Everything From Virginia Tech HC Philip Montgomery After Season Finale Loss to Virginia

Virginia Tech interim head coach Philip Montgomery addressed the media following the Hokies' 27-7 loss to No. 18 Virginia. Here's everything that Montgomery had to say:

Opening statement:

"First of all, congratulations to UVA. Good football team, well coached, did some nice things. As we get into to our guys, they've been through a lot this year. They've been resilient. They played extremely hard. They battled. I'm very proud and honored to be a part of that with them. It's been tough on them but their character showed through, kept us in a lot of ball games, gave us opportunities to go win a few. I'm extremely proud of them and to be a part of that. So, tonight wasn't our night, but, again, couldn't be more proud of them and the way they battled and the way they work."

On RB Marcellous Hawkins and WR Ayden Greene:

"Knew Hawk [was out] earlier in the in the week, just trying to hold it, not to give UVA any more ammunition in it. AG was really a game-time decision and he tried to go out and warm up and just couldn't do it."

On how challenging that makes it:

"Yeah, it makes it tough. But we've had guys step up every every week. As guys have been hurt or been out or whatever it might be, other guys have stepped up. Didn't expect anything different tonight from that standpoint. [Shamarius "Snook" Peterkin] stepped up, made a big play there at the end. We just weren't consistent enough. We had opportunities to make some plays and and just didn't come our way. But not having those two guys that that makes it a little tougher."

On the issue of finding consistency in the passing game:

"As we continue to work through it, there's never one thing here or there. It's a multitude of different things and we've got our struggles in that way. That being said, we tried to lean in on what we felt was the strengths of our football team and that was always mixing up the run and being able to allow those guys to try to control the line of scrimmage. We did some different things with motions and different shifts and trying to get Kyron [Drones] a little bit more involved in the run game. We felt like that was our strength and that's what we had to push to the forefront. So, we had our struggles at times obviously in the passing game and we continue to work on that, but that's not the way this team is built right now."

On Drones and whether there was any inclination towards putting in William "Pop" Watson III:

"There's a lot of reasons, but the one thing I will tell you is [that] Kyron has been a great leader for this football team and he's had a great career around here. Quarterbacks are always going to get too much praise when you win and they're going to get way too much criticism when they lose. That guy battles and he fights and uh he was in it for the for the right reasons and doing the right things. So I don't think that was the reason tonight. Pop came in last week, did a couple of good things. Pop's going to be a good quarterback and so are the the other guys in that room. But tonight wasn't about trying to make quarterback change."

On wideout Shamarius "Snook" Peterkin who reeled in his first career touchdown:

"I think he's going to have a bright future. I really do. He's a young kid with with a lot of talent. He's got length, he got speed, he's got great ball skills, got a good catch radius. Thought he had an opportunity a couple of times early in the first half to make a couple of more plays than that. One of them I thought he might have been interfered with as you looked at it on tape. look pretty significant to me. Um that being said, Snook's still young. He battled some injuries early in this season. If he probably would have came through that healthier, he probably would have had even more opportunities throughout this year. But tonight, he got his first start and did some nice things. And again, I think he's got a a really bright future.

Q: You guys forced a bunch of punts in the first half. What was it about their offensive balance to get off the field in the second half?

"They've been effective all year long, right? And they're balanced in their attack. They've got a lot of good weapons. We had some opportunities to get off on third down. Made some plays and did do that. We really needed to to to be more balanced as a total football team today, between offense, defense and special teams. We fought field position, got pinned back there several times. Anytime you're doing that, it kind of limits you and what you can do and how you can get out of it. We didn't have the explosive plays in the run game that we've been having. And so, we needed to find an opportunity to to establish some things. I thought our first couple of drives, we had a few things going. [Then,] we get a pass, got a guy open, gets it batted up in the air, and all of a sudden, it ends up in in their lap. So, those are some of the ways that this game kind of messes with you a little bit. We get another drive down there and have an opportunity to get points and it didn't come our way again. So, you got to continue to keep battling, keep fighting, and I think our guys did that."

Q: Do you feel like you've left this program in a place that was this good or better to pass the baton on to the next coach?

"Well, I don't know about all that. The one thing that I can say on that note, when you break it down, these guys have been through a lot. I've been very proud of the way they have battled, the way they've worked, the way they've come together. Been very honored to lead them in that way. This has never been about me. This has been about them and it will continue to be that way. I got a lot of love for those guys in that room. I appreciate what they've done and how they've done it and how they've held themselves together through all of this. And so, it has been a privilege to be a part of that."