How Will NC State Keep Emotions In Check Against ECU?

Moving on from the Brawl

Leadership and the group's 'coachability' have both been recurring themes when Doeren's spoken throughout the offseason. His belief is that the roster improved in both regards, but he won't know for certain until his team takes the field. His outlook on the situation was a unique one, which blended football with another gladiator sport.

• "I think it’s a physical game and the way I compare it is you watch MMA, you watch boxing matches, you see the same things. These guys go in these rings and during that time, that’s the enemy," Doeren said Tuesday. "At the end of it, what do they do? They go up and hug each other. I don’t see it any differently."

The coach believed his team knew better than the way it acted a season ago. Now, he feels the team has a greater understanding of the 'brotherhood' that is football.

• "We want to win the football game; they want to win the football, but you should play it with respect. That has nothing to do with how physical you are during the game. It’s the stuff that doesn’t belong in the game. Our guys know that," Doeren said.

Lessons Learned

Unfortunately, the punishment for NC State wasn't just a hit to the program's reputation. The team will be without starting nose tackle Brandon Cleveland and reserve offensive lineman Val Erickson for the first half of Thursday's game. NCAA rules require players ejected for fighting to sit out the following game. Almost eight months later, the program is still suffering consequences.

The program's motto, 'HTT,' or hard, tough, together, blends a mixture of physicality, chippiness and family. However, after the events of the bowl game, that culture needed to be relearned by some of the members of the team.

• "You're trying to play the game the right way with the respect the game deserves and play it to our standard of play. We talk about hard, tough together, and that's playing football with physicality, but also doing it with class," Doeren said.

Doeren wasn't alone when he fielded questions after the bowl loss in December. Right next to him sat Bailey, equally disappointed in both the result and the brawl. Both were asked how the program would move on from everything that had just happened.

• "Well, it's over now, so we already flipped the page," the quarterback said. "We already flipped that mindset to go get ready for next year ... Everything is in the past now."

Bailey's blunt assessment of the moment was a brave one for a true freshman quarterback to make, but it likely endeared him to his coach more. Like Doeren, Bailey just wanted the team to put its best foot forward in the future. That attitude likely contributed to the quarterback becoming the youngest team captain Doeren has ever selected. While he's moved on from the loss, it doesn't mean Bailey isn't still using it for motivation.

• "In the offseason, I watched it a ton," Bailey said. "Recently, of course, I've been watching a lot of film, so I know a lot about those guys."

The chance to move on will finally be here for Doeren and Bailey on Thursday. What they do with it remains to be seen.

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