Everything From Virginia Tech Interim HC Philip Montgomery After Week 10 Loss to No. 16 Louisville

Virginia Tech interim head coach Philip Montgomery spoke with the media following the Hokies' Week 10 loss to No. 16 Louisville; here's the entirety of what Montgomery had to say:

Opening statement:

"Tough game, I'm really proud of our football team and the way they battle and the way they continue to grow, continue to stay together. That's the No. 16 team in the country. And we gave them everything we can. Take nothing way from them. They're a really good football team, they got a lot of weapons on offense. They do a lot of good things on defense. They're explosive in the kicking game. But I tell you, I think our guys stepped up to the challenge. [I] really loved uh the passion that they played with, how relentless they were throughout. I thought our guys, especially in the first half, we controlled the physicality of the game. I thought we controlled the momentum of the game. Made plays in all three phases. As you look at the second half, we never captured the momentum again after halftime. Wasn't a lack of effort, wasn't a lack of attitude, it wasn't a lack of buy-in. That's just the way this game works sometimes. And so, I thought our guys fought and battled their tails off to the end. And I couldn't be more proud of the way they're doing that. We've got a bye coming up that'll give us a chance to get a little healthier. Give us a chance to kind of get back to some fundamental things and then get ready for a three-game push up here at the end. So, we know we got a tough test in front of us, but those guys need an opportunity to breathe again and then we'll load back up and get ready to roll."

On Caullin Lacy's 63-yard punt return:

"Yeah, I thought it was close, but it's always a game of inches, right? And explosive plays happen. We knew that going in. We knew how electric he was as a returner. We knew they had some explosive components offensively, with the running backs and the receivers. And that was our mindset coming in, make them drive the length of the field. Let's control the explosiveness of it and make them earn every yard. I thought we did that at certain times throughout the game. That punt return was a big one, obviously, and and from a momentum standpoint, it was huge but we have opportunities to go back and recapture it and we got to continue to keep fighting it. But that being said, yeah, it was a big play."

On whether he had the look he wanted on the incomplete third-and-11 throw from Kyron Drones to Donavon Greene:

"Yeah, we had a good look at it and sometimes you hit on those, sometimes you don't."

On whether the Hokies' defense ran out of gas at the end of the contest:

"Yeah, I don't know if they ran out of gas. I know our guys were battling, right? And I thought for the most part, especially early in the game, we got opportunities to get multiple hats to him. Get an opportunity to vice that and get it on the ground. I thought again, our guys played physical, they played hard. Have to go back and look at the tape and see all the rest of it, right? But that being said, this is a team game and it's not on the defense, not on the offense, it's not on the special teams. This is all of us together and we're going to stay connected that way. And we'll continue to keep striving and getting better and I think this team has grown tremendously throughout the year and we got three games left to go and finish writing this story that we're in."

On Isaiah Cash's interception:

"Yeah, I mean that was a huge play right there on the interception and had a nice return off of it as well. Thought he had an opportunity. I thought when he cut it back across the field, [he] might be able to get to that other sideline and continue to keep going. But huge play of the game right there. One of the best plays. And then like you said, I think it was on a third down on a pass breakup down there that he made a tremendous play on. And so I thought we had guys step up and make big plays throughout. Whether you're talking about some of those young cats that we're playing and stepping up in big moments, I thought we had some of that. We had some old cats stepping up and making plays. Again, as you continue to start generating those, good things happen for you. And so, proud of our football team for that guys stepping up and and wanting the ball to come their way, expecting themselves to make that play. And that's the way we've got to continue to be. That's the way we'll live."

On Tech's unsuccessful fourth-down play with Drones on fourth-and-3 in Q4:

"Yeah, there's multiple options to it and they did a pretty good job of covering it up. You can put that one on me. Maybe I should have called a better play. I don't know. But, at the end of the day, you're sitting there fourth and two [Editor's note: It was fourth-and-3]. It's a situation where we got to felt like we needed to go convert right there. And love giving our guys options when they have an opportunity to go make plays. Again, whether you're talking about a play on offense, defense, or special teams, you're trying to create the momentum. you're trying to create options and some of them hit, some of them don't. But that being said, in that situation, I'm still going to roll the dice just like I did."

On the roughing-the-passer call on safety Jordan Bass:

"The explanation of the rule when they called roughing the passer, obviously at that point, that's not really a reviewable play. The targeting is a reviewable play. And that's a judgment call. So, at that point, there's not a whole lot I can do about it, or anybody else can do it. The official has the judgment on that. He made the call and I thought Bass did some good things. The way he was trying to to attack the arm, the throwing arm and trying to to get a hand on the ball as he's reaching back to throw it. It's a bang-bang play. It's a judgment call. But part of it."

On Louisville making second-half adjustments:

"I think they made a couple of adjustments. I have to go back and look at the tape. We just never captured the momentum part of it. Our first couple of drives, you're kind of pinned back there and when you're backed up, you're just trying to get it out of there. And we never really got into the flow of it, right? We didn't have any rhythm really in the second half. And so, some of that is just we got to continue to keep grinding, right? And you got to fight those things. And when you get in those situations, it's not about making some explosive play happen. It's really just about doing our job, staying ahead of the chains and then you just kind of grind it out until momentum starts and that rhythm starts. And I thought we did a good job of that in the first half. Just never really consistently got it going in the second."

On specific areas that Montgomery will target during the team's second bye week:

Well, you know, I think more than anything, it's just us looking at the tape, seeing the things as an individual, as a coach, as a player, how can I continue to keep growing? How can I continue to get better? Whether it's a footwork thing, whether it's a technique thing, whether it's a hand placement thing, The things that that truly matter, the small details that really matter that get things going, it gives you an opportunity to to lock back in, shore some things up, and continue to grow as a group."

On RB Jeff Overton's debut, what went into his availability and Montgomery's expectations:

"As far as him being available. I mean, the doctors cleared him, right? So, I mean, he hasn't been tackled in a year. I thought he stepped up, especially as a young guy, and got his feet wet today. I thought he did some good things. Obviously, I have to go back, look at the tape, and see all of it, but it was good to see him back in there. It was good to see him have an opportunity, to get a little bit on the field. I don't know what his rep count was. We'll have to go back and look at that. But I thought he did some good things, especially for the first time stepping in there and truly seeing college action and and against a really good defense."

On Montgomery's thoughts on special teams execution:

"We just got to clean those up. We knew going into it that he's an explosive punt returner, right? And he's done it to a lot of people already this year. The thing he does is he takes a lot of chances back there. And then when he gets north and south, uh he can make some things happen. And we knew we needed to do a great job of getting a lot of hats to it, vicing it and make him run sideline to sideline and not let him get vertical. And so when he gets vertical, it gets scary. So, we'll go back and look at it again. And the bye week is one of those opportunities for us to go back, study it and continue to grow and get better."

On Montgomery's evaluation of the offensive line:

"I think we're getting better and better protection wise. We're trying to change some things up, trying to move him [Drones] around a little bit more, providing a little bit more seven-man. And I think he's doing a better job of of getting the ball out of his hand. So, receivers are doing a nice job of continuing to create space. We still got to grow in the passing game and we all understand that. I think our running attack has continued to grow and we got to continue to to be more balanced. But I will tell you these guys, nobody runs the football on them. And I don't know how many yards we had, we had a few. And so, that being said, it gives us an opportunity to go back and continue to grow in that area. But I thought the offensive line in a lot of ways, just having those five guys in the same spots for several weeks together, we're finally banking some reps and understanding what each other are doing and being able to communicate at a better level and get things targeted. And I thought they did a nice job of that."

On tailback P.J. Prioleau's punt block:

"Yeah, I think it was a schematical thing that [special teams coach Stu Holt] saw on tape. But I thought he did a really nice job on that one as far as creating an opportunity for PJ to get in there. And then obviousl, PJ's got to go make it happen. There's a lot of guys in the flow of that that all make it happen together. But he was the block point to it and blocked a couple of them in practice today or this week. So, really proud of him and the way he continues to grind and get better. And anything we ask him to do, he's always 100% in and made a huge play for us today."