David Cutcliffe: "ACC football is upon us"

Coach talks about Virginia Tech prep

It’s time for the conference season to begin, and, as Coach David Cutcliffe points out, “The game changes quite a bit.”

“ACC football is upon us,” he said at his weekly press conference. “We’ve got five of these in a row. When you go on the road in a conference game, you’ve got to understand how mature you have to be as a football team.”

“Virginia Tech is always physical and is physical (this year),” he continued. “Virginia Tech competes. I’ve watched the last two or three years’ games, along with what they’ve done this year. It’s pretty interesting to watch their young people compete. That’s a tribute to Coach (Justin) Fuente and his staff. They play hard, and they play well.”

The game is on the road, in Blacksburg, at night, which also compounds the challenge of playing the Hokies.

“We’ll also be playing against a very hostile crowd,” Cutcliffe said. “That takes a lot of maturity.”

The Friday night kickoff, following a bye week for both teams, have scrambled the Blue Devils’ practice schedule a bit.

Cutcliffe gave the team Saturday off, calling it “our Monday day off.” But then, the team couldn’t practice Monday either.

“Due to academic commitments, we do not ever practice on Monday or have meetings. So we’ve given them two days off in the last four,” he said on Tuesday.

“We’re very energized, very focused,” he said. “I think the team realizes the challenge. Now we just need to finish out well, get on the bus and play complete, because that’s what it’s gonna take.”