North Carolina State head coach Dave Doeren met with the local media over Zoom on Monday afternoon ahead of Tennessee’s matchup against the Wolfpack in the Duke’s Mayo Classic on Saturday night in Charlotte.
NC State is coming off an unimpressive week one victory against Western Carolina but is a top 25 team who is looking to compete for ACC Championship this season.
Doeren discussed his prior relationship with Josh Heupel, what impresses him about Nico Iamaleava and more about the Vols on Monday. Here’s what Doeren said about Tennessee.
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Opening statement
“… Excited for the opportunity to play in Bank of America Stadium versus Tennessee. Really good opponent who dominated their opening game against Chattanooga. Explosive offense with really talented players. Up tempo system. Coach Heupel and their staff do a great job making you defend 53 and a third (yards across the field) and doing it in a way where it’s not just dink and dump. It’s run game right at you. It’s RPOs behind you. It’s shots, screens. Getting the ball in space and making you tackle. Playing with tempo. It’s a really good offense. They’re committing to running the football. They were ninth in college football last year in rushing.
Tennessee’s defensive line
Defensively, have probably the best defensive front we’ll play when you look at the depth and talent that they have on their defensive line. Not that we won’t see other talented defensive lines, we will, but with their depth it’s a strength of theirs in my opinion. As you look at all the pieces that are on the field and the skill and names, the front is where it’s going to be at. It’s going to be a trench game to win it.
Tennessee’s offense
I think defensively there’s so many things you have to do well when you play an offense like this but tackling is going to be a premium. They’re going to complete balls, they’re going to throw hitches, they’re going to throw screens, the underneath stuff. We have to do a great job of limiting yards after catches and tackling their backs. Obviously defending deep balls and all of that goes into it but you can’t let a five-yard gain turn into a 10-yard gain. You can’t let a zero-yard pass turn into an efficient play. We have to tackle really well in this football game.
On the Duke’s Mayo Classic as an event
There’s no doubt it’ll be a great environment in Charlotte. Think Danny Morrison and his team with the Duke’s Mayo Classic do a tremendous job with a premium fan experience. I’m excited for both fanbases. Going to be a really passionate group on both sides and a fun game to be a part of.
Nico Iamaleava
Their quarterback, man is he talented. He’s fun to watch. His first college start in their bowl game, he rushed for three touchdowns. Saturday he was completing every ball, throwing accurate, on time, shows touch, shows arm strength, shows mobility. Their running backs run really hard. They protect well. He’s got a veteran offensive line and a deep, fast receiver group that has a lot of different varieties in it. So it’s a great challenge and a great opportunity to have.
Knowing Josh Heupel
Excited about the game, the test, the opportunity to play a team like Tennessee. Two top 25 teams and I know we’ll have a great week of preparation. Look forward to the matchup. There’s been a lot of talk about this game going back to when we scheduled it. I’ve known Josh Heupel a long time. I have a lot of respect for him as a coach, as a player when he was a player. I’ve known him since I was at Kansas. Our head coach there was his offensive coordinator at Oklahoma. One of my best friends in the business, Seth Littrell, and him were teammates. I’ve known Josh a long time and think a lot of him. Excited to compete against him.
General thoughts
These are great games. As a coach, you’re tested. It’s your staff against their staff. You have great players on both sides. It’s a game that’s obviously played in our state against a team whose state line touches ours so there’s a lot to play for in a game like this. That’s what it’s all about. I’m excited for the opportunity. To win games like this, there’s a lot of noise. But that’s not what it’s about. It’s about executing. It’s about fundamentals. It’s about doing the right thing in the game plan. It’s about your mental preparation. It’s about your emotional control. As coaches, getting these guys the best opportunity to play as fast as they can, as hard as they can longer than the other team. It’s going to be a fun one. Really looking forward to the week.”
On the importance of slowing down Dylan Sampson, getting Tennessee in third-and-long
“When you’re playing against an up-tempo, explosive offense, not allowing efficiency is a big deal. As those guys get first downs the tempo only gets harder and harder. Creating what we call off schedule play calling for them is important. Whether that’s an efficient first down or efficient second down on defense. Creating ong yardage third downs and getting off the field, like I said before, that’s the down where if you can keep their offense on the sideline because you are winning the conversion downs and creating winnable third downs through first and second down defense.
Their running backs are good players. They protect the football. They don’t fumble the football. They run hard. They don’t have a ton of schemes. Their guys are good at blocking them. The backs are good at timing them up. They do a good job. It’s a talented group with a good scheme and they’re balanced. Lot of these spread teams you play are not. They’re not committed to running the football. Tennessee clearly is.”
On scouting Nico Iamaleava on a small sample size
“You’re kind of leaning on the Iowa game for some of it. You look at their spring game know that that is DNA and kind of vanilla and then you have the opener where he only played a half of football. You can watch Coach Heupel’s offense for a long time and see what it is. The players within it are going to be what makes it go but the scheme itself hasn’t changed a lot over the years. It’s just the guys that are playing in it and what they’re capable of doing. But it’s week two. Week two in a game where they only played 50% of the game with their starters, so there’s going to be some adjusting. There’s going to be some unknowns and that’s just how it is. It’s going to be the same for them with us. Our offense is going to evolve too as the season goes on from week one to week two in particular. That’s part of the coaching. You get on the sideline and you look at the iPads and see what they’re doing and out guys have to do a great job within the game. Winning their one-on-ones and tackling and using the rules and tools of each side of the ball to adjust the things that we didn’t practice.”
