BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech interim football coach Philip Montgomery met with the media Wednesday following the Hokies’ practice in preparation for Saturday’s ACC road matchup with No. 13 Georgia Tech.
Here are some quick-hitting notes from the availability:
» Cornerback Jojo Crim is the only freshman to play in four games at the halfway point of the season. Players can appear in up to four games and still retain their year of eligibility, but the plan is to keep playing Crim. The 6-foot, 171-pound Crim has been part of the three-man rotation at cornerback with Isaiah Brown-Murray and Thomas Williams, and the Hokies have two other cornerbacks (redshirt sophomore Krystian Williams and freshman Jahmari DeLoatch) who are healthy. Caleb Brown had his right arm in a sling while he was standing on the sideline during last week’s game, and Joshua Clarke is expected to miss the season after suffering an ACL injury during the offseason.
“Considering the fact right now we only have five scholarship cornerbacks, there’s not a whole lot that we can do other than play these guys,” cornerbacks coach Derek Jones said Wednesday. “We’ve had these conversations. I’m very close with my group. I recruited all of these guys, so I’m in tight with their parents, so we’ve had these conversations. And going into the year, we thought we would probably be able to redshirt both Jojo and Jahmari. But with everything that’s happened, they’re in the mix right now. My group is banged up. Jojo’s a little bit banged up. Having six more games, you can’t predict what may happen. Those guys are prepared to play, and they’re OK doing that.”
» Backup quarterback Pop Watson has appeared in the fourth quarter against Vanderbilt and Wofford when both games were already decided. He’s attempted one pass and added 29 yards on five carries in limited action.
“Pop’s been great. He’s continuing to grow, continuing to develop,” Montgomery said. “He’s had a great mindset. And he knows where he’s at and how he’s developing and what’s going on with the offense. I’ve been pleased with Pop and what he’s done.”
» For as long as it took Montgomery to think of any other offensive linemen who played as many positions as Tomas Rimac in one season, it took him about as long to ponder how many times the Hokies have trotted out the same offensive line combination in consecutive games. The answer is the first two games before left tackle Johnny Garrett suffered an injury late in the first half against Vanderbilt, and then guards Layth Ghannam and Montavious Cunningham missed multiple games because of setbacks.
“You know how vital it is for those five guys to kind of be on the same page,” Montgomery said. “You’re working beside the same guy, the communication, all that stuff that kind of goes into it, you know, is such an integral part of how you’re going to play offensively. So being able to have so many different lineups out there, it makes it tougher. But I will say our guys up front, they have been resilient and they continue to keep bouncing back and doing what we ask them to do and they’re continuing to grow and get better. And that’s what we’ve got to have. Guys are laying it on the line for each other and whatever we ask, they’re doing.”
» One of those offensive linemen is Jaden Muskrat, who played for Montgomery at Tulsa and transferred to Auburn when Montgomery took over as offensive coordinator. Muskrat followed Montgomery to Virginia Tech but has not played this season. He worked as third-string right tackle during pregame warmups before the Wake Forest game. How much would Montgomery like to get Muskrat in the lineup?
“Right now, wherever we need him,” Montgomery said. “He’s played right tackle the majority of the time, but he’s played guard, he’s played tackle. Hasn’t played as much left tackle as he has right, but has the flexibility to move around. Mostly it’s been right tackle and guard.”
» Jones has known Brent Pry for close to 20 years after the two served on the same staff at Memphis in 2007 (Pry coached the defensive line and Jones coached the cornerbacks). Jones was hired by Pry to coach the Hokies’ cornerbacks when Pry took over as the head coach after the 2021 season. Pry was fired after the season’s third game. Jones said Wednesday he’s been through this situation before when a head coach was fired during the season and he’s also seen friends lose their jobs during a campaign.
“The thing when something like that happens, you just continue to be a friend, and that’s what I’ve done. We continue to talk, we continue to communicate, and he’s cheering for us,” Jones said. “We still do date night together (with their wives) and we still communicate together because life goes on. We all understand in this business it’s about winning and losing ball games, and we didn’t win enough ball games. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t appreciate the opportunity at Virginia Tech, we don’t love our players and we don’t love what we’re doing right now. I’ve talked to him on multiple occasions. He’s rooting for us every week. I’m hoping for the best for him.”
Damien Sordelett (540) 981-3124
damien.sordelett@roanoke.com
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