What are you doing? Chill. We're fine. So, obviously the word has gotten out that we need to be able to hear the questions better in the press conference on the Yeah. Well, there's never been a promise on that since I've been here. All right. Ok. I don't know if that's bold or not. There's that whole thing gets out. Apparently us having a press conference today snuck up on some people. Thank you guys for coming. It's, it's great seeing everybody, um, obviously coming up, it was a great opportunity for us, um, you know, to stay sharp and continue to get working and, and do the things we needed to do to clean up some areas that, that we felt like we could focus on, but, but really an opportunity to just get rested and get healthy. And, uh, I, I think we tried to, to play that balance as best we could. You know, it's, it's been, uh, when you get that bi week after week five and, and you kind of head into this back run stretch of the season. You know, what you really want is a fresh team. You want a fresh team coming out of the week and, and I think we were able to accomplish that. And so, um I was excited to get back out there on the field today. You guys are excited for what's coming. Um You know, and then it starts Saturday night against NC State looking at them. Um, obviously an extremely talented team, I think what they're doing, uh defensively jumps off the page. Uh I think they're very explosive, They're very disruptive. Um, you know, what they're doing in the front six is, is causing a ton of disruption. I think they lead the AC C in sacks. Um, you know, Peyton Wilson is having about as good of a year as, as any defender I've seen, uh in, in my recent time watching this game, I mean, he's all over the field making a ton of plays and so he's obviously a kid, um that we've got to spend a ton of time prepping for and then, you know, they've got a really talented secondary. Um, the corners are really elite at covering, uh the safeties, get heavily involved in the run game and they're very physical tacklers. Um, you know, and then an offense, obviously, last week they made the switch to MJ Morris and I think, um, you know, that ignited a spark in, in everybody, I think, obviously, um, you know, Brandon Armstrong is a kid who's played a lot of football in this league and is a really talented kid, I think all of them, all, everyone around MJ stepped up and I thought what you saw last week against Marshall was a complete offensive performance. They threw the ball, well, they ran the ball. Well, they're really physical on the offensive line. Um, they played extremely hard, which they always do and, you know, they were able to really, uh, hang a lot of points on Marshall last week. And so this is a really talented team coming in. It's a crosstown rival. Uh, it's a game that, you know, obviously we were excited that we're playing every year now. Um, just because of the proximity of the two schools, certainly something that you feel like should happen. And so, uh, excited for the opportunity, Saturday night and then from an injury update just to stop you guys from asking, um, you know, Riley's dealing with an ankle, uh, he's day to day, he's recovering, he's making really, really strong progress. Uh, he was out moving around throwing the ball this morning. Um, you know, we'll see what happens this weekend, but, uh, I do think the outlook for him is, is really positive for the rest of the season. So we'll see when we can get him back. We'll just list him as day to day for now. Last week was recovery. Yeah, last week was recovery and, and getting him into a position where he could be weight bearing which he is now. And, um, and so now he's able to kind of move around and start the process of, of getting the thing back into a position where we feel comfortable that he can go out there and play the game the way he's capable of. Yeah, so Henry was available against Notre Dame. And so, um, you know, he had, he was dealing with something uconn week but, but he was back and ready to go for Notre Dame. And then obviously Henry is a kid that we've got a ton of confidence in. And, um, you know, and we certainly believe in very strongly. And so, um, you know, if that's ultimately what has to happen, Henry will go out there and we know he'll be ready to go into the decision of whether or not that is such a big part of what he does. Um, I don't think it matters. Obviously, Riley is such a huge competitor and, and when he's ready to go, he's gonna go. And, um, yeah, I think the one thing that, that, you know, he, he's extremely competitive in every aspect of his life. And so he's attacking this rehab, um, about 67 hours a day. And so I think he's on a mission to get back, uh, and not miss any games. Um, that's kind of his thought process. And so, you know, again, we'll see whether that's a reality or not. But, um, you know, when he's ready to go, he'll be our quarterback, some of the characters that, yeah, I just, I mean, obviously he's got tremendous arm, arm talent. Um, he can make all of the throws. Um, anytime we put him in position to go out there and have to execute the offense, he's done it. Um, you know, anytime you've got a quarterback making a first start, there's obviously a little bit of nerves around that, you know, we had the same conversation last year going into the opener with Riley. You know, you never know until, you know. Um, but certainly every indication is, is that Riley's ready or, uh, Henry's ready for the situation and, and we're excited for him to go out there and get it done. Mike, let me ask you about your defensive line, including that final touchdown play, the defensive line really stuffed Notre Dame's running game, which is one of the better running games in the country. You talk about that position group. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, obviously, you know, we, we brought back a ton of depth, um, and that was something again that we talked about in preseason camp. That that was what we felt like was a strength. We felt like our defensive line was a strength. I know there was some questions asked about depth and I, I didn't know where any of that came from is what I told you guys and I think that's played out that way. Um, you know, we've got a lot of guys, we're able to rotate through a lot of bodies and, um, you know, we've got three defensive tackles playing at a really high level, you know, Jamian and Nius, um, and Dwayne and, and then we're bringing in Aaron Hall now and he's getting a lot of reps too and we feel really comfortable every time he's in the game. And so, um, you know, it's a great starting point through the inside part of it and then outside, we've got a ton of depth, Wes Williams and RJ Oman at the end spot. VJ Ryan Smith, um at the drop spot and Anthony Nelson getting healthy again and getting him back into the rotation. And so we feel like we're nine deep at the defensive line. And so I don't know that you can get better than that. You need to look at the film to see what happened on that fourth and how much have you done? Yeah, I mean, a ton, a ton, you know, anytime you get into that type of situation, you know, you make the call that you think is the best call for the moment and, and, um, you know, I would still hold to the call that we made, but when it doesn't work, you obviously rethink everything, you know, and um, people asked me, oh, you'll get over it. I said, sure, just like the bowling green Toledo game in 2013 on fourth and nine when we gave up, uh, you know, you get over that stuff so quickly. Um But no, I, I think what happened was when you go back and look at the technical side of it. I thought, uh Sam did a really good job of getting out on the perimeter and pausing. He got out on the perimeter and paused and actually kind of pumped down field and that caused our, our second level to kind of open and retrace to try to find where he was looking. And I think he just was really decisive and put a foot in the ground and went and beat us to the sticks. I mean, it's really what happened. He just beat us to the sticks. I think we were probably a little bit hesitant because I think we were still thinking he was gonna throw it. Um, and I think that split second of hesitancy is, is what ultimately got him across the, the line. And so, um, you know, obviously, listen, we, we wish we could do it again, we wish we could do it better. Wish we call something different. You know, you think about every way you possibly could when you're in that situation because certainly it's, it's tilted in your favor and you'd like to take advantage of it. But, um, you know, like everything, you gotta move on and you gotta get ready for the next one. Coach. How important was it for you to have the week off to, you know, adjust, get over the loss after a heartbreaking loss at that. But have your players mentally just kind of refocus, adjust and get ready for if you stay on Saturday night. Yeah. You know, I think kids are a lot more resilient sometimes than we give them credit for. You know, if you think back to last year, you know, we couldn't have gotten our hearts ripped out any more than the Carolina game. And the very next week we went on the road and went down and beat a Miami team down in Miami, you know, and so to that extent, I do think like there's a resiliency that kids have and that we have that, that you kind of rely on. And I think when you put as much into this as we do and, and most teams do, um, you know, the ability to bounce back always is there, you know, and we know our goals are still in front of us. We know all those opportunities are still there. Um, what I think the bi week gave us was, was rest and health. I, I think that's, um, you know, we talked about that a little bit last week but it comes at such a good time after week five because it's really the midpoint of the season when you factor in the four weeks of training camp. And so it was the right time to just step away, recharge, replug and and come back ready for the final stretch is someone who spends so much time with defense. You see, when you look at, uh, Tony Gibson and what this Wolfpack defense has been able to do this season and, and really over the past couple of years since he got there, yeah, I'll talk more about this season than, than the other ones because I didn't pay much attention to the other ones to be honest with you. But, um, they're really disruptive. Um, I think they're very confident in their system. They know what they're doing. He's obviously been running the system for a very long time and he's been running it now at NC State for a while and, you know, when they made the transition to go to this, I think they had this vision in their head of, you know, a very disruptive, very active group that, that was really talented at the second level and really physical at the first level and that's certainly what they've become. And so, um, I think, like I said, I think they have 21 sacks on the year. They're, they're really disruptive. They're hard to find angles to run the ball against the, do a great job of shedding blocks and then they can cover, you know, and, and that's the piece of it too. Um, that goes in and so you don't see very many weaknesses and, you know, I think yards will be hard to come by, uh, for sure. Saturday night working against them. Coach, I know he's dealt with injury in the beginning of the season. But are you hoping to get Jill and Coleman more involved in the rushing attack coming off of the buying? Yeah. You know, it's, it, it's a hard, it's a really hard situation. Jalen is a great kid. He's a really talented back. Um, but we have two backs right now that are playing at a really high level, you know, and so, um, you know, as much as, as much as, as we want to give him those opportunities, um, you know, he still has to, he still has to, to get in front of those two guys. And so, um, you know, we've stayed a lot healthier this year in the backfield, which is probably really good for us by and large and maybe not great for Jalen getting his opportunities again. But, um, he's out there working hard every day. Uh He's getting better every day. He's obviously a kid, we have a lot of confidence in and, you know, if the situation arises or the time arises, we'll certainly call his number and I know he'll be ready after, after you had the two Miss field goals in the last game for the bi week. Have you found anything that may have led to that or what, what kind of work have you done in that area? Todd. Um, yeah, you know, listen, Todd's been great. I mean, he, he literally has been great. Um All last year, he's been great all off season. He's been great in practice. He was great in practice again last week. He didn't miss a kick. Um You know, I think what we looked at technically was, was the angle. He was stepping his steps off. We felt like we're blocking his hips which squared the ball up, which pushed it. Um So I think there's a technical element of it, um that we focused on but, but Todd will go out and, and he'll kick the ball through the uprights. So that's what Todd's done since he's been here. Um You know, for whatever reason, it just didn't happen the way he wanted it to last Saturday will be. Yeah. Yeah. Graham's back practicing full go. Um No issues with Graham, I think had we played that game Monday night, not Saturday night. We'd have had both Graham and miles ready to go. They were both really close. We just couldn't get him over the hump. And so, um both those guys will be back and ready to go. How did Brian Parker look on film? Really good? I mean, really good, you know, and, and for a kid making his first start in that environment and against that defensive line, um I thought Brian played really, really well and so, you know, obviously there's some technical things like there always would be. But, um I thought he competed. I thought he was assignment sound. I thought he gave us something. Um, and I think he grew into the game as the game went on and I think that was probably not necessarily him alone, but I think our whole offensive line grew into the game and that was some of the success we had in the second half that maybe wasn't there in the first half. We don't have as much film on Morris as Armstrong does that, does that complicate things any? I don't think so. I don't think so. I think, you know, we, we go back, you got enough games from him last year. You certainly saw what he did. K Marshall. You've got a ton of film on, on coach and I, and, and what he's done not only this year but what he did at Syracuse, what he did at Virginia, um, you know, maybe to get a full scattering report on everything that MJ is and isn't, you probably don't have. But, um, there's certainly enough tape to give you an idea on what to expect coming into this week. What do you expect? Uh, I mean, a really talented quarterback that can make every throw. I think he's got a big arm. Um, you know, I think he sits in the pocket and delivers the ball really well. Um, yeah, I think he, you know, obviously there was a little bit of angst, I'm sure making his first start and once he settled in, um, really put up some impressive gaudy numbers on Saturday. And so, you know, we'll have our hands full with him for sure. They've had some issues with sorting out their running game in terms of which running back they ran the ball pretty well though, with Mims in particular, is Marshall getting to the end zone, you see much in their running game that was different. Maybe in the Marshall game versus anything else you had looked at from them earlier. No, I, maybe there was, you know, obviously getting the center back, probably played a huge part in that. I, I think, you know, getting the offensive line back settled the way they wanted it to be. I'm sure played a role. Um, and then, and then like everything you bring in a new starter quarterback and I think everybody looks in the mirror and tries to elevate their game. I think that's a part of it. I don't think anybody sat around and said, oh, I bet it's only one guy that's causing us all the problems and, but sometimes you got to make that switch and then I think that sparks everything. And so, um, maybe just a renewed vigor and, and how they were going about attacking the running game is what we saw from a program perspective. How, how have you all had a chance to look back on the whole college game day? Sell out crowd. ABC. Um, how was that whole Saturday for Duke football as well? Yeah, I mean, we, we always talk about those two hats. Right. And I think from a CEO hat perspective, um, that was a tremendous day for our program and I think the exposure we got on a national scale, I think it was the, obviously it was the first time we hosted game day, but I think it was also the first time we had an ABC prime time slot. Um and to go out and get that many people watching the game, that many people watching it um to have the atmosphere and the crowd that we did. I think that impacts everything. It impacts how people view your program. Uh It impacts how recruits view your program. It impacts what people see as the ceiling of your program. Um You know, obviously, and again, we always talk about this, we, we're, we are a company that's growing, you know, we really are and we're a company that's growing every single day. And um but when you see it a day like that and you're able to point to, that's, that's where we're trying to get this thing consistently. Um I think people see that now as a reality, you know, whereas maybe 18 months ago, I was just a guy talking. Um you know, now I think maybe it's like, oh, ok, like maybe, maybe this is something maybe Duke Football can become this national brand that he keeps talking about the Duke UN c rivalry obviously is big. Can States slip in there and, and become a rival, like, like that or is there room for two rivals for Duke? I mean, I can wear you down a little bit. Yeah. I mean, I think proximity creates rivalry. I, I think proximity creates rivalry because there's such a familiarity. Um, our guys know their guys. There's a connection through recruiting, there's a connection through playing each other in high school. Like, I think any time and this is probably the one thing to, to get on the grand stage for a second, but like the conference is keeping the conference is a little bit more regional, like making sure that we keep in mind this part of football a little bit, which is, um, these games are a lot of fun for the kids, you know, when they get to go and they play the schools that are right down the road and the kids that they're gonna bump into all spring and when they're out in Raleigh and vice versa, like those things matter. And, and I think, you know, anytime you have proximity, I think you add a little bit to the game for sure. And so I don't know that it's necessarily, um, you know, I don't know that you count how many rivals you have or how many rivalry games you have, but certainly there's a little bit of an added meaning when you're playing the team that's 20 minutes down the road earlier in the season. Uh, you, you talked a lot about when you had these bigger leads in games, getting some players opportunities to play. Right? You look back at Lafayette when Henry goes in and goes, you know, eight for eight for 100 and eight. I mean, in the event that he would play this weekend, how big would that, does that go for his confidence and what he's able to contribute? Yeah, those snaps matter so much. And so like even go back to last week when you talk about Brian Parker, you know, Brian Parker is starting for the first time, but he has not playing for the first time. You know, he was able to get in the solid 50 60 snap um in the beginning part of the season and, and all of that stuff matters every time they get out on the field in live situations. I know to, to a lot of the fans, it's the end of the game and it's not as impactful, but for those kids, like those snaps are everything and they, if they take them the right way, it really helps in their growth and development. And so no different from Henry and, and no different from Grayson. Um you know, both those guys being able to, to have been on the field to know what it's like, to know how to operate, to be able to know where the game clocks are to be able to move at the pace. They need to move at, in the game like all of that stuff matters. Um And so, yeah, those are, those are obviously things that they'll lean on when they get their chances. Coaches, a situation on Saturday where you monitor Riley all week and he tells you, hey, coach, I'm ready to go. I'm good to go, but it's a situation as a coach, you wanna maintain his well being and make sure he's 100% before he gets out there. Saturday night. Yeah, I don't, 100% funny because I don't know that anyone's ever 100% in football. But we're certainly, you know, the kid matters to us more than winning the football game. There's no doubt about that. And so, and that's regardless of pro expectations or anything. That's every kid in our program. The kid matters more than winning a football game. And so we're not gonna put any kid out there, um, before he's ready to play the game at the level, he needs to play it at, to be successful and protect himself and do all of those things. And so that's what we're looking for. I don't know that, um, I don't know if you asked any kid in our locker room if they told you they were 100%. But, but I think there's a, there's certainly a level that we feel the kid is capable of going out there and playing the way he wants to. Um, and if he's not at that level, regardless of what he wants, he'll, he'll watch until he's at that level. Good Casey Concepcion has been so good friends as a true freshman. Um, what, what, what do you see from him? That, that makes him a danger when you play against him? Yeah. I mean, he's electric, he's electric in the slot. He's, he's really twitchy. He does a really good job of creating separation. He's got really good hands. Uh You know, that's a hard challenge to, to step into the college game as a freshman and to have the impact that he has, but he was a really talented kid uh coming out of high school. And so, um, you know, it's not a surprise that he's doing what he's doing. He's really talented and, you know, obviously we've got to make sure we pay enough attention to him that he's not able to take advantage of us. Coach, you mentioned the proximity of the matchup NC State's first time coming to Wallace Wae in 10 years since 2013. 1st for a lot of the coaching staff first, for a lot of players. What is just the excitement for, with these types of matchups? You mentioned the proximity for just for something new for everybody to go through. Yeah, I think it's, you know, and I think Dave would say the same thing. It's, it's crazy that there's a school that close that hasn't been to Durham and since 2013. Right. And so I just think, um, you know, that was part of this, getting rid of the conferences and, and, you know, the part of going away from divisions I think we all agreed in was creating more of these opportunities to create some newness to games, to create some new opportunities. And, and so, yeah, that's certainly a part of it. And you factor in the fact that we haven't played on a lot of our older kids who this is their last year won't ever play them again. And this is kind of a one shot deal. Um, kind of creates a little bit more urgency and importance to the game and then you factor in, you know, two teams playing for, you know, standings in the AC C and, and having a lot on the line and throw that in it too. And, um I think you're playing games that really matter and have a lot of high stakes. Awesome. Thank you guys. Appreciate you for. Was it rugged?