NC State played with heavy hearts in loss to Virginia Tech after the passing of DC D.J. Eliot’s daughter

As NC State graduate linebacker Caden Fordham stood at the podium inside the Murphy Center after a 23-21 loss to Virginia Tech on Saturday night, his eyes welled. It was apparent that the captain of the Wolfpack’s defense had tears streaming down his cheeks before entering the postgame press conference, his face red with emotion. 

This loss seemed to touch Fordham, the heart and soul of the Pack’s defense, more than any other had before. It capped the end to what has been a week filled with sadness after defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot’s daughter, Drue, died after a five-year battle with cancer, and the team’s linebacker so badly wanted to earn a victory in her honor. 

“There’s a lot going on with our defense right now, Coach Eliot and his daughter,” Fordham said as he held back tears. “It just meant a lot to me, this game, they all do, but I don’t know. It sucks losing, and every time it hurts. It’s never easy.”

While Fordham wore his grief on his face after the one-score loss — the Wolfpack’s first of the year after it logged a pair of such wins through the first four weeks — he wasn’t the only one that felt that way. It was clear the entire defense wanted to earn the win for Drue, but it fell just short against the Hokies. 

NC State coach Dave Doeren had the same desire. 

“We really wanted to bring Coach Eliot’s family some joy tonight,” Doeren said, “and we didn’t deliver on that.”

Doeren, who is in his 13th season at the helm of the Wolfpack and 15th overall as a head coach, said this was his first time navigating the death of a staff member’s child. While it isn’t a challenge that the veteran coach has had to manage before this moment, he felt like the defense was in a mindset to play well against the Hokies. 

“I can’t even tell you how hard this week’s been, and the kids — emotionally, physically, mentally — were there, and they wanted to play really well,” Doeren said. “To be honest, I thought we’d score a lot more in this game. If you asked me going into it if we’d win if we held them to 23, I would have said yes. But we didn’t get that done. 

“It’s not on the offense, it’s on the team. It’s all of us. We’ve got to perform at a level that allows us to be in position to win every game. And we just didn’t get that done.”

NC State’s offense was outgained 406-299 and was unable to establish a ground attack with just 59 yards on 32 carries. Sophomore quarterback CJ Bailey was sacked a season-high five times in the defeat. 

Although the offense wasn’t able to crack 30 points for the first time since the season opener, the coach placed the onus on the entire team. There were errors on both the offense and defense, including several missed tackles at suboptimal times, that led to the result at hand, Doeren thought. 

But as the Wolfpack fought to earn a win for Eliot and his family, co-defensive coordinator Charlton Warren filled in for the play-caller. Although it was on short notice, Doeren believed that his safeties coach did well given the situation. 

“I thought Coach Warren did a hell of a job putting together a plan with all the things that happened this week with Coach Eliot and his family,” Doeren said. “At the end of the day, we got to make more plays, we’ve got to execute, and as coaches and players, the film is our resume and it wasn’t very good tonight.”

Though the execution wasn’t where it needed to be to earn a win over an inspired Virginia Tech squad with an interim coach at the helm, Doeren saw the desire to uplift its coach in one of the toughest periods of his life. 

“The kids did want to play well,” Doeren said. “They care a lot about Coach Eliot. I think everybody’s heart hurts for him and his family. We wanted to bring them some levity to the situation that they’re dealing with,. It’s tragic.”