EXCLUSIVE: NC State football coach Dave Doeren reflects on threats, UNC win and next year's QB1
RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State football coach Dave Doeren finally had some time to reflect on last Friday’s 30-27 double-overtime win over UNC and a regular season anchored by adversity.
The jubilation he felt as he celebrated with fans in the corner of Kenan Stadium — tearing off his pullover to reveal a “Light it Red” T-shirt moments after Tar Heels kicker Noah Burnette's 35-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right — has faded into an appreciation for a win that came after a three-week stretch he calls the “hardest in my career.”
It started with a 21-20 loss to Boston College on senior night, where true freshman quarterback MJ Morris suffered a lower-body injury that would keep him sidelined the rest of the regular season, and the Eagles would score a game-winning touchdown after a controversial fourth down interference call.
Almost three weeks later, the Nov. 12 call still bothers Doeren.
“It was a game that was stolen away on an officiating call against a player, (linebacker) Drake Thomas, who is up for conference player of the year and made a great play in a moment in the game where you never see flags,” Doeren told the USA TODAY Network. “That one hurt. It wasn’t just a bad call. I mean, it took something from a bunch of guys that have been through a lot.”
On Nov. 13, tragedy struck the ACC as three University of Virginia football players were fatally shot on a bus by a former UVA player as they returned to campus from a field trip.
Doeren received a threat from former NC State football player Joseph Boletepeli on Nov. 14, who posted on Twitter that “Imma get him I promise. Dave Doeren and the rest.”
DOERENNC State football's Dave Doeren still angry about pass interference penalty against Boston College
It was not the first time Boletepeli had threatened Doeren, and according to an arrest warrant issued by Wake County, Boletepeli had been seen multiple times near Doeren’s office at the Murphy Center.
“The next day I get a threat and I’m dealing with that,” Doeren told the USA TODAY Network this week. “So, we’re locking down our campus and our athletic department and I’m trying to meet with officers about my safety and my family’s safety. It’s like, ‘Jesus, I just want to coach football.' ”
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NC State lost its next game, 25-10 at Louisville, as the offense rotated between Jack Chambers and Ben Finley – a member of the scout team to start the season – at quarterback. It was Finley who showed the most promise in defeat, prompting Doeren to name him the starter after it was clear Morris would not be able to return for the regular season finale against the Tar Heels.
The Wolfpack entered the rivalry game starting its fourth quarterback of the season but were also missing starting center Grant Gibson and three starters in the secondary. Finley outplayed UNC's Heisman hopeful, Drake Maye, as NC State (8-4, 4-4 ACC) handed its biggest rival a defeat on senior day.
“Finley gets a lot of the talk, and deservedly so being a fourth-string quarterback this year and everything, but it’s way deeper than just him,” Doeren said. “That taste of victory against, well, that game means a lot with all the things we had to overcome. That was a huge, huge moment. You got to see some pure joy in the locker room.”
The win may, as Finley said postgame, put “a big ol’ Band-Aid on the season” but the Wolfpack underperformed in terms of the expectations that followed them into 2022 after a nine-win season the year before. Doeren himself said in August the goal was to “win a championship.”
But as his team awaits a December bowl game: He told the USA TODAY Network it will be between the “Florida bowls and the Charlotte one," Doeren believes his team overperformed considering the multiple injuries at quarterback.
For reference: Clemson has four starting quarterbacks win a win since 2015 while Wake Forest has four starting quarterbacks with a win since 2014. NC State has a chance for the fourth nine-win season since Doeren took over in 2013.
Fun fact: NC State won games started by four different starting quarterbacks this season.
Clemson has four starting QBs with a win since 2015.
Wake Forest has four starting QBs with a win since 2014.
Penn State has four starting QBs with a win since 2013.— 💫🅰️♈️🆔 (@ADavidHaleJoint) November 29, 2022
“I think it was a great season,” Doeren said. “To win eight games with four quarterbacks, like, if you told me at the beginning of the year, we were going to do that I would’ve said, ‘hell yeah, I’ll take that.’ I don’t know who else has done that.”
Three of those quarterbacks: ACC preseason player of the year Devin Leary, Morris and Finley can return next season. Leary suffered a season-ending injury on Oct. 8 against Florida State and had successful surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle on his right side nine days later. He has one year left of eligibility while Morris and Finley have three.
Leary told the media on Nov. 1 that he was focused more on recovery than his future.
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This week, Doeren told the USA TODAY Network that he expects Morris and Finley to return next season. He wasn’t as confident with Leary but added it would be because he decided to turn pro, not enter the transfer portal.
“I’ve never heard anything about transferring (from Leary),” Doeren said. “I don’t think Devin Leary would go anywhere. He’s going to start. He’s a starting quarterback. I think his mindset, like you’d expect going into the year, was that he was going to have a great season, win a bunch of awards and go to the NFL. I think all he’s trying to do right now is decide if that’s the right course or is it to come back and have another year of college football under his belt.”
Morris led NC State to a comeback win over Virginia Tech and a 30-21 victory in his first start against No. 21 Wake Forest the following week before the injury against Boston College. Finley was asked after the win against UNC if he planned to compete for the starting job next season.
His response:
“I don’t have any expectations right now,” Doeren said. “I told them all we’ll get through the regular season, get some time to heal up and get away from it, and then sit down and talk and make good decisions when we have all the information in front of us. But I expect MJ and Ben Finley to be back, for sure.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: NC State football coach Dave Doeren reflects on UNC win, QB1 next year
