NC State locker room reflects on exciting win over Florida State

NC State picked up its first ACC win of the season Saturday night, following the leg of kicker Christopher Dunn and his four field goals to a 19-17 victory over Florida State. The Wolfpack shut out the Seminoles in the second half after allowing 3 scores in the first and forced 2 turnovers.

After the game, head coach Dave Doeren, defensive back Devan Boykin, linebacker Drake Thomas and quarterback Jack Chambers all spoke with the media about the thrilling victory.

Jack Chambers steps in and steps up

NC State star signal caller Devin Leary left the game in the third quarter after an upper body injury. He returned to the sideline later in the game with his arm in a sling, and Charleston Southern graduate transfer Jack Chambers took the field.

“My first reaction when Devin went down was ‘dang’ just because that’s a guy that I’ve grown very close with since I’ve been here, like a brother to me now, and I just wanted to make sure he’s alright,” Chambers said after the game.

“Then I’ve got to step up and do my job, do what I came here to do. And I just knew that my team had my back my o-line, my running backs, and the defense, I knew what they were going to do, so we just had to step up and do our jobs.”

He was a vital part of the win, keeping the Wolfpack offense in rhythm following what was an extremely hot start to the half with Leary. His only pass of the game fell incomplete, but he picked up 39 crucial yards on the ground that helped NC State control possession and pull off the win.

“I’m very proud of Jack Chambers coming in and leading the team the way he did,” Doeren said after the game.

This was Chambers’ ACC debut at NC State, but he played a ton of football during his four seasons at Charleston Southern. As soon as he took a hit from a Florida State defender, the nerves were gone and he was ready to lead the team down the field for consecutive scoring drives.

“I was really fine just because, the first thing I did, I think I actually had a run and, once you get hit after that first time, you’re good to go,” Chambers said. “All the nerves are gone. They got beaten out of you.”

Boykin, who helped seal the game with his interception in the final minute, is close with Chambers and expressed complete confidence in him after the win.

“I think we all believe highly in Jack,” Boykin said. “He’s actually my locker mate, so I talk to him every day. Just stepping up in big time games, that’s just something that we expect across the board no matter who goes down.”

The NC State defense responded to adversity and delivered a second-half shutout

Florida State was driving into field goal range in the final minutes of the game, trailing by two. Quarterback Jordan Travis aired out a pass to the end zone, but Boykin recognized the play and was all over it, pulling down the interception.

“It just happened that they had scored earlier on that same route,” Boykin said. “So I kind of knew they was going to go back to it, and it just came down to making a play on the ball.”

That play helped seal a second-half shoutout for the Wolfpack, a near 180-turn from a first half that included over 100 rushing yards for Florida State. Thomas said the defense regrouped in the locker room, and their confidence never wavered.

“We went into the halftime and as a defense, we got together, and we were talking,” Thomas said. “There was no doubt in our mind. We said we were going to win this game, and that we were going to shut them out in the second half. We said that, we spoke it into existence and we went out there and got the job done.”

Doeren had a message for the team at halftime, and the defense responded in a big way. He shouted out defensive coordinator Tony Gibson and the rest of the staff and athletes who made that comeback possible.

“More than anything, it was just looking them in the eye and [saying] ‘This is a gut check men. You’re going to be tested right now as competitors. This is your stadium, so how do you want to look in it? It was more about the attitude change, I think, and the execution than anything.'”