NC State focused on ‘opportunity’ to rebound after Tennessee loss

NC State coach Dave Doeren didn’t hide his disappointment in the Wolfpack’s execution in the 51-10 loss to Tennessee in the Duke’s Mayo Classic immediately after the game. And he didn’t two days later, either. 

The Pack believed it had the roster to compete with an SEC team like the Volunteers, but in the end, Tennessee’s talent overpowered NC State’s when things started to turn on the field. The turning point was the second-quarter pick-6 that halted a Pack drive that looked destined to tying the game.

But instead, the Volunteers took a two-score lead to the locker room. And that only swelled in the second half. 

Doeren, NC State’s 12th-year coach, thought the Wolfpack went away from playing as one cohesive unit when adversity struck on Tennessee’s defensive touchdown. 

“Football plays are designed for 11 guys to do things right and there was just too many plays where that didn’t happen,” Doeren said Monday. “We were in that game. It was 10-3 and we were knocking on the door to tie it going into the half and it went the other direction. When that happened, we got away from 11-man football. You started seeing guys trying to do more than they needed to do. It just wasn’t good enough.”

“We’ve got to do a better job at handling situations like that,” Doeren continued. “It was a great learning experience for the team, not one that’s fun to go through at all. But it wasn’t a result of us not practicing well. I think in the heat of the moment, things didn’t go the way we wanted it to.”

The learning experience of a 41-point loss was what Doeren harped on through his just under 16-minute press conference 48 hours after the defeat. While he was not pleased with the missed chance to make a statement on a national stage, the Wolfpack’s head man seemed to like his team’s response a day later. 

NC State met as a team Sunday and Doeren noted the displeasure in the faces of everyone inside the Murphy Center. And while the entire group was not happy with the result, he noted that the team appeared open and willing to learn and grow from the loss to the Volunteers. 

And, at the end of the day, that’s the thinking NC State needs to have moving forward. Doeren hopes this is a way that the Wolfpack can avoid one loss from turning into more of the same as the season continues on. 

“It’s a loss you want to use to prevent further losses in the same manner,” Doeren said. “There’s a ton of opportunity to do that. When we win, we all win. And when we lose, we all lose. There’s no finger pointing, blaming. Everybody’s at fault, and it starts with me.”

The letdown loss put the Wolfpack in a spot where it has Louisiana Tech visiting Carter-Finley Stadium this weekend before ACC play opens at Clemson the following week. Doeren and the Pack are focused on using this weekend’s game as a chance to get right before playing the Tigers in a pivotal conference game. 

“I look forward to the opportunity to grow and come back and respond in the appropriate way with resilience and grit, which is something that we’ve always done,” Doeren said. “The best way to do that is to get back to work.”

NC State’s preseason goals included an ACC Championship, which is still in reach for the Wolfpack. And Doeren does not want a Week 2 loss to affect the big-pictuire goals of teh program.

“It’s an early loss in the season,” Doeren said. “There’s a lot of football to play, 10 games with all of our goals still intact. I look forward to that. Our DNA has always been to continue to fight at this university and overcome things. We’ve got a lot to focus on.”

NC State leaning on veteran leadership

As NC State met Sunday, following the blowout loss in Charlotte, the Wolfpack’s leadership core appeared to step up to rally the team. 

“This is a group that has some good leadership in it,” Doeren said. “It has a lot of guys understanding what we need to do. It’s not like we haven’t faced adversity before. There wasn’t a lot of panic in there. We know we’re better than that.”

The Wolfpack leaned on five veterans, among others, Doeren said. The main leaders that stepped up included graduate quarterback Grayson McCall, graduate running back Jordan Waters, senior defensive end Davin Vann, senior linebacker Devon Betty and redshirt junior linebacker Sean Brown, according to Doeren. 

“Our leadership council has a lot of strong leadership in it,” Doeren said. “So some of it is vocal, some of it is more intentional about what they do when they’re here.”

Each time a new leader stood up in front of the room, Doeren said they each shared their own experience of overcoming adversity. The theme of the message seemed to be sticking together, and the coach believed that the roster needs to do that with what those outside the building think of the team. 

“The way things are, you’re only as good as your last game,” Doeren said. “There’s a lot of overcoming the outside noise in college athletics. It’s for them to understand that, stick together and get back to it.”