Dave Doeren Expects the NC State Defense to Cause Disruption and Takeaways

RALEIGH NC – Coach Dave Doeren and the NC State Wolfpack are set to kick off their 2021 season on Thursday night versus the South Florida Bulls at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Over the past two years, the Wolfpack had some struggles on the defensive side. Last season, they allowed 29.2 points a game and 241.1 total yards a game, ranking them in the 60’s out of 128 college football teams that qualified. However, coach Doeren believes that in 2021 that can change with the veteran group he has.

The Wolfpack’s defensive line is a huge key to their success. Stuffing the run and getting after the quarterback will take less pressure off the secondary and that could go a long way in terms of success.

“The biggest thing I want to see on defense starts with how we play on the line of scrimmage. That is how we will win football games.” Doeren said.

The Wolfpack will be implementing a three-man rotation upfront. The players who grade out the best each week will be the starters heading into the next game. The rotation will consist of Savion Jackson, Corey Durden, CJ Clark, Josh Harris, Daniel Joseph, Davin Vann, and Danny Blakeman. Takeaways and limiting the explosive plays to help the offense is a big expectation coming in for Doeren.

“Defensive takeaways are important with how many times we get the ball back for the offense. Two years ago, we struggled in that area. The more we can set up the offense defensively with the number of takeaways and three and outs, the more points we score and the more games we will win. Lastly, we can not give up explosive plays for touchdowns we just can not. They are going to happen. That is just how offenses are built now. But we got to get them down on the ground and survive the next down and stop them.”

The unit as a whole and especially the defense should improve for the Wolfpack due to their experience. The plan is to simplify the playbook and play fast and aggressively. Only time will tell how much this defense will grow since last season, and their first test will be on Thursday night.