Everything From Virginia Tech Interim HC Philip Montgomery After Week 5 Win Over NC State

Virginia Tech football interim head coach Philip Montgomery spoke with the media following the Hokies' Week 5 victory over the NC State Wolfpack; here's the entirety of what he had to say:

Opening statement:

"Man, just an an incredible win by our guys and the way they fought and came here with a mission and a passion about them and couldn't be more proud of them. But before we get into the game and all the different questions, I just want to put our our prayers and our condolences out to DJ Eliot and his family. And it's been a couple really tough 24 to 48 hours for them and just want to lift them up and let them know that we're thinking of them and praying for them through this hard time. As far as the game goes, again, just couldn't be more proud of our players. Couldn't be more proud of our coaches in the midst of everything going on. These guys have just continued to work, continued to come to work every day, continued to grow as a football team. We played a complete game tonight. We played four quarters. We played complimentary football. All three phases contributed to the win. We had a bunch of young guys step up and make some incredible plays for us throughout the game. Some young freshman that came in and played extremely well. And so, guys are stepping up with their opportunities. They know that those are coming and they're still growing. They're still staying locked in. They're still doing the things that we've got to do. Kaleb Spencer had a career-high in tackles tonight. I think he had 11. Terion had a huge game. Going on the road in conference play and to be able to do what we did rushing. I think we were, 229 to their 59. That's a full effort offensively. Our offensive line guys stepped in, Johnny [Garrett] and Mont [Cunningham] and Tomas [Rimac] and Kyle [Altuner and Aidan] Lynch, those guys really played well. Tight ends did a great job in the block scheme parts of it. backs just kept finding opportunities and taking advantage of those. I mean, Christian Ellis had two huge plays. Had one there, I think it was in the first half or third quarter, I don't know, it's all running together. Where took a shot down the field, broke it up, and then obviously the play there at the end on the fourth-and-1. So, young guys stepping up and making plays, old guys stepping up and making plays, but just a full team win. And couldn't be more proud."

On how seriously Montgomery entertained going for it on a late fourth-and-1:

"Pretty seriously. A lot of discussions. I really wanted to go for it, if I'm being honest. If we were a little deeper into their territory, I probably would have. The only thing I looked at, they're basically already in field goal range if we don't [convert]. And that probably swayed me the other way. and our defense had been playing well and I just trusted those guys to go out and do what they've been doing all day. And again that's what we talked about, just trusting each other everybody doing their job and they stepped up big."

On whether the Stewart effort (174 yards, 15 carries) is about as good as can be:

"Yeah, I think that's a career-high for him, isn't it? [Editor's note: It is.] He's continued to battle. He's worked his way through some stuff and stepped up big for us tonight. Offensive line and everybody's all part of that and Terion probably [would] be the first one to tell you that. But he made some great runs. Put his foot in the ground, broke tackles, did the explosive run right there late in the game. What a huge play that was. He's a guy that continues to wants to work and continue to want to get better, but it couldn't have gone any better for him tonight, for sure."

Q: To you, was the offensive coordinator, quarterback coach part of you wincing all the couple of times that Kyron was like 18 yards behind the line of scrimmage and throwing off his back foot?

"You know, the thing that I've learned over the years is you got to trust the people that you're playing with and I trust him. He's a guy that just continues to make plays. I mean, think about the throw there late to get us a first down to Benji. What an incredible play by both of those young men. And he's scrambling around doing all of that. And you got to trust guys. You think about the one in the first half where he he's out of the pocket, they're bringing pressure, he takes a shot down there to AG [Ayden Greene] and AG makes a huge play. So, these guys, they're stepping up and you got opportunities to go make plays. And they're all wanting the ball to come to them and have the opportunity to make that. So, to your point, you got to trust those guys and I trust them."

On true freshman Noah Chambers (seven tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack):

"I mean, just the dude's special and I figured it out honestly in the summer when the freshman got there and we're out there. Folks got him on the track and we're running 300s and that dude is out there and he is running like his hair is on fire. I like didn't matter. Guys were saying, 'What are you doing? What are you doing?' And he is just full speed ahead and that's the way he plays. That's the way he's always played since he's been here. He's going to be a phenomenal player here and it was great to see him get in and get some action because the guy's special, just like a lot of those guys are. But as a freshman, to come in and do what he did, good things are ahead for him."

On tallying five sacks:

"Those guys up front. Obviously, our defensive staff did a really good job of creating some opportunities with movement and different pressure packages that they installed this week for this. But those guys on the field go to make it happen, right? They went and executed at a really high level and they were tenacious about it, right? They were relentless about it and he [NC State's CJ Bailey] got away from us a few times but we got him a few times and that's what we felt like we had to do, is [to] get him off the spot, get a bunch of guys around and be relentless about it and and tried to keep him uncomfortable."

On John Love and his composure:

"John is an absolute stud, whether you're talking about him being a captain, his leadership role on our football team and the voice that he has, what he does on the field and how he continues to step up in big time moments. We had the delay right there and John immediately looks at [special team coach Stu Holt] and myself and says 'That's my fault.' Then, he stepped right back up and knocked another one down because that's what John does. Nothing phases him. He's cool as a cucumber. I mean, he's got tons of confidence and we have tons of confidence in him and I'm glad he's on our football team."

Q: Why was it his fault?

"We'll get into it later."

On a video of Montgomery dancing in the locker room:

"Hey, the good Lord has blessed us. And when you have joy and when you have enthusiasm, when you have passion about it, wins are hard to come by. Conference wins on the road are hard to come by and you better enjoy them. You better celebrate them and uh and we're going to do that. So, if an old man getting out there dancing looks silly, that's okay. I don't mind looking silly because we're going to enjoy those wins that we get."

Q: Any inspiration for your dance moves there?

"No inspiration for it. No inspiration besides just the win and those guys."

On confidence punting back to NC State with 96 seconds left to play:

You know, there's a lot of communication about that. And again, it's all about the trust in each other, to trust in guys going out and doing their job and performing it at a high level. Our defense had played well all day. Knew Nick [Veltsistas] was going to get a great punt off and the protection of that was big. But it's all those phases together and we have to trust each other. We got to rely on each other."

On Terion Stewart:

"Yeah, he's got good vision. He's got good contact balance. He's got good speed. Obviously, you saw that today. He's a guy that can break tackles, but when he puts his foot in the ground, he's hard to get ahold of. And so, he did a really nice job tonight. So did Hawk [Marcellous Hawkins]. So did all those guys that had an opportunity to carry it. But again, good full team win. I want to thank those our fans that came on the road, too. I didn't get a chance to do that earlier, but it was great to see them up in the stands supporting our guys, showing them the love and the passion. And we're going to need that when we come back home. We've got a tough game in a week from now and we got a long bus ride home. We'll probably get home about 3:00 a.m. and then we got to get back to work. But need the fans to come out and support these guys. Keep cheering them on because they're fighting their tails off for them."