NC State Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren had some interesting things to say about play-calling criticism after the team’s loss to the in-state rival East Carolina Pirates, but who should be at fault?
Dave Doeren Deflects Playcalling Criticism Following NC State’s Ugly Military Bowl Loss
NC State began the 2024 season with high expectations.
Led by former Coastal Carolina Chanticleers quarterback Grayson McCall — who holds nearly every career passing record at his former team — the Wolfpack opened the season as the No. 24 ranked team in the nation.
McCall retired in early October due to repeated head injuries, only appearing in four games for NC State. True freshman quarterback CJ Bailey stepped in and performed well, but the disappointing season had already begun.
The Wolfpack were the epitome of an average football team, never falling one game above or below .500 throughout the entire season.
They ended the season with a 26-21 loss in the Military Bowl to the in-state rival East Carolina Pirates. The fact that the game ended in a massive, bench-clearing brawl, with eight players ejected, didn’t help matters.
After expressing embarrassment for the brawl in his post-game press conference, Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren had to answer questions regarding play-calling.
Relative to the coach-speak norm, he didn’t take it particularly well.
“Easy thing to do is to blame a play caller when there’s 11 guys on the field needed to block, run, and catch,” Doeren said. “It’s everyone’s fault. Always looking to see if we could’ve called better plays. It’s easy to point the finger at that one guy.”
It is not an answer you hear every day- and potentially not something that players in the locker room want to hear after an emotional loss. The least Doeren could do is take the blame and move on. Instead, he spread it out across the whole offense, true freshman quarterback and all.
The play calling in question may have been surrounding running back Hollywood Smothers.
In the first half, Smothers carried the ball 11 times for 89 yards — an exceptional 8.1 yards per attempt. The redshirt freshman then went over a quarter without seeing the ball as the Wolfpack fell behind 20-7.
After a Bailey touchdown pass brought NC State within six, Smothers was reinserted back into the game with just over 11 minutes remaining. After a four-yard carry, he promptly ripped off a 23-yard run into East Carolina territory. On the very next play, he caught a screen pass from Bailey and ran 33 yards untouched into the end zone, giving the Wolfpack a 21-20 lead.
The very next possession, Smothers broke multiple tackles on a 22-yard rush, again pushing the ball into Pirate territory.
He touched the ball only once more in the final six minutes, a measly nine-yard check-down reception on the Wolfpack’s second-to-last play of the game.
Smother’s final stat line: 15 carries for 139 yards, along with two catches for 42 yards and a touchdown. It was an impact performance, complete with only six touches in the second half.
What would the explanation be for that?
A redshirt freshman running back on a heater in the first half suddenly doesn’t receive another touch until midway through the final quarter. Is that the player’s fault?
Apparently, for Doeren, “it’s everyone’s fault.”
The least he could do was shield his players from further criticism. He failed to do that — and may face further criticism for those very comments.
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