Doeren's Most Important Thoughts Before Wake Forest Trip

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Dave Doeren and the NC State Wolfpack reached a 2-0 record for the first time since 2022 after a win over Virginia on Saturday. The team turned the page and began preparations for a 3-0 start with a matchup against Wake Forest on Thursday.

It will be the Wolfpack's first trip out of Raleigh in 2025, although the trip to Winston-Salem isn't a long one. In college football's second-longest continuous rivalry, the Wolfpack hasn't distinguished itself as the superior program of late.

Doeren spoke to the media Monday evening about the upcoming matchup and some of the changes within the rivalry over the last year, including Wake Forest hiring Jake Dickert after Dave Clawson retired.

What were Doeren's Thoughts ahead of the Matchup?

Nov 21, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren talks to a referee against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the fourth quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

On the offense playing a clean game in Week Two

Doeren: "Offensively, to play a game with zero turnovers, zero penalties, zero sacks. Offensively, we really played good football. Winning starts with not beating yourself, and the week prior, that was a big area for us. We had drive-killing penalties multiple times in our first game, so it was an area that we wanted to improve and did. We averaged over seven yards on first down, which makes play calling a lot different for a coordinator and allowed Kurt to be in a rhythm."

"I thought the pass protection was outstanding. There were a lot of clean pockets for CJ to throw the football, and when he had to, he used his legs."

On Wake Forest's Defense

Doeren: "Defensively, they play really hard. When you watch Wake Forest on defense, they're sound, they're physical, they run to the football, they rotate guys on the D-line. There's several guys we're used to, I guess you'd say, familiar."

On stopping Wake Forest running back Demond Claiborne

Doeren: "He's a great player, and he's got speed. He's got vision. He can break tackles. He can make you miss. He's patient. And so, when you're defending a great running back, it takes everybody, it's gap accountability, it's beating blocks, it's leveraging the football, and then it's gang tackling."

"Everything needs to improve and we had guys in position to make plays on some of the plays that Virginia made. They made them and we didn't. It's different than what you saw in the ECU game; we were knocking people down. I mean, it was bang, bang tackles. And so the guys got to get back to squeezing and wrapping and getting guys on the ground. That's how you stop the run. "

"Every offensive run play is going to have most people blocked. Guys got to beat blocks, block destruction is a big part of running defense and setting good edges, being disciplined on the edge so that the ball is cupped and making sure those guys inside are fighting to get off blocks and make tackles."

On Wake Forest moving on from the Slow Mesh RPO offense

Doeren: "It's nothing like it was. It's a more traditional college football offense. You don't have the slow mesh anymore with the RPOs. And what's the biggest difference besides that is the fact that they've got a really, really fast, athletic quarterback."

"Not that they haven't had guys that can run, but not like this guy. If you misfit a run or he takes off on a scramble, he can score. And so you've got to be really disciplined in everything that we do to make sure we've got him hemmed up in the pocket."

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