After Saturday’s scheduled game against West Virginia at Carter-Finley Stadium was cancelled, NC State football returned to its normal schedule with practice Sunday. Head coach Dave Doeren addressed the media for his weekly news conference Monday to break down this week’s game against Marshall and give updates on the team after almost a week off. Here are some of the highlights.
Opening statement: “It’s good to have everyone back safe. It was a wild week and it still is for some. A lot of prayers going out and thoughts about communities in our state and surrounding states. It was a huge hurricane. Obviously here we weren’t hit as hard as expected. A lot happened last week in a short period of time. We went from preparing for a really good football team in West Virginia to all of the sudden having to put plans in place for 115 players and all of our staff, our families, where we’re going to be, how are we going to track these guys, how we’re going to make sure they’re safe. We put together a very good plan. It ended up being a very good way to handle a very tough situation. Just thankful to get them all back here safely, thankful to our staff and all the people that helped us deal with what we had to deal with.
“On a positive, we had a few extra days to get healthy because we waited it out. [Graduate receiver Stephen Louis], [Redshirt junior receiver Jakobi Meyers] and [redshirt sophomore tight end Dylan Autenrieth] practiced on Sunday. We’re excited to have them back. As you know, [redshirt sophomore tight end Cary Angeline] will be able to play in this game. A lot of hype’s gone into him. For him, it’s his first college football game in over a year. For us, it’s just exciting to get him back on the field and see him play. See where he’s at and not put too much on him early. Let him work his way into it and not put too much on young players, which he is.”
On Marshall: “Just talking about [Marshall], obviously they’re 2-0. 8-5 last season. The biggest thing that jumps out is they’ve got 17 of their 22 starters back when you look at their offensive and defensive teams, and then their returner, punt and kick returners are back. A very experienced team. A lot of fourth and fifth-year players when you look at their starters. Six seniors and four juniors on their defense. Basically the entire defense that we played against and they played us well.
“Offensively, they have a great receiver [Tyre Brady] that we really struggled against a year ago, particularly in the first half. And the other receiver [Obi Obialo], is also playing well. Both their receivers are averaging over 12 yards per catch. All five offensive linemen are back, so really the newest part of their team is their quarterback. … Very storied program, they have the best winning percentage at home in college football at 83 percent.”
On last week: “We [practiced] Tuesday and then found out coming off the field that the game was called and then met with the team Tuesday night and informed them that we were going to send them home unless they couldn’t get home. And then those players that couldn’t go with a teammate or wanted to stay in Raleigh were going to go with us to a team hotel. We just felt like if they were either with their parents or with is, obviously you’re planning for the worst. So if we would have lost power and had flooding and not been able to take them to places to eat, guys’ cell phones could die and you wouldn’t be able to talk to them. We felt like that was the best way to know that everyone was safe.”
On the team bonding staying at the hotel: “We definitely had some camaraderie going. We had a miniature golf championship going on in the hotel; it was pretty fun. Guys were setting up holes with powerade bottles. We got the most out of it. The power stayed on; we were worried about that. We sat there and ate together and hung out together. We were actually talking about at one of the meals, you don’t see guys on their phone right now. There was a lot of conversation. I think we made the best out of a bad situation.”
On Angeline’s expected involvement against Marshall: “Our receivers are playing really well. We’re going to get him going in practice this week and see where he’s at. He’s been on the scout team getting ready. It’s not going to be like all of a sudden he’s out there getting 30 catches in a game. He’s going to work his way into playing and blocking. He will play; he’ll be a part of what we do. He’s going to work himself into kind of being a part of everything that goes on. We’re excited to have him back. [Tight end is] definitely a position that needs to play better and I know they’re excited for that opportunity.”
On the first road game for young players: “It’s an opportunity more than a concern. I look at it like that. It’s a chance to play in a good place. It’ll be sold out, I’m assuming. It sounds like being a night game there it’s going to be a pretty good environment. Our guys’ll be excited about it. A chance to play in their place. We like going on the road; it’s something we look forward to. Again, a chance to be with your team and you against everybody else. Our guys enjoy that.”
On the run game: “We got better on the line of scrimmage with our O-line, we thought, from week one to week two. We’re still inconsistent. It’s one guy here or there. We struggled at tight end last week. I mentioned that before. That’s a position that [tight ends coach Eddie Faulkner] wants those guys to play better and that group will play better. Having some personnel changes there will help them play better, too. I think getting Dylan Autenrieth is a big deal for some of our run game. Adding him and Cary at the same time presents a little bit more opportunity for us personnel wise that way.
“And [freshman running back Trent Pennix] I think will continue to get better. I think that’s the one thing that we saw not just in the game but practice since the game, he’s playing with more confidence, playing faster. We’re a young football team … So it’s going to take a little time to get it where we want it but I do feel like we’re going in the right direction with it.”
On getting a 12th game to replace the West Virginia cancellation: “I would love to have a 12th game, personally. It’s got to fit what we want. We have a bye week that we want to keep, obviously for the reasons it was put there right in the middle of the year before we start Clemson and everybody else.
“Having a 12th game at the end of the year makes sense for a lot of reasons. Obviously you want to be in the best bowl game you can be in. Having that, if you can win it, gives you another opportunity to move up. It’s got to be the right team and we’ve got to find the right opponent that’s willing to come here because we want to play a home game if we do it, obviously losing a home game to the storm. But those conversations have started. I know Debbie and Michael are working with other schools and trying to figure out who can have those conversations.”
