NC State HC Dave Doeren: ‘The defense played extremely well; the offense did not’
For the second-consecutive season, NC State scored 10 points against Louisville. During the 2022 season, the Pack struggled due to a myriad of injuries that included quarterbacks Devin Leary and MJ Morris, and the program lost on the road.
This year, head coach Dave Doeren did not hesitate to acknowledge how the Wolfpack fell short Friday night against Louisville. The program mustered 10 points and 201 yards of total offense.
“There’s really not a whole lot to say,” Doeren said. “The defense played extremely well; the offense did not.”
Doeren pointed out that the Pack played a solid first half. It scored 10 points with just 86 total yards to complement a shutout effort by the Wolfpack defense. The Wolfpack did not build on that momentum coming out of the break, bookending a second half that included 4 punts and 3 turnovers with a pair of interceptions.
Quarterback Brennan Armstrong finished the night 13 of 25 passing for 112 yards. For the first time in his brief Wolfpack tenure, he did not account for a touchdown. Despite those struggles, Doeren said emphasized with the signal-caller in the locker room after the game that this is a team loss.
“There are a lot of things that happened around him that made it a hard night at that position too,” Doeren said.
NC State’s offensive line allowed 4 sacks, 8 tackles for loss and 2 quarterback hurries, including 1 that led to the game-deciding interception.
Moving forward, the head coach maintains full faith that Armstrong will take full accountability for those miscues.
“He’s hard on himself, first of all,” Doeren said. “Nobody feels worse than Brennan does right now. We’ve got work to do with the whole team, and I know he’s going to own his part of it.”
Sometimes, NC State’s pass protection broke down. At other points, Louisville covered the Wolfpack receivers well. NC State spent a lot of the game behind the chains, which hurt the offense’s efficiency. The Pack finished the game 3 for 15 on third down.
Pre-snap penalties and holding miscues also cost the Pack.
“You can’t beat yourself,” Doeren said.
Doeren knows the chain of blame from a college football fanbase. The coach comes first, followed by the quarterback.
“That’s what people do, I understand that,” Doeren said. “That’s the sport we’re in, but that’s not what I’m going to do. I’m going to get in there with these guys and try to help them get better.”
Sophomore wide receiver Terrell Timmons Jr., one of the Pack’s few offensive standouts. He hauled in 3 receptions for 71 yards. After the game, he said the team needs to focus on staying together moving forward. NC State’s locker room is a tight group, and he remains confident in their bonds persisting through this loss.
“We all love each other,” Timmons said. “It’s a brotherhood in the locker room, so a loss like this is not going to get in between us.”
Timmons said he believes the Wolfpack is playing well. The offense just has to “finish games together as a team.”
NC State dropped to 3-2 Friday night, and Doeren is now focused on taking the next steps necessary to improve.
“You have to stick together,” Doeren said. “You have to pull for each other, and we have to get better in these areas. As coaches, we have to do an incredible job of helping them through that and putting them in position to be more successful.”
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