In nearly a three-minute span, LeRue Rumph said fundamentals, or some form of the word, eight times. And the senior linebacker wasn’t even in the room when coach Tom O’Brien talked to the media minutes before.

The point of N.C. State’s bye week appeared to be just that — and that word echoed through the coach’s comments and those of Rumph.

“It gave us an opportunity to go back to work fundamentals, which we went back in to a preseason practice or spring practice mode for the last three days, last week,” O’Brien said. “We worked hard on individuals and fundamentals and tried to get better as a football team — so it had to help us.”

In the team’s first six games, the Wolfpack went 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the conference. While the team has struggled on the offensive end, Rumph said giving up big plays on the defense has been disheartening throughout the first half of the season.

“When you see some of the big plays we have given up this year, it breaks down to doing the fundamentals — being fundamentally sound,” Rumph said. “We get back to doing that right, we’ll be fine.”

The team did take time off for fall break. However, the team practiced three days — Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, according to Rumph. He said last week was “rough” with two pad days — Wednesday and Thursday. Tuesday was a helmet day.

And those three days were about getting back to the basics.

Even though O’Brien said fundamentals are what his staff has “always done during off weeks,” he said the team has to learn what it wants to accomplish on both sides of the ball to minimize mistakes.

“If you have good fundamentals, and you understand what you’re trying to get done on offense and defense, those things shouldn’t happen,” O’Brien said. “So, those were the points of emphasis, and three days was all we had to do it.”

For Rumph, he was glad to have a week without a game — especially with the team’s struggles thus far.

“It was definitely good to have a break,” Rumph said. “It gave us a break from the whole football aspect of our lives right now — so it was good.”

The break lines State up with East Carolina, a team who comes into the game 4-3 overall and 3-1 in the conference. During his first summer as coach, O’Brien said he learned that even though the Pirates aren’t an ACC team, it’s an important game to many players and fans.

“I understand what a rival game is and I’m sure that we’ll figure it out this week,” O’Brien said. “I got a good sense from the team, but it’s pretty obvious when I went around in the pulled pork circuit this summer that this was an important game.”

Asked if East Carolina could be considered a “bad-blood game,” senior guard Kalani Heppe cracked a smile.

“When you’re 1-5, everything kind of winds up being a bad-blood game,” Heppe said.