NC State’s 34-31 loss to Syracuse left interim head coach Todd Goebbel talking about the same thing everyone in the stadium was feeling: the Wolfpack had the game in hand, then let it slip away in the final minutes.
Goebbel opened by crediting Syracuse and coach Brown for a hard-fought win, calling it “a heck of a four-quarter battle.” He said the Orange were “tough,” “physical” and “well-coached,” and added that in ACC play, “they made a few more plays than we did.”
That was the theme he kept coming back to after NC State watched an 11-point lead disappear with six minutes left. When asked how difficult it was to come so close and still fall short, Goebbel pointed to the same sequence that helped keep Syracuse alive on fourth down.
“We had it where we wanted it, and I’ve said it a couple different times. They just made a few more plays. The fourth down play, ironically enough, you know, Jackson Vick makes a heck of a play, it bounces up, they catch it.
So we got to make more of those plays, and then the other team, and we just didn’t do that tonight.”
He said there wasn’t one single issue he could point to from those last five or six minutes. The answer, in his view, will come from the film.
“Nothing in particular,” Goebbel said. “I mean, it comes down to making plays, and they made more than we did, and we’re going to have to go to the film.
Like I’ve said many times, we’re going to look at it tactical, and then we’re going to look at it fundamental, and then we’re going to look at personnel. That’s how we’ll evaluate it tomorrow.
We got to get it fixed, and we got to find a way to win by one more point.”
Syracuse’s perimeter weapons were another part of the story. Goebbel said NC State knew the Orange had talent on the outside, and that those players can make life difficult once the ball gets to them.
“Yeah, I mean, they were talented on the perimeter,” he said. “We knew that coming into the game.
When the ball’s in those guys’ hands, they can do some good things with it. Whether it’s tackling in space or getting off blocks, we got to go back to work tomorrow and fundamentally get better at that, and we will.”
Even in a loss, Goebbel pointed to a couple of bright spots, especially Duke Scott and Jordan Moreta. He said Moreta, a true freshman, has continued to fight through a season that hasn’t gone the way he may have hoped, while Scott battled back from injury to help the Wolfpack.
“It just shows a lot about our kids,” Goebbel said. “You got one as a true freshman that hasn’t played that many snaps.
He’s played in a rotation. Probably not the season that he wanted as a true freshman, but continues to fight, continues to build his role.
Very coachable kid, and played his heart out tonight.
Then Duke Scott coming off an injury, again, with the situation at hand. A guy that fought his tail off for his teammates and for his coaches to get back, and it was good to have him back out there, and he’s getting back to full speed.
He’s not there yet, but he’s getting closer to what we know.”
Goebbel also had high praise for Gause, who was active in both the run and pass game. He called him “amazing in everything” and “the ultimate team player,” noting that he’ll do whatever the staff asks.
“He came in, puts his head down, goes to work, extremely smart football player. He’ll do whatever we ask him to do, whether it be good in the run game, solid in the pass game, protect his quarterback.
He’s just been the ultimate team player, and I’m glad we have him.”
CJ Bailey was another focal point of the postgame discussion. Goebbel said the quarterback’s play helped keep NC State in position to win, and he made it clear how much trust he has in him.
“CJ’s a warrior. He’s a leader for us. At the end of the day, we’re in that game, we’re leading that game because of him.
I got all the love and respect for that young man. He fights, he scratches, he claws. I know the microscope’s on him.
But again, I’ve said it multiple times, I wouldn’t want anyone else back there. Every time CJ Bailey lines up for us, we have a chance to win.”
With NC State now needing wins over Florida State and North Carolina to become bowl eligible, Goebbel said the focus right now is less on the math and more on taking care of the team.
“Our motivating factor is simply take care of these players, make sure they’re in a good headspace, come back tomorrow, get them as healthy as possible.
That’s our biggest concern right now, just get them as healthy as possible and coach them up. At the end of the day, we owe our best to them, and I know they’ll give their best to us.”
He also addressed the defensive stat line, where three of the top five tacklers came from the secondary. Goebbel said that was more a reflection of Syracuse’s approach than a concern about NC State’s front.
“No, it went more what Syracuse was doing. They’re trying to get balls on the perimeter.
It’s more scheme oriented that they had more tackles. There was a lot of perimeter plays, a lot of bubbles, a lot of screens, RPOs, those things, which anytime you design them that way, your perimeter players got to play at a high level and they got to be able to tackle in space. So that’s why they had more tackles.”
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