reality of what we're doing.' For us, I think it's just focusing more on what we control, not worrying about the things we have nothing to do with. We did not do a good job of that a year ago. That's the goal this week, to get them ready. With our team being so young, I think we need to focus on our individual players and having our leaders step up.
On Pharoah McKever earning significant playing time this weekend:
Game one, with all of the triple-option stuff, we felt like that was a lot with Pharoah. We knew that spread teams, like the one we just played, would be more up his alley. He's very athletic. He's a great pass rushes, he's got long arms. He's the one guy that consistently got off blocks Saturday. Coach Nielson does a great job of seeing production on the film or on the playing field and letting the hot guys play.
On generating more takeaways:
In the first game, we forced four fumbles. I thought we had great contact in tackling in the first game. That's why week two is so disappointing. We saw guys having good contact, balls flying around. Sometimes when you force fumbles, they're going to come right back to the other team. If you keep doing it, you're eventually going to get them. Part of it is tackling. Also, it's maximizing opportunities. We just have to keep working at it. Turnovers come in bunches.
On the offensive line:
This week is their biggest challenge so far. In two weeks, we've given up two tackles for loss in the run game and two sacks. Two of the tackles for loss were on screen plays, so they've done a good job of keeping people out of our backfield and letting our playmakers make plays. They've got a challenge. I think South Florida's defensive front is really good. Their outside linebackers are really good rushers. It's going to be a great challenge for our front.
