NC State Wolfpack College Football Pregame Quote, 11/18/2019

Going back to Saturday night, I felt like our team did some really good things. Obviously there’s no feeling good about winning a football game, but there were a lot of positives that came out of that. Losing the turnover battle and the third quarter of that football game cost us the opportunity to win.

From the line of scrimmage offensively and defensively we played as well as we’ve played. We held them to 77 yards rushing and had 12 tackles in the backfield. On the other side of the field, we ran the football efficiently and had some explosive runs. I think Ikem Ekwonu and Joshua Fedd-Jackson had seven knockdowns, so there are some good things there in the front that are happening. I thought we had better disruption.

Obviously, turning the football over ‚Äì as I mentioned in the postgame presser‚Äì gives us a really difficult task to win the ball game, and it’s something we have to take a lot more seriously. It’s something that we have to get our freshmen to do better. In my history in this game, it’s really hard to win when you’re (-3) in turnover margin. That’s where we’re focused, is taking care of the football and giving ourselves a chance to get points on the board by doing so, and helping our defense with field position.

It is an opportunity for these guys to continue to learn. I’m so impressed with our guys’ resolve the way that they fight, their attitude and their will. It’s just got to be continued improvement on a daily basis. We’ll use the opportunity as a lesson, and learn from it and grow.

No one here accepts or enjoys the process of growing through defeat, but everyone here fights and presses on. That’s the biggest part of this program that I’ve enjoyed with these players. God gave us all an opportunity to live and fight and enjoy the life we have and never give in, and that’s the mindset that we carry here.

It is a short week. It’s already game-week Wednesday. There’s no rest for the weary. We woke up the day after the game and it was already Tuesday. We have to get on a plane here Wednesday‚Äì I think that’s in two days‚Äì and head down to Georgia to play Georgia Tech.

We’re playing a football team that’s in its first year with a new staff. They’re playing a lot of young players like we are. Offensively, the quarterback is a really good athlete. The slot receiver is probably one of the fastest players in the league. I think their tailbacks run really hard; they’re physical backs. Defensively, Geoff Collins has a really good history as a defensive coach. You can see that they do a lot of things with their front to try to disrupt the run game. They bring different pressures and play press coverage on the outside to deny your quick game. Up front, they have a lot of guys they rotate. Inside, they’ve had some players make some plays. Their linebackers are tough kids. Their safeties are big‚Äì 6’2 and 6’3. They’ve done a good job taking the ball away. They are (-5) in turnover margin, but they’ve forced a lot of turnovers on defense. For us, being able to handle their movement with their front, protect the football, create plays and finish plays with the ball is critical in the football game.

It’s an opportunity for us to bounce back and get right back on the field and go compete.

On Georgia Tech’s kicking and return game:

They have an excellent punter. He’s one of the better punters in the country. He does a really nice job with his operation and hang time. Their gunners get down the field in their punt coverage. Ahmarean Brown, who is the slot, is one of their returners. He’s fast. We have to do a really good job with our hang time, ball placement and winning our one-on-ones.

On the challenge of the short turnaround:

I think it starts with your recovery because normally today would be an off day for our team, but we’re practicing tonight because of class conflicts. You’re on the field an entire day ahead of when you would be. It’s probably harder on the staff than it is anything. We won’t practice as long or as much because we won’t have as many days. For us, we’re trying to watch 10 games that they’ve played and also look at yourself and fix problems because a lot of the game is a lot about us not beating us.

It’s just really quick. We leave town Wednesday, so we practice tonight, tomorrow, we have a walk-through and then we’re on a plane. I think when you’re dealing with injuries and health, and also just fatigue, going from a Saturday night game to a road game is really challenging on the staff and the players. We look forward to that opportunity. It’s a great chance to play a nationally televised game on a Thursday night, so we’ve got to do everything we can to get them back.

On the freshmen dealing with the turnaround:

They’re resilient guys. The thing that has impressed me with them is their resolve and their fight. I don’t think they’ll flinch one bit. It is what it is. These guys will go out there and battle. To answer your question, I don’t think I’ll truly be able to answer it until after the game because I haven’t seen them go through it yet. By all indications of their mood and their mindset yesterday when we met with them, they were great.

On how long the team holds on to Saturday’s loss:

I told the team after the game that whether we won or lost, we don’t have time to think about that game. There are some plays in that game that we have to learn from, so we watched it quickly and then put it to bed. We know that we’re 72 hours away from competing, so you’ve got to flush it. You have to.

On not forcing a turnover in ACC play:

I’ve never been through a stretch like this where we’re not getting the ball back. In that game, we had four or five hit our hands, which makes it even harder because we were in position to make those plays. We just didn’t make them. I think recovering fumbles a lot of times is luck. One, you have to get a lot of people to the football to have that luck, and a lot of times as you’ve seen, balls just bounce right back to the team that fumbled it. That’s out of our control. Does it make me shake my head? I don’t know. Right now, I’m thinking next play. I’d love to light every candle in the world and do every trick there is to gain some good luck coming forward here, but I don’t really have an answer for why they’re not coming our way.

On Emeka Emezie:

He was definitely an impact in that game. He made a great catch over the middle on 4th & 10, and he made a great catch on the sideline in tight coverage. It was good to see him have success again. I think that’s huge for his confidence as we finish the season. There’s a lot on him with C.J. Riley being out, being the oldest and most experienced guy. He takes that responsibility very seriously, so I was happy to see him gain that success to help him.

On the young players’ character:

I told them the other day that this is the season that is going to make us who we’re going to be. Because we’re going through these tough times, we’re going to be way better for it if you just persist. I’ve seen the resolve, I’ve seen the improvement and I’ve seen some mental toughness from some of those guys, and some leadership. It makes you excited about what’s to come for them, but I just can’t look at it one way. We need everybody to have the same resolve, and I think when you have little margin for error it’s hard to win football games. It really is. I don’t think people really understand how hard it is. For us, it’s about giving us a chance to win, and that starts with our mindset everyday, and then executing in a certain way where you’re never beating yourself in the process. I think that’s what’s made us a good football team here in the past. We’ve been physical, we’ve taken care of the ball and we’ve gotten the ball back. We’re not doing those things. To earn the right to win, these guys are growing fast. They’re still not where they need to be.

On the urgency to win out for bowl eligibility:

I think they understand that it’s a sudden death mentality if you’re thinking bowl season, but we’ve got to win this one first. It’s the only one that matters. When you get this one, then you can talk about that.

I can tell you that the senior class has never finished a season not in a bowl game, so those guys are talking about that. They want that. The bottom line is that if you don’t turn the ball over and you make a few more plays, then you get that. I think that’s what I have to constantly remind these guys of. It’s great to talk about what you want. It’s more important to understand what it takes to get it.