NC State looking to see growth ahead of Tennessee matchup
NC State did not anticipate trailing Western Carolina going into the fourth quarter last Thursday night, but it did. And in the end, that might have been a key learning point for the Wolfpack, which was able to pull away with a 38-21 win over the Catamounts.
The Pack’s wake-up call came on the scoreboard and it was able to dominate the final 15 minutes to outscore the visitors by three touchdowns in the period.
For NC State coach Dave Doeren, the up and down first three quarters of play against Western Carolina was a good way to see what his roster of 42 new players could do in a time of adversity.
“We didn’t know it would be a test like that,” Doeren said Monday afternoon. “You just don’t know when you get into games like that, what you’re going to see. Obviously, some of what we saw was on us, we didn’t execute well enough. But what we were able to do was see how our guys handle adversity, so we were tested when you have as many new players as we do, new leaders. … You can’t test that in a scrimmage, you have to get into a game and be in the fire.”
NC State, which struggled to run the ball for the first three quarters (3.4 yards per carry), seemingly found the secret ingredient to open that part of its offense up in the fourth quarter (12.4 yards per carry). Yes, while wearing down an FCS defensive line is part of it, the Wolfpack’s offensive line and running backs seemed to gel a little bit more in the waning minutes.
Doeren, however, did not want to single any one person out. Instead, he noted that in the times where the Wolfpack run game could not find a consistent rhythm, it was just the matter of one player doing something wrong.
At times it was just the direction of a blocker’s foot and at others it could have been the running back not waiting for the blocking path to open up. But in the end, the Wolfpack was able to clean its play up as the game went, and Doeren liked that.
“It’s 11-man football. When 10 guys do something well and one doesn’t, it’s usually that one that creates the problem on the play,” Doeren said. “There’s always one thing, but I thought we started playing better 11-man football as the game went on. And that’s the biggest thing.”
Now, as NC State turns its attention to No. 15 Tennessee on Saturday night at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, the Pack knows it can not put up the same performance it did against Western Carolina.
Improving from week-to-week is what the Wolfpack touted a year ago when it fired off a five-game winning streak to close the season. And it hopes to see the same results from Week 1 to Week 2.
The key is the Pack’s “one more” for each player after reviewing the film from the season opener. Doeren is asking each player to get 1% better, which in turn, would create an 11% better team on the field.
“Obviously, we’re playing against a way different opponent this week,” Doeren said. “The skill level, the scheme, their success, all those things. So naturally, you think you have to get 100-times better, you don’t. You need to play 11-man football. We need to do that. How many plays in a row can we play together and improve 1% every player on the field in a certain area?”
This weekend’s game will be decided in the trenches, Doeren said, and the Wolfpack’s fronts appeared to both grow as the Western Carolina game went on. The 12th-year coach expects to see that again in practice this week, hoping for a better result against Tennessee’s vaunted defensive front.
If each NC State player takes what Doeren and his staff are looking for to heart, the Wolfpack feels like it has a chance to leave the Queen City with a win on Saturday night. Now, it is up to the Wolfpack’s players to do the work this week.
“There’s a lot to play for in a game like this,” Doeren said. “That’s what it’s all about. I’m excited for the opportunity. … It’s about executing, doing the fundamentals, your mental preparation, your emotional control. It’s going to be a fun one.”
