Dave Doeren avoids injury speculation, to share updates Grayson McCall, Brandon Cisse Monday
NC State football head coach Dave Doeren addressed the media Saturday afternoon following his team’s 30-20 win over Louisiana Tech after few key players missed most or all of this contest with various injuries.
Starting quarterback Grayson McCall and cornerback Brandon Cisse both left the game with undisclosed ailments. All-ACC cornerback Aydan White did not play and was stood on the sideline Saturday in sweats.
After the game, Doeren shared that White is “day-to-day,” while declining to talk about why Cisse or McCall left the game until he has more information on the nature of their injuries.
“As far as Grayson goes, I’m not going to comment on his injury until I know exactly what’s going on,” Doeren said after the game. “You guys saw him. He was on the sideline after the game congratulating CJ [Bailey]. Once I have information in my conference Monday, I’ll let you guys know where he stands, but I’m not going to speculate on it.”
Cisse started the game at outside cornerback for the third-consecutive contest, looking to improve upon his 7 tackles through his first 2 outings. He played limited snaps as a freshman in NC State’s dime packages, recording his first career interception and making 10 total tackles.
White is a two-time All-ACC honoree and critical member of the Wolfpack secondary with 9 career interceptions to his name. Doeren shared an optimistic statement around his status while deferring any news on Cisse, who returned to the sideline without pads to watch most of the game after his injury.
“Aydan will be back, kind of day-to-day I would say, with him,” Doeren said. “As far as Cisse, I’ll let you guys know on Monday.”
Before exiting Saturday’s contest, McCall completed 9 of 13 passes for 54 yards. He also ran 4 times for 22 yards.
McCall transferred to NC State for the 2023 season, his sixth and final year of college football, after spending the previous five with Coastal Carolina. He threw for 10,005 yards during his Sun Belt career, winning the conference’s player of the year award several times— a record for the league.
He played in 7 games for Coastal Carolina last fall before a concussion ended his season.
The veteran quarterback started the first two games of the year. Against Western Carolina and Tennessee, McCall completed 41 of 62 passes for 422 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He took a huge hit from a blitzing Louisiana Tech defender on his last play of the game.
