NC State football used the bye week to reset, refocus for the final 5 games

NC State thought its bye week was coming at the right time after its 24-3 loss at Duke last weekend, and after the Wolfpack went through it, coach Dave Doeren confirmed that Monday.

“Good time for the bye week,” Doeren said. “It came at a good time after seven straight weeks. Bye weeks are for a lot of things. It starts with reflection and study, internally as coaches looking at our calls and our rules, and then going to your personnel.”

Doeren said the team looked at its first seven games to see where they’ve done well in all facets of the game: offense, defense and special teams. Not only did it give the Pack a good opportunity to self-scout, but it was also a chance for the team to get a mental reset. 

NC State had an up and down first seven contests, which was capped by the emotional loss at Duke. Last week gave the Wolfpack the opportunity to refocus on the final five games, Doeren said. 

“I think the reset is real,” Doeren said. “You can really get hung up in seven games, and here’s where we’re at — the good, the bad, the ugly. But what you have left is five games, and that’s where the focus has to switch. … It’s not what the last seven were, you want to identify the things you want to improve and create that mental picture of what you want that next five to be.”

Doeren looked at the Duke game, which he said was the team’s best game in terms of throwing and receiving, but it didn’t show since NC State found itself behind the chains most of the game due to penalties. 

Those self-inflicted mistakes held the offense, which logged its best point output the week before against Marshall with 48, to the fewest points since 2014. 

“But the bottom line is, it’s executing,” Doeren said. “We scored 48 points two weeks ago, and a week later it takes you seven drives to not have a penalty or a drop. It’s pretty obvious when you come out of a game like that what you have to do.”

The Wolfpack practiced twice last week to grow from the Duke loss, which the team focused on its fundamentals. Doeren felt as though if NC State worked on the basics, the team could get better collectively as a unit. 

He called it the “1% improvement” each day in practice, and that remains a focus this week ahead of the Wolfpack’s contest against Clemson inside Carter-Finley Stadium.

“I think it’s everybody locking in on the little things at each spot that they can do better, and collectively we will get better by individually getting better,” Doeren said. “That’s the thing we’re focusing on.”

But that Duke game is still fresh in the team’s mind. While the bye week served as a chance to put it behind them, the Wolfpack have not forgotten about it. 

Doeren said the team was “embarrassed” after that loss. 

“There were a lot of heartfelt conversations about stepping up, and guys owning what they need to do better,” Doeren said. “I think leadership starts with ownership. … I think that happened.”

The 11th-year coach said the offense had conversations this week on how they can learn from the loss to the Blue Devils. He noted that it appeared the team was “playing not to lose instead of playing to win.”

That mindset leads to a slight hesitation on the field, Doeren said. Instead, he wants to see the team play at “100 miles an hour” and if mistakes happen, they can learn from them and move on. 

So far, he’s been happy with the offense’s leadership, which has been led by graduate center Dylan McMahon and sophomore quarterback MJ Morris. 

“MJ has done a nice job speaking to those guys,” Doeren said. “Dylan McMahon has done a nice job in that role. I look forward to the response. That’s one thing as a coach that you hope for, that they’ll just keep fighting. This team has never shown that it won’t.”

Doeren is confident in his team’s ability to rebound, and it will start against Clemson this weekend as the Wolfpack are two wins away from bowl eligibility with five contests to play.