Payton Wilson Duke Postgame Press Conference
Payton Wilson's older brother had a standout performance for the Atlanta Braves by pitching six strong innings in a playoff win against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.
Not to be outdone, Payton was also a star Saturday while coming through in the clutch for the NC State football.
The redshirt sophomore linebacker recorded 19 tackles, the most by a Wolfpack defender since Earl Wolff in 2012, and intercepted two passes to lead his team to a come-from-behind 31-20 win against Duke.
Here is what Wilson had to say about his performance during a postgame conference with the media:
"It's pretty awesome. Growing up, me and my family had season tickets to Duke games. It was kind of awesome playing a team I used to pull for. It was a great team win. We prepared well and it showed."
What was your mindset going into the game?
"The same mindset as every week -- effort makes up for everything. (Defensive coordinator Tony) Gibson put me in a great spot to make plays and we had a great week of practice. Coach (Dave) Doeren has been telling us since Day One that the way we practice is the way we’re going to play. We had a great week of practice, which led to a pretty good performance."
How much did the hit Drake Thomas put on Duke quarterback Chase Brice contribute to your second interception?
"His part is almost as important, if not more important than mine. That pick was never there without him. I made sure to let him know right after the play, like ‘Bro, appreciate it. You’re the only reason I got the pick.’ We all work off each other. We play for each other and that’s how plays are made."
Have you talked to Bryse since he pitched his big game on Thursday?
"Kind of. Me and my brother have always been brothers more than ... We like to talk about sports but also not so much because everybody else wants to talk about them. When we talk it’s more like ‘hey, how are you doing?’ because I don’t get to see him that often.
"But I do want to shout out my parents because they were in Dallas yesterday. They flew back just to see me play today for my game. I really want to say thank you and I love you mom."
Were you inspired to do something special yourself after what your brother did?
"There’s always been that brotherly competition. He wants to text me before the game and say ‘go out and perform for me or show out.’ Obviously when he went out there and did that, I was like Man, I can’t go out here and have a bad game.’ I wasn’t really thinking about it too much, but it did help a little bit to motivate me to try and be just as good as he is."
How does it feel to have the defense carry the offense for the second straight game, especially after the way the season started?
"It’s pretty awesome, because the first two games the offense did carry us. We were letting up hundreds of yards, first downs here and there. But like I told (offensive coordinator Tim) Beck at the end of the game, ‘You all carried us for a long time. Some games we’re going to have to carry y’all.’ It’s just a matter of working off each other, and one side of the ball making plays and picking up the other side."
What contributed to the first half struggles and who spoke up at halftime to help get things going in the seconde half?
"The defense was kind of performing all game, it was just special teams mistakes and turnovers that really got us. As a defense, Isaiah Moore is great about being a vocal leader, telling us to keep our head on and that the score is 0-0. That’s how we look at every drive, every series. It’s a 0-0 mentality."
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