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Dave Doeren discusses prep for national spotlight against Notre Dame

On3 imageby:Ethan McDowell•09/07/23•

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NC State football coach Dave Doeren (Photo courtesy NC State/Gregg Forwerck)

The last time NC State hosted Notre Dame, a Hurricane towered over Carter-Finley Stadium and kept scoring to a minimum as the Wolfpack defended its rain-soaked home field. 

While there is a chance for thunderstorms in the forecast, the weather will be much different Saturday. Head coach Dave Doeren reflected on that 2016 game, one of his two matchups with the Fighting Irish at NC State, and remembered it fondly. 

“That’s what football is about,” Doeren said. “It’s making memories, and sometimes they’re good ones, sometimes they’re not. That’s obviously going to be a great memory.”

Even though the coaching staffs, rosters and the overall conditions of the game will be much different, Doeren used that win as a teaching moment this week. He showed the punt block team the video of Dexter Wright’s go-ahead special teams score in 2016. 

Now that the game clock continues to run on first downs, Doeren pointed out that field position takes on even more importance. Teams play fewer snaps this week, so positive performance from the specialists becomes paramount. 

“It’s about creating a short field for your offense and a long field for your defense to defend,” Doeren said. 

NC State has not had to play through a close game in the fourth quarter with the new rules yet, but the head coach said the week one win over UConn continued to emphasize how important every possession is offensively. 

“In each half, when you get to that last eight minutes of the second quarter and the fourth quarter… you may be in two-minute mode faster in a game that you’re down,” Doeren said. 

Over the past few weeks, Doeren pointed out multiple times that a team’s most significant improvements often come between weeks one and two. He said the team approached a critical week of practice well. 

“The guys are excited,” Doeren said. “They worked hard, really dug in on the things we’ve pinpointed from last week that we want to be better at and, at the same time, focused in on what we’ve got to do to win this game.”

Doeren acknowledged that Notre Dame is a “really good opponent” and said the Wolfpack took positive steps forward over the past few days. An early-September heat wave loomed over practice this week so, in addition to approaching game practice preps well, the Wolfpack also put a lot of stress on hydration and sleep. 

On the field, Doeren said they spent the week correcting a couple of mistakes on both sides of the ball. After allowing two touchdown runs against UConn, the defense stressed gap integrity and “block destruction.”

Offensively, the Pack worked on converting plays that would have extended drives. That includes improved ball placement for Armstrong and securing catches as a receiver. 

NC State stands in the center of a massive stage this weekend for a moment that Doeren believes his team will readily embrace.

“I think most of these guys grew up, even in their backyard as kids, thinking about playing in big games against opponents that are ranked and on national television,” Doeren said. “If they didn’t, we probably recruited the wrong guys.”

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