Dave Doeren wants better version of NC State this week

Now having officially started his 10th season as the NC State football head coach, Dave Doeren has banked a lot of memories and experiences. That includes the 2017 season opener when his squad outgained South Carolina in total yards 504-246 in a high profile showdown in Charlotte.

Or the year prior at Clemson when NC State forced 4 turnovers, including a pick six, and dominated the line of scrimmage against the eventual national champions.

Yet, NC State lost each game despite being a deserving winner.

Hence, this is why no one should expect Doeren to apologize for winning “ugly” Saturday at East Carolina, a 21-20 victory over the Pirates that hinged on ECU missing two kicks — an extra point and a field goal — in the final 3 minutes.

“There’s no such thing as an ugly win,” Doeren insisted. “Nobody discredits you for winning a football game at the end of the season in any form or fashion.

“And I will say that ECU is a really good program, and those guys are going to be an exceptional team this year in their league.”

Perhaps the best part about what happened Saturday is that the win makes the lessons easier to absorb, and there were lots to learn from in Greenville.

Doeren, for instance, noted that the NC State defense that was top-5 in the country a year ago for fewest missed tackles may have set a record for the most in one game in Doeren’s tenure.

“I take the blame for that,” Doeren said. “We didn’t tackle enough in training camp, obviously.”

Doeren cited his ambition to have his veteran team healthy for the opener as the culprit for the poor tackling results.

“It’s a balancing act,” Doeren said. “You guys know how many players I’ve had hurt in the past couple of years, and we were very cautious — probably too cautious — to make sure that we had everybody healthy for Game 1.

“We did, so it was mission accomplished. The price we paid maybe was not having enough contact that would have made us a little better. I think I would still go with what happened. I think I’d still rather have a healthy team in the opener.”

The lack of success on two goal line series was most frustrating for Doeren, as was the lack of complementary football.

On review of the goal-to-go plays, including four straight runs from the 1-yard line, Doeren noted a combination of factors. The coach also felt that NC State would have scored on a quarterback sneak had a late whistle not halted the play.

Doeren additionally believes NC State fifth-year redshirt junior quarterback Devin Leary missed an opportunity on a play-action pass to connect with fourth-year junior running back Jordan Houston for a score.

And like the fans, the coaches second-guessed some of their own calls.

“It’s going to be really good film, and we’ve got to make sure that we’re putting ourselves in the best position to get points on the board,” Doeren said. “You get to the 1, and in my career I’ve never had something like that, where I had 7 plays on 2 different drives and not get any points.”

Doeren expects major improvements this week. Although NC State has an opponent from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in Charleston Southern, Doeren decided to forego discussing the Bucs in detail as is per custom during his Monday press conference.

Instead, Doeren noted this is a week devoted to making NC State football much closer to the best version of the Pack.

“Playing from the ranked position, playing from the favored position, that’s something that’s new to our guys, something that they’re going to have to learn to embrace and be better,” Doeren noted. “Understanding we’ve been the team that’s kind of, ‘Hey, we got nothing to lose. Nobody thinks we can win.’ All that.

“Now it’s the other way around, and you do get your opponent’s best shot each week. … It’s nothing that we hadn’t already discussed and talked about. But … sometimes things just have to happen to the younger people for them to believe what you’re saying, and in this case, that was what it was.”

Other Tidbits From Dave Doeren’s press conference

• On the NC State football injury front, the news was not entirely positive but also not worst-case scenario.

Fifth-year redshirt junior linebacker Payton Wilson is day-to-day with a sore shoulder that limited him to 17 first-half snaps Saturday, but an MRI revealed no structural damage for the ACC’s leading tackler in 2020.

His classmate, tight end Trent Pennix, will miss 4-6 weeks with an unspecified injury, but Doeren is happy that Pennix will return during the season and does not need surgery.

• NC State football added Charleston Southern’s former all-conference quarterback Jack Chambers as a transfer addition in the offseason, but Doeren dismissed any implications of Chambers’ move.

“I’m going to be honest, this week is not about Jack Chambers and his time at that school,” Doeren said. “It’s not about that school. Because of how we played this week, I don’t care if we’re playing Clemson or Charleston Southern. This week is about us being the best us we can be.”

• On the decision-making on fourth and goal from the 1, Doeren noted that the analytics and his own intuition declared going for the touchdown rather than a field goal with a 21-14 lead and over 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

“I didn’t get to be a head coach, as young as I was, by being cautious as a coach,” Doeren noted. “We’re going to be aggressive in this program, and sometimes it’s not going to work.

“Not everything is a guarantee but, when it comes to trust and who you are, and sticking with your vision and trusting your guys, I’m going to be that kind of coach. And, if it doesn’t work, at least I’m going down swinging.”