Triangle Football Roundup: Week 2 pregame notes and quotes

Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network

RALEIGH/DURHAM/CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – All three Triangle-area teams host opponents on Saturday with identical 6 p.m. kickoffs taking place at Wallace Wade, Kenan, and Carter-Finley stadiums.

The Duke Blue Devils (1-0) host the North Carolina Central Eagles in the Bull City Gridiron Classic, while across 15-501 the North Carolina Tar Heels (0-1) host the North Carolina A&T Aggies, and down I-40, the N.C. State Wolfpack (1-0) kicks off against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels.

Quotes from each coach’s weekly media and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) coaches teleconferences.

Blue Devils excited to host Eagles in renovated Wallace Wade

Playing the first home game is so significant in so many ways,” Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said.

“Obviously first, it’s the opening of the stadium. I think both schools will benefit. It’s going to be gorgeous, and the spectators are in for a treat. They’re much closer to the game. That’s huge. I think it’s great for our players, this opportunity to come through a tunnel that’s been renovated onto a playing surface that’s first class. I know our seniors have talked about it a lot. I also think it’s meaningful because it’s the Bull City Classic – it’s Durham on display. North Carolina Central has certainly done their part. They played exceptionally well in their opener in all three phases.”

“We want to build upon our ability to tackle,” Cutcliffe said regarding making improvement from Week One.

“I thought we tackled well. We’ll be really tested by a very gifted, athletic, fast football team. I want to see if we can continue that trend. I want to see our offensive line play as well as it can play. I think it played well, but I don’t think we played as well as we can play.”

“Recruiting has continued each year to grow,” Cutcliffe stated when speaking of his team’s athletic ability.

“We said from the very beginning we were going to recruit speed. I do think we’ve done that. Our defensive front is athletic, we have athletic linebackers – we can run at wide receiver, our backs everybody knows are good. I think we’ve done a good job of evaluating offensive linemen. Athleticism is not just skill players. When your team really gets better is when you play athleticism on both lines of scrimmage. We’ve got a ways yet to go there, but it’s something that will continue to grow.”

Tar Heels meet Aggies for first time ever

“We’re looking forward to playing at home,” UNC head coach Larry Fedora said of facing N.C. A&T.

“We’ve got a first-time ever game against A&T who’s coached by Rod Broadway, former player here, former coach here. Bringing a team in that won a share of their title last year and is projected to win it this year. We’re looking forward to a good football game…I would imagine they would come in here with a lot of confidence and expect to play winning football.”

“Well, we’ve got to do a better job of stopping the run,” Fedora said of improvements he’d like to see from the defense.

“That’s going to be very important. (Against South Carolina) we had a few missed tackles that created some explosive plays. Then we can’t give up a catastrophic play.”

“I know they’re going to come in here and play extremely hard,” Fedora commented on what he expected A&T to present to his team.

“Rod is going to have them ready to play. They’re going to play really hard. They’ll be well-disciplined. They’ll be a team that has got a great game plan. They’re going to come in here and try to win a football game as you would expect. The receiver that they’ve got is a big-time receiver that makes a lot of catches and he’s really long and plays high. So, he will be another matchup problem for us…If you look at the film, first thing, not only do we look at the first game, we look at all of last year’s games. It’s how hard he’s got them playing. They play with tremendous effort, all those guys. They play extremely hard. Anytime you have that kind of a ball club, you’re going to create problems.”

Wolfpack working to stay disciplined against Colonels

“Finishing with last week’s game we’re very proud of the execution we had on offense, the lack of penalties, the way we were able to control the clock, execute on third down and fourth downs, and the way we threw and caught it so efficiently,” N.C. State head coach Dave Doeren said.

“Defensively, there were four plays that took away from a pretty good performance, but it’s a good learning experience for those guys. “

“Week Two is about discipline,” Doeren stated when talking of the focus for the game against Eastern Kentucky.

“Eastern Kentucky went 9-2 in the playoffs last year, 1-0 this season and scored 52 points in their opener. They are the 14th ranked team in the FCS. It’s a team with a lot of tradition. Historically, it’s the second winningest program, has made 21 trips to the playoffs, and is a team with a lot of the players in the NFL and has some players on their team now that have a chance to do that as well.”

“Every game has been sold out for the season, as well as our parking, and so the fans are doing their part, and we’ve said many times and will continue to say how much we appreciate their loyalty and passion,” Doeren said of the Wolfpack faithful.

“The thing I loved about the (Troy) game is that they were there the entire game, and it rained. In the pregame there was actually a rain delay, and sometimes that hurts your crowd, and it didn’t hurt ours at all. The fans were strong and they were loud, they were here the entire time, and that helps our recruiting and helps our players. They feed off of the fans.”