North Carolina State University Athletics
Defensive Turnaround. "It All Started In Practice."
9/29/2024 3:17:00 PM | Football
NC State remained unbeaten at Carter-Finley Stadium this season with a 24-17 win over a Northern Illinois team that won at Notre Dame in early September.
It was a return to the kind of defense that has become a recent staple of the program and a slogan to live by; HARD, TOUGH, TOGETHER.
What you saw on Saturday took shape earlier in the week in meetings and practices. There was a heightened temperament, tone and intensity that led to the Wolfpack's third win of the year.
"They were challenged on how to practice," said head coach Dave Doeren. "Coach [Tony] Gibson did a tremendous job getting the defensive kids on edge. They played hard."
"It all started in practice," Linebacker Caden Fordham explained. "We turned that up this week. We never like getting our pride tested. That's a big thing we stand by here at NC State, playing tough football. We came out and did that today."
Fordham, who had a career-high 14 stops, led a trio of tacklers who reached double digits. Sean Brown set a new career-high with 12 tackles and captain Davin Vann had a career-best 10 stops.Â
Vann set the tone on the very first play with one of his 3.5 tackles for a loss. The Pack's defense entered the game with only 15 stops behind the line of scrimmage in four games. They recorded 12 against the run-oriented Huskies. Their four sacks matched the season total.
A good test of "football manhood" is how you attack an opponent's run game. Northern Illinois fields a run-first offense, entering the game averaging 222 yards per game, 23rd best in the nation.
The Pack's defense held the Huskies 100 yards under their average and a big reason why was how they set the edge.Â
So what is that?
On running plays outside the tackles, those outside defenders either make the tackle or try and force the runner back inside for awaiting linebackers and defensive linemen to make the stop. Fordham, Brown and Vann combined for 36 tackles; proof that the Pack did a good job of setting the edge.
First time starters safeties KJ Martin and DK Kaufman and nickel Tarmarcus Cooley did a good job attacking blockers and funneling runners back to the inside.
Big wins for Northern Illinois add to their Boneyard display back home. But it was NC State that brought out its Takeaway Bone on four different occasions. Devon Marshall and Tamarcus Cooley had picks while two forced fumbles by the defense led to touchdowns.Â
Early in the second quarter, It was an all-included buffet for Kaufman who came on a backside blitz to sack Huskie QB Ethan Hampton. The jarring hit knocked the ball loose and Kaufman scooped it up and took it the final two yards for a touchdown. It marked his second defensive score of the season.
Hampton would feel the force of Vann early in the third quarter that forced another fumble, recovered by defensive lineman Brandon Cleveland at the one.Â
Three plays later, the Pack flooded the flats and quarterback CJ Bailey found KC Concepcion for the final points of the day.
The 24-17 win was special to Doeren. He saw a Wolfpack defense play tough and to the standard. It came against a program that Doeren led to a pair of MAC championships before he decided to become the head coach at NC State.
"All wins are precious," Doeren said. "But that one meant a lot to me as an individual, and I thank the players and the staff for that. It was a personal win."
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