Doeren Breaks Down Wolfpack's First Scrimmage

NC State football coach Dave Doeren liked the 'back-and-forth' of his team's first preseason scrimmage, which was held just before the Wolfpack was forced to suspend practice because of a COVID-19 outbreak

NC State's first scrimmage of preseason football camp was 10 days ago. But because of the COVID-19 outbreak that shut down practice for more than a week, Wednesday's virtual conference with the media was coach Dave Doeren's first opportunity to publicly assess his team's performance.

The most part, he liked what he saw.

"It was really good just to get in there and see the guys play. It’s been so long," he said. "As a coach, it’s hard to feel good after a scrimmage because one side of the ball inevitably lets you down. But that was what felt good about that day. We came out of it healthy and there was a lot of back and forth production."

Doeren didn't go into a lot of specifics and didn't provide any stats.

Offensively, he singled out running back Ricky Person Jr., who is still trying to reach his full potential after suffering through injuries during his first two seasons with the Wolfpack.

"He had a nice day for us out there," Doeren said. "I think he continues to show us some things."

On defense, one of the most encouraging efforts was turned in by junior college transfer cornerback Rakiem Ashford. A late addition to State's 2020 recruiting class, who committed just last month, he "had a really good day," in Doeren's estimation, with "a lot of nice tackles, a big pass breakup (and) an interception." 

The success of the scrimmage was best summed up by a series of plays that began with a forced fumble by linebacker Drake Thomas, a turnover the offense converted into a touchdown on the ensuing drive.

"It was a really good back-and-forth day," Doeren said. "That part was a lot of fun to see."

It's something Doeren and his staff are hoping to see again at least once or twice more between now and the Wolfpack's rescheduled season opener against Wake Forest on Sept. 19.

But because of roster fluctuations caused by the coronavirus and the ACC's protocol to contain the spread of it, the coach is uncertain when or if another scrimmage will be held.

"We would like to," Doeren said. "The biggest thing we need to do is get the situational stuff going -- red zone, goal line, short yardage, two-minute, things like that that you need scrimmage-type environments to really see the outcome. So the situational football is an area that we would really like to get a lot more reps of that leading up to our first opportunity.

"Everything’s day to day. There’s days you’d like to do it, but it’s going to come down to do we have the right number of guys to make that a good practice."

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