RALEIGH, N.C. -- Dave Doeren spoke on the decision to cancel the Wolfpack's 2025 game at App State.
Doeren appeared on the Josh Graham Show at the ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte Thursday and, among other topics, discussed the decision to cancel the game at Kidd-Brewer Stadium in favor of a home-and-home non-conference series with Virginia, pointing out instruction from the ACC not to play road games against mid-major schools.
"We were asked by the league to play as many Power 5 games as we can," Doeren told Josh Graham of WSJS. "We were also told not to play mid-major games on the road because it's not good for television, it's not good for the rankings that we're trying to have to be in the top 11. Getting another Power 5 game against a team that we weren't playing a lot in Virginia that has a state line between us made sense.
"It's not anything against App State. I'm a huge App State fan. I have a son that goes to App State. I love Sean Clark. But I have to protect our league and I have to protect our university. They asked us not to play on the road against teams that aren't Power 5. That's a pretty clear statement."
Canceling the game against App State, an in-state opponent as well as one of the best non-power 4 programs in the nation, drew both praise and criticism from different strains of the college football world. On one hand, improving the Pack's strength of schedule by avoiding the chance of a loss in Boone helps its chances at a spot in the College Football Playoff.
On the other hand, moves like this make it harder and harder for mid-major programs to grow, further increasing the gap between Power 4 and non-Power 4 schools. Doeren experienced the other end of this dilemma in his previous job at Northern Illinois and spoke on the need to balance that hardship with looking out for his own program.
"You have to look at your strength of schedule," Doeren said. "It's got to be something that matters to you. For us, playing nine or 10 Power 4, Power 3 games, whatever you're going to call these leagues here now, it matters. When I was the head coach at Northern Illinois I couldn't get anyone to play me in-state. All of our Big 10 games were -- we played Iowa at Soldier Field. We played Wisconsin at Soldier Field. We played at Wisconsin. But nobody would come to Northern Illinois and play. I understand what it's like to be at App or at ECU or at these places that want to play up."
"But again, it comes down to your schedule. Sometimes it's out of our control. When are we going to have Notre Dame on there? That adds another game. You have to do everything you can to put the toughest teams you can to help you in the ratings because if you lose to one of those teams, it crushes you. And if you beat them and you don't gain anything out of the win, what's it helping?"
When it was all said and done, the Wolfpack took direction from the ACC to cancel that 2025 matchup in Boone, instead booking a home-and-home with the Cavaliers. NC State will host Virginia in a non-conference capacity in 2025 before running it back in Charlottesville in 2026.
Doeren appeared on the Josh Graham Show at the ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte Thursday and, among other topics, discussed the decision to cancel the game at Kidd-Brewer Stadium in favor of a home-and-home non-conference series with Virginia, pointing out instruction from the ACC not to play road games against mid-major schools.
"We were asked by the league to play as many Power 5 games as we can," Doeren told Josh Graham of WSJS. "We were also told not to play mid-major games on the road because it's not good for television, it's not good for the rankings that we're trying to have to be in the top 11. Getting another Power 5 game against a team that we weren't playing a lot in Virginia that has a state line between us made sense.
"It's not anything against App State. I'm a huge App State fan. I have a son that goes to App State. I love Sean Clark. But I have to protect our league and I have to protect our university. They asked us not to play on the road against teams that aren't Power 5. That's a pretty clear statement."
Canceling the game against App State, an in-state opponent as well as one of the best non-power 4 programs in the nation, drew both praise and criticism from different strains of the college football world. On one hand, improving the Pack's strength of schedule by avoiding the chance of a loss in Boone helps its chances at a spot in the College Football Playoff.
On the other hand, moves like this make it harder and harder for mid-major programs to grow, further increasing the gap between Power 4 and non-Power 4 schools. Doeren experienced the other end of this dilemma in his previous job at Northern Illinois and spoke on the need to balance that hardship with looking out for his own program.
"You have to look at your strength of schedule," Doeren said. "It's got to be something that matters to you. For us, playing nine or 10 Power 4, Power 3 games, whatever you're going to call these leagues here now, it matters. When I was the head coach at Northern Illinois I couldn't get anyone to play me in-state. All of our Big 10 games were -- we played Iowa at Soldier Field. We played Wisconsin at Soldier Field. We played at Wisconsin. But nobody would come to Northern Illinois and play. I understand what it's like to be at App or at ECU or at these places that want to play up."
"But again, it comes down to your schedule. Sometimes it's out of our control. When are we going to have Notre Dame on there? That adds another game. You have to do everything you can to put the toughest teams you can to help you in the ratings because if you lose to one of those teams, it crushes you. And if you beat them and you don't gain anything out of the win, what's it helping?"
When it was all said and done, the Wolfpack took direction from the ACC to cancel that 2025 matchup in Boone, instead booking a home-and-home with the Cavaliers. NC State will host Virginia in a non-conference capacity in 2025 before running it back in Charlottesville in 2026.
