Dave Doeren's Final Thoughts Before the Gasparilla Bowl
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Dave Doeren and NC State football settled into Tampa, Florida, earlier in the week, preparing for the Gasparilla Bowl matchup against Memphis. The Wolfpack is looking to snap a bowl losing streak that stretches back to the 2017 Sun Bowl, when the program defeated Arizona State.
While the Pack received some unfortunate news with Hollywood Smothers opting to enter the transfer portal, Doeren's emphasis on the bowl game remained adamant when he spoke to the media Wednesday afternoon from Florida. NC State has embraced the numerous activities throughout the week and continues to be appreciative of the opportunity to play in the postseason.
Bowl season means a lot to the Wolfpack
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— NC State Football (@PackFootball) December 18, 2025
The Pack's experience throughout the week goes beyond the bowl game. Doeren and the team were able to join the US Air Force at MacDill Air Force Base for a day of activities, which ranged from riding in military vehicles to posing with weaponry. For Doeren, it's all part of the spirit of bowl season.
"We had an opportunity to mingle with a bunch of people here down at the Air Force Base," Doeren said. "See their weapons, talk to the guys on how they build all these ships and see our big players try to get into these cockpits on some of the helicopters, which was pretty comical. But the bowl season is a lot of fun. It's a life experience for these guys."
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— NC State Football (@PackFootball) December 17, 2025
NC State also engaged in some charitable endeavors, including packing food with the organization Feeding Tampa Bay, a group predicated on feeding the hungry of the Tampa area. Doeren said that the Wolfpack packed over 17,000 pounds of food for the local communities.
Dealing with Memphis
While there's been plenty of time for charitable endeavors and fun, NC State still has a primary goal: beat Memphis. The Wolfpack remained focused on that task during practices throughout the week, with Memphis quarterback Brendon Lewis being at the top of the scouting report for the defense.
"Memphis has a really good dual threat quarterback," Doeren said about Lewis. "He's their leading rusher, nine touchdowns rushing and he uses his legs quite a bit... Great challenge there for our defense, and we faced, you know, quite a few of those types of players this year."
Doeren's respect for the Memphis program was evident. Even without their head coach, Ryan Silverfield, the Tigers still pose a major challenge in Doeren's eyes because of their culture and recent history. He pointed out that at one point in 2025, Memphis was 8-1 and looked to be in the mix for a College Football Playoff bid before losing three straight games to end the year.
"If you look at them traditionally, in the last 12 years, they've had 10 seasons where they've been in bowl games," Doeren said. "They've had four 10-plus win seasons, a couple conference championships. They've won four straight bowl games. So, it's a program that knows how to win. They've done it with three different head coaches. It says a lot about their culture and their makeup."
Developmental opportunities
Bowl season and its unique schedule during the Holidays typically allows programs to do significant work with player development. However, NC State's selection to the Gasparilla Bowl meant the Wolfpack ended up with limited practice time before facing the Tigers. This prevented Doeren and his staff from their habit of evaluating some of the players in the weeks leading up to the bowl event.
"Every practice rep matters for these guys in their development," Doeren said. "... We didn't get as many practices as we normally would. So it's a little bit different playing on the 19th versus the 29th... So we maximized the time we had. I could tell you, selfishly, I wish we had a lot more time, but you do get more reps."
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— NC State Football (@PackFootball) December 17, 2025
Doeren mentioned that true freshman Adrian Farrow impressed during the few practices NC State had on the developmental side. With uncertainty across the roster, those opportunities and reps can help players grow in confidence and also provide the coaching staff with more of an understanding of who might be able to step into a larger role moving forward.
"That's what this is all about. It's trying to help these guys become the best versions of themselves," the coach said. "And more opportunities on the field mean more opportunities for conversation about that."
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Tucker Sennett graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Journalism from the esteemed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. A former basketball player, he has gained valuable experience working at Cronkite News and brings a deep passion for sports and reporting to his role as the NC State Wolfpack Beat Writer On SI.
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