BLACKSBURG — Philip Montgomery and the Virginia Tech football staff have balanced allowing the players to process the massive change in the program and getting them focused on Saturday’s home game against Wofford.
It’s a delicate proposition. The players who joined the Hokies to play for Brent Pry are tasked with finishing the season under an interim coach. The rest of the coaching staff remains in place, and those familiar voices are hoping the continuity will help over the next nine games as Tech looks to get into the win column.
“There’s not a magic formula and it’s not rocket science. You’ve got to go out and you’ve got to execute at a really high level and you’ve got to play really, really hard,” special teams coordinator Stu Holt said. “And so, those goals don’t change. And these couple practices have been good. But we’ve had good practices leading up to other games.
“So we’ve got to go do it. We’ve got to go out and we’ve got to go do it as a team. So, I mean, I think that the guys understand the importance. I do think that. I don’t know how a week and end of a week and decision like that doesn’t grab everyone’s attention. So in that regard, yeah, probably so. But the preparation, we’re going hard and we’re working hard and trying to eliminate mistakes and play sound football and that’s certainly a big emphasis.”
The Hokies (0-3), coming off back-to-back home losses that led to Pry’s firing, have an opportunity to record their first victory of the season against Wofford. The Terriers also enter with an 0-3 record after a trio of one-score losses, and the Hokies can build momentum with a win entering ACC play.
The Terriers have struggled offensively, but a bend-but-don’t-break defense and strong special teams play have allowed them to remain competitive in the nonconference portion of their FCS schedule.
They lost by one point to South Carolina State and Mercer and fell by four points to Richmond.
“I want us to play complementary football. I want to see us play four quarters,” Montgomery said. “The effort has been there. Even last week, as you look at all of it, our guys were battling, they were grinding to the end, but I want to see us play a complete game and I want to see us feed off of each other and learn how to do that together.”
Wofford’s offensive struggles could aid in the Hokies’ defense getting things turned around.
Tech played well in the opener against South Carolina until an explosive passing touchdown in the fourth quarter allowed the Gamecocks to put the game away.
The Hokies then struggled over six quarters in losses to Vanderbilt and Old Dominion. Those struggles have led to the Hokies ranking 133rd out of 136 FBS teams in yards allowed per play (7.86), 126th in total defense (448 yards allowed per game), 127th in rushing (210.3) and scoring (37.7) defense.
Wofford has one of the FCS’ worst offenses by averaging 62 rushing yards per game, 15.3 points per game and less than 200 yards of total offense per contest.
The Terriers also are converting on less than 18% of their third-down chances.
“They’re a well-coached team and they do a lot of good things offensively. We’ve got to do a good job of having our eyes in the right spot,” Montgomery said. “They put you in some difficult situations, but I know our defense is going to be prepared and ready.”
Wide receiver Donavon Greene said the Hokies’ three fourth-quarter touchdowns provided “something good that we have to watch on film and moving forward,” and Tech will need to build on that with Montgomery on the field calling the plays.
Quarterback Kyron Drones accounted for four touchdowns in the 19-point loss to ODU after accounting for two touchdowns in the first two weeks.
The Hokies found success running the ball before falling behind multiple scores and needing to throw the ball frequently.
Tech tallied a season-high 167 rushing yards against ODU. It had 115 and 114 rushing yards against South Carolina and Vanderbilt, respectively.
“They do a lot of different things with their secondary,” Montgomery said of Wofford. “They change up their fronts, they’re going to bring some pressure at times and so we’ve got to do a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage and having our eyes in the right spot, being able to race back through windows when they’re dropping seven to eight people, depending upon what the situation is, and find those areas where we can work.”
The Hokies converted on red zone trips in the second half against ODU. They found the end zone twice on their first seven trips before the final 30 minutes against the Monarchs, and the late momentum could help a team that needs a spark after last Sunday’s news.
“We’ve got to grow as a group. In my opinion, that doesn’t fall on one person. We’ve got to do it collectively as a group,” Montgomery said. “We’ve got to continue to keep growing as an offense, we’ve got to continue to keep growing as a defense and we’ve got to continue to keep growing as a football team. That’s got to be our focus. We’ve got to get some guys back healthy, that’s going to help in some areas, but that being said, this is not about one person, this is not about me, this is not about Kyron, this is not about this person. This is about us collectively as a group and how we’re going to continue to move forward.”
Damien Sordelett (540) 981-3124
damien.sordelett@roanoke.com
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