What Duke Head Coach Manny Diaz Said After the Win

Diaz praised Duke's resilience in the win over NC State

Sep 20, 2025; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Manny Diaz interacts with safety Ma'khi Jones (26) during the first quarter against the NC State Wolfpack at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images | Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

NC State football experienced something it hadn’t all season long on Saturday night in Durham.

A loss.

Sep 20, 2025; Durham, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack linebacker Sterling Dixon (25) celebrates North Carolina State Wolfpack quarter back Will Wilson's (10) touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Duke Blue Devils at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images | Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

The Wolfpack fell to Duke 45-33, after Anderson Castle iced the game on a 66-yard touchdown run. Quarterback CJ Bailey entered the matchup with one interception on the season, but against the Blue Devils, he had three.

Duke’s head coach, Manny Diaz, spoke to the media after defeating an in-state rival in NC State, and here are the main things he had to say.

📸📸📸#1Pack1Goal pic.twitter.com/91TFPaT3Fn

— NC State Football (@PackFootball) September 20, 2025

Diaz Postgame

Part of his opening statement

• “Proud of our football team,” Diaz said. “We talked about [in our] hotel today, about our identity and how Duke football wins. Which we thought we had gotten a little bit away from and that we had to be defined by our mental toughness, our resiliency and our togetherness. And we had a lot of evidence early on in the game that there would be reason to not believe and to drop our gloves. To our guys' credit, they stayed in the fight. They kept battling.”

Our players of the week against NC State! pic.twitter.com/AbxzNYbiFQ

— Duke Football (@DukeFOOTBALL) September 21, 2025

• “We were certainly making a ton of mistakes, but eventually we made the big plays in the game; the [Tre] Freeman interception really flipped the momentum. Offense capitalized on the touchdown. That’s three straight games we scored a touchdown going into halftime, and then we came out and dominated the middle eight with another score coming out, and so all of a sudden, you turn a two-touchdown deficit into an eight-point lead, and then from that point on, I just loved our response.”

The Duke defense struggled in forcing turnovers in the first three weeks of the season, but picked off Bailey three times in their win. On the flip side, the offense kept giving the ball away, but didn’t give it away once against the Wolfpack.

The game sealer 😈 pic.twitter.com/1buy56vUEz

— Duke Football (@DukeFOOTBALL) September 21, 2025

• “Turnovers are a funny deal,” Diaz said. “We haven't been able to get turnovers, but when they come, they tend to come in bunches. I do know when you put the quarterback under duress, you do a good job versus the run game, that’s where turnovers occur. I was very proud of the offense, very proud of Darian [Mensah], how he protected the ball, and it’s been two weeks in a row where you can really see our point of emphasis paying off.”

​Bailey was under duress for the majority of the game. The Blue Devil defense was able to generate 18 total pressures, 12 quarterback hurries and three sacks.

• “When the score dedicated in the fourth quarter, they had to drop back and throw the ball a lot, which allowed our pass rush to kind of get going,” Diaz said. “He’s [Bailey] a really, really good player and we were able to affect him, obviously enough to make enough mistakes to put the game in our favor.”

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