NC State
Doeren: Told them at halftime we are going to win this game
NC State head coach Dave Doeren speaks to the media after a 19-17 win over FSU.
ah well, one heck of a game and uh incredible win. Super proud of our guys and our fight and resiliency and told them at halftime, we're gonna come back and win this game. Um all you gotta do is believe and execute and dominate the line of scrimmage and win the turnover margin and we'll win. And that's what happened. Some really great individual performances. Obviously, uh, feel bad for devon X rays were negative. Don't know. Um They'll m r I am tomorrow and we'll be able to tell you more after that. But positive that the X rays were negative and I'm very proud of Jack Chambers coming in and leading the team the way he did. I thought we ran the ball hard. I thought of running backs really ran the ball hard tonight. You know, proud of them. The way they played defensively, getting the two takeaways in the fourth down. Stop, great play by shy battle and, and Devan Boykin there. Um So a lot to be proud of Chris Dunn. 56 yarder, was that 53 yarder tied as long? Okay, so heck of a win, heck of a football game. And Florida state's a very good team. You know, had a good game plan and our coaches made good adjustments at the half and kids executed him. It was awesome to see our crowd help us there in the second half and Great win. It's great to be five and 1 questions go ahead, David. Hey coach congrats on the win. Um can you just speak to the emotion that you're feeling just to the grittiness of this game and, and the way you guys came back and won it. Yeah, it's uh, I mean, it's what we did last year too. You know, this team doesn't quit. They don't flinch. They believe in each other and the plan that we have in place and next man and this continues to find a way to make the place that we need. It's, it's a great feeling. It's very rewarding. Um, very warning. Go ahead, Jack. Yeah. Dave the decision to uh, punt there at the end, right at the end of the fourth quarter. Was that just you feeling like you had a hot defense, make them go full fulfilled. What went into that decision for you? Yeah. You know, it was a tweener called, um, if we didn't make it giving them, you know, shorter field to travel. Worried about, you know, possible block as well. They, they've gotten close on a couple rushes today, had nothing to do with chris The way we were playing on defense. I didn't think they could go 90 yards and beat us. I really didn't. And their kickers You know, five of 10 on the year. So I just felt like the odds were better that way, um, than making a, which would have been another 53 yarder. So yeah, it's a tough call and just to follow up on that defensively. Did you guys feel like they were gonna try and play for a touchdown there because it felt like Boykin was kind of anticipating and taking a shot on that. Yeah, well obviously you're not gonna just leave it up to him. You know, we thought that there was a chance they'd throw it. Um, they've got good receivers, you know, Devin did a great job covering that guy, made a tremendous play on the ball. Thanks. Dave, go ahead luke. Dave, you mentioned the halftime adjustments. I'm just curious were they sort of the things you would normally do in a game like this? Or were they different things, novel things? Like, like was it normal halftime adjustments I guess? Or, or did you do something different? Uh, to get that out to get that out of these guys? No, I mean we made adjustments based on what florida state was doing. Um, it really played in two formations offensively the whole first half. So we went in and discussed ways we could defend them better. And uh, the guys did a nice job executing, We tackled better as well, but more than anything, I was just looking them in the eye and you know, this is a gut check man, you're gonna be tested right now as, as competitors and this is your stadium. So how do you want to look in it? And it was more about the attitude change I think and the execution than anything. I mean we did make a few adjustments, Obviously we had to make a bunch offensively once Jack went in because of just what he can do with his legs. So that was a little bit more on the fly. But you got to give our kids a lot of credit man, they got a lot of heart. Go ahead brian, hey coach is something you can see, uh, see a little more about that how the next band that played in the days when, not just with Jack, like you saw men's with some good runs on the stretch, Houston seemed to taking more workload with sumo just saying a few words about the, all the guys. Yeah, I don't know if I can mention them all. There are so many. Um, but yeah, you know Cyrus didn't even practice this week and, and then he played a good game. But yeah, I thought Delbert came in, ran the ball hard, Demi ran really hard and then you know, I had to come out and so Delbert stepped up and played behind his pads. Um, it was good to see Darryl jones get a touchdown and he's played a lot for us this year, but to see him get in the end zone. Yeah, I think really the biggest hero and all that next man up tonight was Jack, you know what he did to move the chains for us and orchestrate three scoring drives go ahead. Pat, they've, after the Clemson game last year. I think you said the curse is broken. You feel like a game like this further emphasizes that case. Oh, I don't know. I don't know. I know we want a heck of a football game tonight and our kids earned it. Um, so yeah, I mean it was tough. I mean the lights didn't even want to come on at the beginning of the game, you know, it was like see everything here. But yeah, I don't know. I'm just to come back in a game like that against an offense as good as them. I mean they're averaging 48 points a game going into our game guys, you know, and to shut them out for a half. I mean, I think that's coach Gibson, the staff, the defensive kids, they deserve a ton of credit. Go ahead Ron. Hey coach yeah. Was this game kind of the embodiment of the maturity of your defense to, you know, kind of struggle with the run a little bit in the first half and then to go out and pitch that shut out like you said in the second. Yeah, I think so. I think, you know, they fixed the things that were physical, which was tackling and getting out of our gaps. That happened multiple times in the game in the first half and then we adjusted a few things. Just design wise, disguise wise and the guys executed and then we made plays, you know, guys broke up passes, guys got to the quarterback guys intercepted the ball and so we had to make some plays. I talked about that last week. You know, we didn't make plays in key moments in the Clemson game and Clemson did, we made key plays tonight. Now is the difference. Last question for coach from brian uh coach, can you talk a little bit about Devin what was X rayed and seeing your leader on on the ground like that? I saw he came back on the sideline in the second half. Was that a spark to the team that just just to see him even though he couldn't go in? Yeah. You know, I didn't see him. I was so focused on the field, I didn't see him on the sideline after that he got hit while he was throwing in motion. So you know, they're x raying that entire part. Um and there was nothing, you know, on the X ray that was clean. So the M. R. I will tell us if it's anything else and hopefully it's just a muscle strain and we'll have him back soon, you know, but say your prayers for him tonight. I know he's down and he's a competitive dude. He wanted to be out there. Thanks coach. Thank you guys go pack Devin Boykin is on his way guys