Virginia Tech Hokies College Football Pregame Quote, 09/09/2019

Thanks again to everybody that came out last Saturday to support our team and I hope you’ll return again this Saturday. We have a heck of a challenge with Furman coming into town. Coach [Clay] Hendricks has done a fine job with those guys, fantastic on the offensive side of the ball right now, they’re averaging 44 points a game. I watched the film last night and their quarterback is playing at an incredible level, he runs it, throws it and then the triple option spreads you out. They do a little bit of everything. I was even more shocked to learn he’s a redshirt freshman today. A really a talented team that went toe-to-toe with Georgia State, who beat Tennessee at Tennessee. They’ve got skilled players and a great team. Defensively, they’re mixing up fronts and going back and forth, so that’s going to be a challenge for us. We’ve got to have a great week of preparation this week, continue to build. It’s obvious we’re not a finished product. Things we talked about yesterday, we’ve got to continue to get embrace the challenge of trying to improve as coaches and as players. We’ll continue to try and get better in all three phases.

On the performances of the young offensive lineman:

We’ve got a lot of work to do, we played a bunch of those young guys, a couple true freshmen, a couple redshirt freshmen, and I may be wrong, but the oldest guy might have been a sophomore. So, lots of work to do with all those guys. At times they played well, and at times showed some inexperience. We’ve got to do a good job as coaches. We got young pretty quickly, so we’ve got to do a good job of putting them in good situations, not asking them to do too much and then letting them cut it loose and go play.

On what he looks for when evaluating young offensive linemen on their in-game performance:

Physicality is certainly something. There’s quite a bit that goes into playing on the offensive line in terms of understanding and technique and there’s obviously a physical part of it in terms of maturity, growth and strength. Some guys have all, or none of those things coming in and it’s our job, as the years go by, to increase all those things. We do have a couple young guys that are pretty far advanced in terms of, you know, they’re physically advanced, and they’re pretty sharp kids that I think will pick things up quickly.

On the defensive line’s struggles in creating pressure without blitzing:

The disappointing thing for us as a team is how we played situational football last week on both sides of the ball. Four-minute offense, we fumbled twice. Defensively, we were trying to essentially just keep them in front of us and not being particularly aggressive. We gave up some big plays in the run game, and that was disappointing. We did get the quarterback off his spot a few times, the line had a couple of nice pass rushes in there, but it’s something we’ve got to continue to bring along. It’s always going to be situational and game-plan based in terms of what we’re trying to get accomplished. I thought both sides of the ball played it correctly there in the fourth quarter in terms of coaches realizing there’s no reason to give up anything big on defense.

On whether substitutions of offensive linemen John Harris and Silas Dzansi were injury related:

No, I think they’re fine. Silas [Dzansi] got a little dinged up. He’s a guy that sweats a lot, he’s had some cramping issues before, but they’re both fine.

On backup TE Nick Gallo’s performance:

He’s got a chance to be a really good player, we’re going to keep him moving along.

On WR Damon Hazelton working back from missing some time:

It is an interesting deal. I did not intend to mislead you all. On Sunday’s practice of last week, he looked like a million bucks, he really did. When he came out Tuesday, he just wasn’t himself. So, when I had this meeting last week, I really fully intended on him playing and I expected him to have a great Tuesday, and he just hasn’t. He’s still trying to get over the same thing, I don’t know how long it’s going to be, obviously I kind of stepped out there and felt like he was going to be back last week and he wasn’t, but that was genuinely how I felt at the time.

On evaluating LB Dax Hollifield’s performance:

Yeah, he’s still continuing to develop, he’s picking it up well. Bud [Foster] can get into the nuances of it, I don’t want to overanalyze things. He’s a highly intelligent person. There’s still a lot that comes with playing that position every day and he’s worked some at the other linebacker position too, so he’s got a lot going on. He seems to be handling it on pace in terms of his development.

On what needs to improve in the running game:

Everywhere. We need to a better job coaching, a better job blocking, a better job running. Everywhere.

On WR Phil Patterson stepping in for Hazelton:

I’ve been pleased with Phil [Patterson], he’s had a great summer. He continues to work hard and practice hard, he’s contributing on special teams, as well as making a couple nice plays at receiver. For Phil, it’s just continuing to be disciplined in his technique on a consistent basis, taking care of the ball when it’s in his hands, and just executing his technique. He does have some natural ability.

On eliminating turnovers:

If you look at what we’ve done in two games, we’ve found different ways to turn it over. We fumbled the ball last week, and two weeks ago we had issues with fielding a punt and throwing interceptions. It’s been different sources, but it’s a must for us. We have to do a better job as coaches and as players. You can’t go out there and take a knee every time obviously, but we have to find a way to be aggressive and take care of the ball.

On Jaylen Griffin’s move from linebacker to defensive end:

Well, I think we could probably point to a bunch of things that led to the position change. I think the biggest thing was we had a guy on our team in Jaylen [Griffin] who was working hard and doing what we asked him to do. But he needed a better opportunity to get on the field and that’s where we thought that was at D-end. I think he has done a fantastic job embracing that change. His attitude has always been good, and he’s always wanted to get on the field. I just think the change is giving him a new sense of purpose, or a new lease on life. He’s just really embraced it and continues to get better every day. I’m happy; it’s a testament to him and his willingness to play, and also his open mindedness about our suggestion that he’s embraced it really naturally.

On how Doug Nester’s performance starting at right guard:

Well he’s a perfectionist and he’s got some God-given abilities. He’s a big, athletic human-being, he’s a mature person from a great family. He seems to have picked things up really quickly and embraced his opportunity to play.

On what he thinks it will take for the offense to get into rhythm:

I’ve never understood [the term] rhythm, to be honest with you. I mean you’re in rhythm when you’re executing and ripping off runs and passes, I get that. We have not played as well ‚Äì we’re like every other phase of our team right now. On offense and defense and special teams we just have to find a level of consistency in all areas that will enable us to be better and more efficient.

On finding consistency on offense:

I know I expect us to operate and execute at a certain level every play whether it’s in offense or in a game. We haven’t found that yet.

On Tayvion Robinson’s transition to wide receiver after playing QB in high school:

It was never a discussion for Tayvion [Robinson], ‚Äòhey we’re going to start you at quarterback and if you want to move to receiver we’ll talk about it then.’ It wasn’t like that, Tayvion was a receiver from day one. I’m sure he thinks he can play quarterback if you asked him, but I think he was just mentally and emotionally prepared to jump right in and play wideout. He’s picked it up really quickly and it’s been really natural for him. He’s one of those people where very rarely has he repeated a mistake. He can take correction from the classroom and the field and understands the big picture. He understands where his piece of the puzzle fits in and it seems to have been pretty smooth.

After Paul Johnson left Georgia Tech whether he thought he was done facing the triple option:

Well yeah, we didn’t quite get out of the triple option all the way. I remember Coach Hendrix spent some time at Air Force, and when I was at TCU we used to play Air Force. They had the option and everything else; that’s a totally different animal that we got to be prepared for. They just do a great job teaching their kids.

On the special teams’ coverage units:

I don’t think we were very good at coverage last year especially at punt. And we did struggle to find a punt returner that’s for certain. By the end of the year we were just trying to find somebody to cover a punt because we just weren’t very healthy. Thus far, I’m very pleased with our speed down the field; we look more like we did a couple years ago covering punts. I’m not saying all our problems are solved, but in two games it looked closer to that. We still have missed a couple tackles, particularly in the first game, so we’re improving there. We have some guys who are getting down the field quicker. It was nice to get a big play in the kicking game; I feel like our punt return unit has a chance to be good, we just need to be a little more consistent. We’ve got guys who have some experience who are blocking for Hezekiah or pressuring punts; we just didn’t have very many opportunities to field punts last week. Anyway, I like where we’re going and the pride our guys are taking in it, and I don’t mean to continue to beat the same drum but we’re kind of the same in all three phases of the game. We’re going to continue to embrace the challenge and improve.