Everything From Virginia Tech Interim HC Philip Montgomery After Week 4 Win Over Wofford

Virginia Tech interim head coach Philip Montgomery spoke to the media following the Hokies' Week 4 victory over the Wofford Terriers (FCS), a 38-6 blowout. Here's the entirety of what he had to say:

Opening Statement:

"Yeah, I just want to start, it's been an emotional week. Very proud of our players and our coaching staff, with all the things that have gone on throughout the week. I told y'all throughout the week that guys had shown up. Guys had practiced extremely hard, did some really good things. Really liked our energy and our tempo and the things that we were doing. And we wanted to roll that into this week. We talked about playing a complete game, playing four quarters, being stout on defense, doing the things and becoming more balanced on offense. I thought we did a lot of those things today. I thought our defense played tremendously well. I thought our defensive line was just wrecking havoc. Linebackers played downhill. We made good tackles, we made game tackles. Secondary was swarming. So, I was very, very pleased with that part of it. I thought our offense was more balanced. I thought we did a nice job in the run game. I thought we were trying to take our shots when we could. Knew it was going to be difficult in in their style of defense, but I thought we did a nice job of checking things down, staying ahead of the chains, and doing those things. So, I couldn't be more proud of of our players. I couldn't be more proud of our coaches. This is just one week. We've got to continue to keep building. We got to continue to keep growing. But it was good to have that happen for them. And they went out and earned it. They went out and did it and couldn't be more proud of them. I want to say thank you to our fans. They showed up today. They were passionate, like always. They did a great job of cheering and supporting our players and that means so much to the guys in that locker room and to our university. So, I want to thank them. And please keep doing that. We're going to need your support all the way through this. As we continue to go, it's about stacking weeks together and getting an opportunity. But, I thought our players, when you go through everything that they went through this week, the amount of joy and the amount of love that was in that locker room was tremendous. And so, we got to continue to keep growing and building on that part of it and continue to keep getting better as a football team."

On Drones and he played in regards to the gameplan:

"Yeah, I thought he worked through the game plan really well. They do so much keeping roofs on, whether it was in some form of 2-3, three cloud. I mean, they're rotating and doing a bunch of stuff back there in the secondary. And so, you had to have your eyes in the right spot. You had to do a good job at the receivers part, of trying to find windows and run back through them. We had a couple double move things that we tried to hit. We had a couple of shots down the field that we tried to hit that just weren't there. I mean, they were just too deep. So, he did a good job of being able to check the ball down, find his underneath stuff and stay ahead of the chains. Our offensive line gave him time. Got a little bit of pressure here and there. For the most part, we did a good job of trying to stay out of third-and-longs. But I thought Kyron played within the system, played within himself, and took what they gave him. Be needy, not greedy is what we're always talking about. And I thought he did a good job of that today."

Q: From a defensive standpoint, did [defensive coordinator Sam Siefkes] make things simpler for the guys this week? Seemed like because of that, they were just flying around more efficiently and being able to make tackles instead of maybe guessing where they needed to be.

"Yeah, I don't know if he really made it simpler, or any of that part of it. I thought our defensive coaches and Sam had a good defensive game plan. I thought our guys did a really good job of going out and executing that game plan. I thought our defensive line played extremely well and anytime you're getting that amount of pressure or you're moving the line of scrimmage like they did, it's always going to make good things happen for us. But again, all the gratitude goes to the players. They're the ones out there making plays."

On PJ Prioleau and reason for his effectiveness:

"Probably need to talk to his mom and dad. They gave it to him, right? Again, Kyron did a nice job of checking things down. Running backs were open because of the amount of depth that those guys were getting. But not to be funny, but PJ's an electric back and, you know, he's coming off of an injury. Really didn't get a lot of play in in spring ball because of that. But [he] has really done a nice job throughout the summer and throughout the fall camp and now as we gotten into the season, he's a guy that's tough to tackle in space. Got a lot of space moves about him. He's shifty in that way and he's reliable. And I thought those guys did a really good job from a running back standpoint of being available, knowing where they could check out to and being in the right spots and being available for Kyron. And Kyron did a nice job of finding them. I could say [running backs coach Elijah Brooks] coached him [Prioleau] up on all of that. I could say that part of it."

On Terion Stewart and his availability:

"Yeah, he's working through some stuff. He's in a good spot. I would foresee him to be back next week, but as he continues to kind of progress, we'll see how that goes. But I know he wanted to be out there today, just wasn't available, and the other guys stepped up and did a nice job."

On special teams:

"Yeah, I thought our special teams was tremendous. I mean, kicking game part of it, between all the different guys that kicked today, they did a nice job of placement, did a nice job of of being strong in that phase. And then we had the one and then we did a nice job of getting down the field and tackling and doing some things. But I thought all of our special teams played tremendously well and that's got to continue to be a staple for us. And it's always been a staple for this university."

On offensive line for horizontal plays and what goes into making a call like that:

"I think more than anything else, I said this when we first got here, for us offensively, we want to make them defend the length of the field and the width of the field. And the more that we can stretch that defense, the better off we're going to have opportunities to have explosive plays and and to find opportunities to move change. And so, we've got to continue to keep stretching it in both directions for us to be effective in what we want to do."

On Caleb Woodson, James Djonkam, Quentin Reddish and Caleb Brown not suiting up and whether those are injury situations:

"No, I mean, we're going through all of that with all of them. As we continue to keep evaluating in those conversations, that's kind of as we work. But as we kind of get through that part of it, that right now is going to be kind of us talking about it and us working through it. There's some injury things in that. There's some other things, so we'll be fine. They just weren't available today, OK."

On how the younger portions of the offensive line fared:

"Yeah, it was good to get Mont [Montavious Cunningham] back, but we still got quite a few young guys up front. Those guys have getting better. They're working hard each and every week. A week ago, they got thrown into the fire. They're going to have to continue to keep growing, continue to keep developing. But that being said, they had a good week of practice. Obviously, I think it played paid dividends for them this week, and we'll continue to keep developing them and growing them because we're going to need them throughout the year. You never know when another guy's going to get banged up. Hopefully, that doesn't happen. But it could. And so, the experience that they're getting right now is going to pay dividends for us later."

On how prior coaching experience has aided Montgomery and how supportive his family has been during the transition back to a head coach:

"Yeah, obviously, it's so beneficial to be here and have been in this situation before. It's obviously different, but some of the best parts of it are still there, right? I will tell you, the coaching staff has been tremendous. Those guys, they've rallied around the the players. They've rallied around each other and we're continuing to push and grow and and do what we've got to do to help prepare these kids and these young men and and continue to keep growing our football team. So, my hats off to them. And as far as my family goes, I'm very blessed in that sense. My wife's a stud. Cannon's doing a great job on the staff. My daughter's here and she's so supportive and [I] couldn't do it without them for sure."

On jumping out to a 21-3 lead at halftime and the message at halftime:

"Yeah, the message to the team was [one that] we talked about it all week: let's play a complete game, let's play four quarters and we got to go right back out after halftime and establish that momentum again and capture it and then use it. And I thought those guys did a good job of that. So, again, couldn't be more proud of their effort, the way they attack things this week and how productive they were."

On Marcellous Hawkins:

"Yeah, Hawk's got a lot of juice, a lot of energy. He brings a lot to the table. I thought especially early, he did a really nice job of using his vision, using his power, putting his foot in the ground, going and making plays. And again, he's one of those guys that we're going to lean on. He's a guy that we got to have. And so, we've got a talented running back room. Those guys do a great job of playing off of each other. But he's a guy that can truly spark it."

On true freshmen receiving valuable experience:

"Yeah, I think it kind of goes back to the question earlier, with our offensive line. As you kind of go through injuries and other things that could potentially happen as you get into conference play, having an opportunity for those guys to get in games, feel what it's like to be in games like that, gain that experience, I think will pay dividends for us later. And so, we did get a lot of young guys in today and and I was pleased with what they did. Those guys are hungry. They're ready to be on the field. And I'm excited to see them grow."