DeCock: Still seeking first ACC win with NC State, Doeren feeling pressure

There really wasn't much Dave Doeren could say after watching his record against ACC opponents fall to 0-11; after losing a game that certainly appeared to be part of N.C. State's easiest path to .500 and bowl eligibility.

In the wake of Saturday's 30-14 home loss to Boston College, Doeren could only plead for more time from a fan base that's clearly losing patience, if not interest.

"We're going to do it the right way," Doeren said. "We are. We're not going to cut corners. I'm going to keep my head up. I'm going to keep working my butt off. I'm going to stay positive with our football team. We have a lot of games in front of us. It's frustrating to lose three in a row. I know I haven't won an ACC game. I hear it way more than anybody, trust me. I want to get the monkey off my back. It takes time."

Moments after that impassioned speech, defensive end Mike Rose declared the Wolfpack defense lacked "heart," a slightly different perspective on the same situation.

And still there was no way to explain away the opportunity lost Saturday. Forget Florida State. Forget Clemson. N.C. State plays six games this year that really matter. This was one of them. And the Wolfpack couldn't capitalize.

So if the frustration was particularly acute after this one, the pressure on Doeren especially stifling, maybe that's understandable. Even Doeren acknowledged as much.

"I know I need to win more here," Doeren said. "I get that."

The last time N.C. State won an ACC game was against these Eagles on Nov. 24, 2012. That was Tom O'Brien's last game in charge. Two days later, O'Brien was fired.

The opening seasons of the Doeren regime have gone neither smoothly nor according to plan, with the coach admitting as much Saturday, and yet Saturday was a grand opportunity to take a major step forward.

After taking care of business against four nonthreatening nonconference opponents, the Wolfpack needed only two wins to become bowl-eligible. Two ACC games stood out as realistically and legitimately winnable. This was one. Wake Forest, at Carter-Finley Stadium on Nov. 15, is the other.

That's not to say the Wolfpack can't find another win somewhere along the line, but Saturday looked like as good a chance as any. Then the Wolfpack defense could never really stop the Eagles' running game and the offense sputtered to a halt after scoring touchdowns on its first two possessions.

All of which left Doeren making his pitch to a fan base that has clearly made its discontent known to the coach.

"It's a challenge, every day, building this program," Doeren said. "It's going to take time. We all want microwaved results, me included. I know our fans do. I get it. Two years in a row I haven't had an ACC player on the preseason list. Two years. It's going to take me time.

"At Kansas, we had a bunch of freshmen playing on defense and four years later that defense was No. 1 in the nation. It takes time to build it. I just didn't inherit a cabinet stocked with redshirt seniors. I didn't get that."

The prospects for N.C. State's defense in 2016 may or may not be of consolation to the hardy fans who returned to Carter-Finley Stadium after a 56-minute weather delay just after halftime.

As the Wolfpack's path to a bowl became immeasurably more difficult and the ACC losing streak stretched longer, Doeren was left defending his record and asking for patience. In the absence of an ACC win, it's all he can offer in the face of growing frustration.

This story was originally published October 11, 2014 at 8:57 PM with the headline "DeCock: Still seeking first ACC win with NC State, Doeren feeling pressure."