VIDEO: Defensive players say focus wasn't there at West Virginia

Jarius Morehead, Payton Wilson, Deonte Holden and defensive line coach Kevin Patrick met with the media Wednesday

Wednesday was the day for NC State's defensive players to meet with the media. When asked what went wrong last Saturday at West Virginia, senior safety Jarius Morehead and freshman linebacker Payton Wilson agreed that the Wolfpack wasn't mentally ready to play. 

It's a problem they say has been a heavy point of emphasis at practice this week as the team prepares for its final nonconference test, Saturday night against Ball State.

First, Morehead on what bothered him most after watching the game film ...

"Just not taking what we worked on in practice onto the field. I felt like we were on our heels and just not playing like the coaches were asking us. Just mental errors. I'd say we weren't prepared practice-wise. To tell the truth, we came out Tuesday with a better mindset and focus on practice."

"Like I said, we came out here Tuesday ready to practice and taking that game that we had at West Virginia off the tape and putting in a better game this week."

Wilson echoed Morehead's assessment. He also talked about his first down run on a successful fake punt that still didn't help the Wolfpack score points ...

"I just went out there and did my best job to get our offense back on the field to do their job. It didn't work out the way we wanted to, but it was still great that the coaches put their trust in me to get that first down in a game like that."

"It was fun (to carry the ball again). I could tell I hadn't done it since high school. But it was great, it was fun. It was just like old times. But it's not going to happen much. Not up here."

"Before the game, we could kind of tell we didn't have the energy, like we were just drained. We didn't have a lot of focus. When we came out there, they hit us immediately. We responded, but in the second half our focus wasn't there at all. I don't really know (why). My focus wasn't there. Some other guys wasn't. We weren't playing like we should have."

"I feel like I was playing too fast. I was not fitting the right gaps sometimes. It was something I had to adjust to and towards the end of the game I feel like I did. But it was too late."

Holden saw extended playing time in the game because of injuries to starting defensive ends James Smith-Williams and Joseph Boletepeli, and recorded State's only sack against the Mountaineers ...

"It was a great experience, but it wasn't just me that got the sack. It was the guys next to me. It takes 3-4 guys to rush the passer. It just depends on who gets there first. It was a great feeling to get it, but I also thank the guys next to me that helped me get it."

"We with we could have had James and we wish we could have Joseph out there, but we've all got to keep working, keep going forward."

Defensive line coach Patrick also addressed the absence of Smith-Williams and Boletepeli last week while avoiding multiple questions about whether one or both might be back for this week's game ...

"Having a guy like James out there is always great. He's one of our best players and one of our older players. Anytime you have a guy like that not out there, you're going to miss him."

"Whoever's ready to play, I'm going to play them. I don't get too far ahead. I'm worried about today, Wednesday. That's all I'm thinking about right now -- who's out there, who's working. As far as I'm concerned, every one of the players that's on this team is here today."

"Anytime you can get a young guy in there it's great experience for them. Savion (Jackson), Kante (Ibrahim), he played some last year but was in a starting role this past week. You look at (Xavier) Lyas. Those guys were on the scout team last year. So we had a lot of young guys out there. It was a good experience for them that will be good for us down the road."