What They Are Saying: NC State Week

10/3/2024 4:10:00 PM | Football

Hear what the Demon Deacons are saying going into the NC State game on Saturday.

By: Andrew Kovar

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Following a difficult non-conference loss last Saturday against Louisiana, the Wake Forest football team will travel to Raleigh for their first road contest of the 2024 season to take on the North Carolina State Wolfpack. The matchup between the Demon Deacons and the Wolfpack will kickoff Saturday, Oct. 5 at noon and will also be streamed on the CW.

Ahead of their matchup, the Deacs met with the media to discuss the matchup and the other news around the Wake Forest program.

Head Coach Dave Clawson
Opening statement
"Before we get going, we just want to send our thoughts and prayers to everybody in Asheville, in the Boone area in Western North Carolina that have suffered because of the hurricane. Just seeing the pictures and the videos, it's absolutely tragic what's happening there. We're going to do a little collection of items for them at our radio show tomorrow night and again, that's just a drop in the bucket. If people are compelled and want to help our fellow North Carolinians, anything and everything would be appreciated. And again, it's just, it's hard to watch. It's really sad and our thoughts and prayers are with them. I know you guys are here for me to talk about football, so we've got to move forward. Again, we've kind of had a couple of tough, heartbreaking losses. I'm proud of the way our players are competing. We're six points away from feeling good about our season but the truth of it is in those critical games and critical times we haven't made those plays, and that's why we are where we are. When the season started, I told our football team that I thought we'd probably have 8-10 one-score games this year and our success would be how we do in those close games, and right now we're 0-2. So we gotta keep working, keep pressing, and put ourselves back in a position to be in those games and then find ways to make plays to win those games. The challenge this week is a very good and very talented NC State team. This is the 12th or 13th time coach Dave Doeren and I have brought our teams against each other, and Dave's an excellent coach. He's the all-time wins leader at North Carolina State. They've had a very consistent, successful program under his leadership. When you look at their roster, you can see why the expectations this year were so high for them. It starts upfront with them, they have 110 combined starts on the offensive line. They're big, they're physical. The tackle (Anthony) Belton is an outstanding player. Their skill is, I mean it's elite. (Kevin) Concepcion was the ACC Rookie of the Year. He's one of the top perimeter players in the ACC. The back they got from Duke, Jordan Waters, we thought was one of the very best running backs in the ACC last year. Noah Rogers, who they got from Ohio State and (Dacari) Collins that they got from Clemson, their flex tight end (Justin) Joly is a good player. The receiver (Jalen) Coit is also a returner for them. Then they have one that we know really well – Wesley Grimes – who certainly looks really, really good on film as well, so they have elite skill. They have a true freshman quarterback; we don't know who we're going to see. We're assuming it's Bailey, but Bailey was a guy that we had in our camp and liked him a lot, we thought he was a really good football player. I'm sure every week that he plays, he gets more comfortable and the offense will evolve around him on the defensive side of the ball. Tony Gibson consistently is one of the best defensive coordinators in the league. Their scheme is unique and he knows exactly what he's doing with it. They know how to fix problems. Davin Vann, the defensive end, he's caused three interceptions on his own. They've scored really four defensive touchdowns the last three weeks, they've had two pick sixes. They had a strip sack that DK Kaufman came off the edge and then they had another recovery that set their offense up at the one yard line. Their defense has really scored 28 points the last three weeks. Caden Fordham, their middle linebacker, he's somebody that we recruited heavily. The nose guard is a really good player. (Brandon) Cleveland, he's a 315 pound guy that can two gap. Their system is really well set up that he can two gap it and Fordham can play ahead of him or behind him. Fordham's their leading tackler in part just because their front is so big and they occupy multiple blockers going into the season. Aydan White is one of the top ranked cornerbacks in the entire country, he's back for them. They have a guy, Devon Marshall, who transferred from Villanova that we really liked and tried to recruit. Again, they're just a really solid, really good football team, and Dave always does a good job of his team. It's getting better as the year goes on. They always seem to play their best football late. Again, it's great to be part of a rivalry, it's the 115th consecutive year that this game's been played. When all the ACC scheduling happened, we were really glad that this rivalry was preserved. This is a game that we get to play every year, but it is certainly a challenge going to Raleigh. It's always a great environment, it's loud. Their fans are always super nice to me and super friendly and they've given me some nicknames that I've never heard before. But it's what makes college football fun is they have a great crowd at NC State and they're really into their football team and [the fans] are a factor too. So this will be a great week, great challenge and an opportunity for us to get our season back on track."

On having so much back-and-forth in this series the last few years
"The first three years we were here, they got after us pretty good. I mean they beat us in 14 up there and that was a non-competitive game. Then in 2015, they were beating us 21 or 28 to nothing in the first quarter. I just looked at the scoreboard and said times four [quarters], this thing could get ugly, then we kind of settled down. Then we went up there in '16 and they got us, but it was a little bit more competitive – that was the first season that we were good. Then we got them three times in a row. We got them in '17, '18, and '19 and then we kind of traded back and forth in '20 and '21 and the win against them in '21 – that might be one of my favorite wins I've ever experienced as a head coach. The winner of that game was going to win the ACC, and that thing came down to an onside kick that if it rolls six more inches, who knows what happens. We got them pretty good in '19, and obviously they got after us last year. Other than that, these have been really good, really a lot of three point games. When we got them it was by three points and they got us by three points in '22, or '22 might've been an eight point game; but they're great games and our players know their players and they know us. Dave is the second longest tenured coach in the conference and I'm third, so Warren (Ruggiero) and Tony (Gibson) have gone against each other all these years, and they've had some changeover on the offensive staff like we have on the defensive staff. That part of it has been a little different, but the cat and mouse game between our offensive staff and their defensive staff is always fun to watch. Last year they pressured us and we didn't handle it too well."

On if the records go out the window when it comes to a rivalry game like this
"When you look at our schedule up there every year that we play NC State, Carolina and Duke, we know there's an opportunity to win the Big Four. Those games are your red letter games or your highlighted games, and then you kind of get into the season and all of a sudden because you're worried about Ole Miss and you're worried about Louisiana and now the game's suddenly here and you're much more focused on the execution of the game plan. In some ways, those games become bigger when the schedule comes out. Then once the season starts, you get into your routine and you get so caught up trying to fix your problems it becomes, we know who they are, we know the rivalry, but when you prepare for a team, you're preparing for their three stacks. You're preparing for a 6-foot-6 quarterback, you can run and throw. You're preparing for an offensive line that's massive preparing for KC Concepcion. Then when you show up on game day, it hits you again that yeah, this is pretty cool. This is great that you'd be able to coach and play in games like this."

On saying Saturday after the loss to Louisiana that there wasn't anything positive he could say about the defense
"I mean our guys are playing hard. I remember last year walking off the field after NC State and walking off the field against Florida State and we didn't play hard. We didn't compete and I don't feel that way about this year's team. Our football team has given us everything they have and we've got to put them in better positions. But our kids, they're playing their hearts out. I mean Demond Claiborne's kneecap is sideways and he's ready to go in the second half and Luke Petitbon hurts his knee and he's back in there in the second half. We're not happy that we're 1-3, but our players are playing really, really hard. They're giving us great effort. We were behind by multiple scores early in that game and we battled back. Again, not happy with the result, but you can be happy with the effort and how hard and the toughness and you don't always get the result you want. I have a really hard time watching the film and saying that our players aren't giving us everything they have. But it's our job as coaches, right? We don't get paid to try hard and I thoroughly understand that. However, when your players are giving you effort and they're working hard in practice, those things give you hope that if you keep working and you keep pressing, it's the only way things ever get better. We certainly understand the challenge with the opponent, but I enjoy coaching this team every day. I enjoy who they are, the way they go about their business and I don't have any fault with the effort. Now the breakdowns are the breakdowns and those are things that we have to get corrected. The guys that had those breakdowns, some of them were near tears after the game. They were very upset and it really bothers them, which to me is a good thing because they care."

On Nick Andersen indicating after the loss there's been communication issues in the secondary leading to busted coverages
"It's been an ongoing issue, I mean I can't tell you how many times that we address it. I can't tell you all the different things we've done to emphasize it. All these little things that I'm sure the casual fan would never even realize that those things happen, but it really doesn't matter what we do if it doesn't get fixed. Again, anything I say is just going to come out as an excuse and it's unacceptable – you have to be able to get lined up. Part of it is just the half field communication between the safeties, the corners and the nickels and making sure they're on the same page. We've got a veteran group back there, and there's a lot of things on an offensive line you have to communicate that our guys don't have to communicate because Matt Gulbin, Luke Petitbon and Devonte Gordon have played so many snaps together. In the secondary, these guys are all kind of mixing and matching parts for the first time ever. Even though Evan (Slocum) and Nick have played a lot, they can't take it for granted that those other guys know exactly what the check is, and you have to do that in football, based on the formations and the motions. The first, the sprint out touchdown they had, that's an easy one, right? You're in cover zero and they motion across. I can't tell you how many times that we work that in practice. It's like a weekly drill that you get that flood route. If you try to run through everything, you're going to get picked and give up an easy touchdown. That is a day one installation red zone, this is what teams do down here. Then you get to a game and you've got three new pieces and they don't communicate it. So, I can say that we've worked on it. I can say that we've practiced that, I can say it's a weekly drill, but at the end of the day, if you don't get it done in a game, it really doesn't matter how many times you practice it. That's the frustration, and we're learning some pretty expensive lessons."

On if the struggles have bled through to the defensive line and linebackers in terms of not getting pressure
"You know what? It's a good question, and I would just say this. After that game I felt like we didn't get a pass rush. When you watch the game, the amount of times that they threw the ball quickly or moved the pocket, we just did a really bad job on the bootleg game. It's hard to pass rush to boot game, right? It's all movement passes. They create three level routes and we have players that are usually reliable, dependable guys that didn't see the tight end coming back behind the line of scrimmage again. I go out there every week and I watch Coach (Glenn) Spencer's linebacker trails and we see that guy come back all the time, whether it be for bootleg split zone counter. All the linebackers fall back with it and we know if it leaks, one of them has to take it or the safety has to see it. Then at critical times in a game, nobody saw it. Sometimes when you're struggling, guys maybe try to do too much rather than just do their job, and that just leads to bigger problems. There were times that the pass rush could get there if we could have covered for a hair longer, but they threw the ball pretty quickly. They did a lot of access throws, they got the ball out quick and then they moved the pocket a lot and ran a lot of boots.Those aren't things that you're going to secondary contain those things and rally to them late; those are typically not things that defensive tackles or ends are going to. When you play your corners off, you're going to get quicker throws. Then when we press them, then we give up some big plays and follow up to that."

On if he's concerned about any potential opt outs now that the team is through four games played
"I've had nobody come up to me and opt out, so I'm not aware of one player that's going to do that. That doesn't surprise me, we've never had that happen here. Part of it is a lot of times when this happens, it's because a kid felt he was lied to or misrepresented and we're certainly not perfect here, but there's not any player that could ever say that Wake Forest assured me this would happen and then it didn't happen. Our guys care about each other and they enjoy playing together and you'd like there to be some level of peer pressure that they don't want to let their teammates down. Having said that, we're never going to be immune to other things that other people in college football are going through. We're lining up against one of our own this week and that's a decision that guys are allowed to make. We did that last year when we played Notre Dame and that's just college football in 2024. [Wesley Grimes] is a really good player and we worked really hard to recruit him and he thought he had a better opportunity elsewhere and players have the right to do that. There's no ill will, but those are things you just didn't have to deal with four and five years ago, let alone 10 years ago."

Redshirt Sophomore Running Back Tate Carney
On how he felt about his three touchdown game against Louisiana
"Pretty awesome. The first one I was a little bummed because Demond took us down the field and I went in on the one, so I felt bad for him and didn't really know what was going on with him. The other two were pretty awesome. The first one felt weird not feeling happy about a touchdown, but all three of them put together were pretty cool."

On Demond Claiborne
"He is as tough as nails. It was awesome to see him come back and it gave us a little bit of light going into the second half. Couldn't be happier with him."

On the biggest change in the offense this year
"Really just executing those small, little details and doing the little things right. We kind of strayed away from that last year and we've gotten back on the right track this year."

On keeping the defense's spirits up
"You just have to remember that it's a team sport. Last year, that was a flipped coin that was on our side and knowing that it's frustrating for them too, so we just have to keep going and putting points on the board. That's all we can do and we kind of know that. That's the mindset for everybody on the team."

On how Louisiana helps prep the team for NC State
"It definitely helps to get used to that three down front, but nobody does it quite like NC State. We're embracing that challenge this week in practice and we're excited for it. It's not going to take anything crazy from us. We've been productive as an offense, so we've got to continue to do those little things right and be productive on Saturday."

Senior Defensive Lineman Jasheen Davis
On the differences between this year and last year for the defensive line
"Getting the feel of the game. I feel like that teams have now started scheming for us and we just got to find a way to work around it. I feel like it doesn't help either when they get the ball out quickly and I just feel that just by watching film and picking up on tactics in order for us to be able to get back there quicker will help. The season is still early. It's a challenge and we just have to embrace it and go from there."

On the team's mentality
"The greatest thing about football is that it teaches you about life. In life, sometimes things don't go your way or go the way you don't want it to be, so just being able to just have an optimistic mindset and have a growth mindset is key. Things aren't working well for us right now, but we have to go back and really look in the mirror. Everybody has flaws and that's just being part of a team. We have to hold each other accountable and keep our heads up because at the end of the day, the record might show that we're 1-3, but I feel like we're a couple plays off from being 3-1. It's hard to win, so being able to embrace the challenge and doing it at a high level and being disciplined in order for us to capitalize on the mistakes that we've made in the past is important. Tough times don't last forever, tough people do. I feel like we're now in a spot where we're being challenged and it's up to us to embrace it and turn things around."

On how it feels being pack to full strength
"I took two weeks off. It was the hardest two weeks of my life, but I feel like it was good for me to rest up and recover. I didn't want to get back out there on the field and not play to my best potential. I feel like taking that time off it kind of humbled me in a way because I love the game of football and just not being out there on the field made me feel some kind of way. But, I was able to be a good coach and be a good mentor to the young guys. Now that I'm back out there, I'm thankful to be out here and have the opportunity to play football and capitalize on the mistakes that we made previously."

On the NC State game
"It's a rivalry game. We get to play at their own stadium, so everybody is amped up for it. It's just another opportunity. NC State, they're sitting at 3-2, but we're an evenly matched team. We just have to believe in ourselves, believe in our technique, believe in our talent, and believe in our coaching. Being able to play in an environment like that, I don't know who wouldn't want to get juiced up for that. It's an opportunity to show up and show out and I can't wait for it."

Redshirt Junior Offensive Lineman Matt Gulbin
On the turnaround from the offensive line
"Part of it has to do with experience. Some of us last year were first year starters, so experience also helps. It also comes with the approach that we took in the offseason and our mindset going into each week in our preparation. It's kind of a mixture of both of those things."

On the rotation on the offensive line
"That's something that coach preaches is knowing every position. Part of the rotation thing is that it's a long season and it really takes a toll on your body, so maybe a series off here or there will help you stay healthy. It also really helps you understand the offense as a whole when you get to know every single position on the offensive line. I played both guard, center, and tackle last year and that's really helped me in my growth and understanding of the offense, so I like it."

On keeping the team together despite the losses
"We talked about that this week and Coach R talked about it in his talk before the Louisiana game. Talking about discouragement, that's one of the most evilest things that you can think about. In life, once things don't start to go your way, the cowardly thing to do is start pointing fingers. That's not helping anyone and when stuff like that happens you have to look in the mirror and take an internal look at yourself and see what I can do better and keep pushing on. Our locker room is still locked in. Our guys aren't like that. We still have a lot to play for and still have a lot of season and we just have to fix some things on offense and defense, and not point fingers because that's just cancerous."