Coach Dave Doeren Postgame Press Conference

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- NC State football coach Dave Doeren wasn't happy with either the result or his team's execution following Saturday's 45-24 loss to Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium.

Here is what he had to say at his virtual postgame media conference after the game:

"First of all, Virginia Tech deserves a lot of credit. They were the most physical team tonight. They outplayed us. They outcoached us. We’ve got a lot to learn from this film, and we’ve got a lot of work to do. We didn’t expect it. Obviously we were excited where we came out last week. We did miss having some guys tonight from a health standpoint on defense.

"There’s a lot to work on. I thought our guys continued to play hard, but we did not do enough to give ourselves a chance to win. We gave up 270 yards rushing and turned the ball over twice on offense. It just took us too long to get going offensively. Obviously only have 80-some yards in the first half and the defense didn’t start the way we expected them to. It’s a loss. It’s not the end of the season. We’re 1-1. We’ve got an opportunity to learn from this game like we did the last one. We can go back and regroup.

What did Kahlid Martin say to you while he was being taken to the ambulance and what was the nature of his injury?

"He was communicating with us at the time. He was moving his fingers and toes and all that. But he had a lot of pain. He said ‘go finish the game, coach. Go tell the guys to finish.’ So, he was speaking. He was aware. But I’m not sure where things are at. That’s something we’re going to have to find out when he gets where he is going from a doctor standpoint. Our prayers go out to him. It’s a tough injury."

When did you start thinking about making the quarterback change and what did you think of Devin Leary's performance?

"We didn’t talk about it at halftime. We thought we would be able to regroup and come out and get some things going. We just didn’t. After the second interception, we said ‘let’s give him another series and see how he responds.’ We went three-and-out that drive and just felt like we needed a spark and to just see what Devin can do.

"He led us on two scoring drives, so he did some good things. He also did some things that he’s got to learn on. I was happy with the way he came in the game cold and moved the offense for the most part."

How much was the defense altered by the absence of Payton Wilson?

"Also not having Tanner Ingle and Payton Wilson, our top two tacklers on defense, it hurts. It definitely hurts. Teshaun Smith couldn’t play tonight either. So, we had three starters out. Rakeim Ashford came in and started for Tanner and then he got hurt. Khalid Martin came in and then he got hurt.

"We have some deficiencies right now from a health standpoint on the defensive side of the ball. A lot of them are on the weak side of our defense. It was evident. A week ago Drake (Thomas) was playing Sam linebacker, tonight he had to play Will because Payton was out. We were not at full strength.

"Obviously I know Virginia Tech wasn’t either. When you are missing a guy like Tanner, who is a captain and a hitter and a physical guy, and Payton, who is a hitter and a physical guy, that was their kind of game tonight. We would have loved to have had them, but we didn’t."

Did Tech do anything offensively you didn't expect?

"We didn’t know what we were going to get. Hendon Hooker is listed first on the depth chart, and so you have to prepare for what he did. Once we saw the other guys in there, we had to figure out ‘okay what’s this going to be?’

"They had a lot of new schemes. They had a lot of plus-one runs. We just didn’t do a good job of getting off blocks and tackling. I thought we set the edges better than we did a week ago, but a lot of the hits this game were more internal. It just wasn’t good enough.

What adjustments did you make to try to stop Tech's ground attack?

"We were taking our middle safety and adding him into the run game. I think in the second quarter we did some good things. We slowed them down. Offensively we just couldn’t get anything going. The defense was out there a lot in the first half. They went up 17-0, then I thought we did a nice job there for a while. Then it just felt like we ran out of gas in that first half defensively. There’s a lot of things that we have to do better."

"There isn’t one single thing I could tell you. Adjustment-wise we were angling the front, we were slanting the front, we were pinching, we were bringing guys off the edge. We took our safety in the middle of the field and tightened him up into our run game. There were a lot of different things we tried to do, but none of them were good enough."

Why do you think the offensive line struggled?

"I’ll have to look at the film to give you a clearer answer. It looked like they packed the box, which we knew they were going to. They’re going to force you to throw the football when you play them.

"They were plus-one on us in the run game. From a penetration standpoint, they dialed up some pressures that we didn’t pick up. There were times where we just got beat one-on-one. There wasn’t one player. You could probably go across the board. They outplayed us.. That’s the bottom line."

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