Everything From Virginia Tech Interim HC Philip Montgomery After Week 6 Loss to Wake Forest

Virginia Tech interim head coach Philip Montgomery spoke to the media following the Hokies' Week 6 loss to Wake Forest Saturday afternoon. Here's the entirety of what he had to say:

Opening statement:

"Disappointing and frustrating, but I was proud of our guys. I thought they played extremely hard. They played with a lot of passion. They played with a lot of effort. They were flying around a lot of different scenarios and situations that occurred during the game. I thought they continued to stay together. The way they are playing and the passion that they are playing with, I'm proud of. We've got to eliminate some of the self-inflicted things that we did today. Didn't have a ton of penalties. Our penalties were costly. But those guys are playing really, really hard and so, those are things we can clean up. Those are things that we can get better. But I don't ever question how hard they're playing, how much they're putting into it, how much heart they're playing with. And now, we just got to continue to keep growing and getting better. We got a lot of young guys that are playing. We got some old guys that are playing. We're patching holes where we got to patch holes because injuries happen and we'll continue to do that. But the effort and the attitude and the resiliency that they're playing with right now, I love that part and we'll go back to work and we'll get better because we know we got a tough one again this week."

On the drive following CB Isaiah Brown-Murray's interception and whether Montgomery felt if he had the chance to get it in, that it could have changed the momentum of the game:

"Yeah, I thought it was a huge play in the game. We were going to go for it on fourth down. We ended up having a a penalty right there that backs us up. And then at that point, you don't have a choice in it. So, we got to continue to keep pushing and and getting better in those areas. I thought we were really good in the first half in the red zone. In the second half, we got to be better in the red zone. They're a good defense. They've been tough in the red zone against everybody. They've been a good defense all year long. So, we got to continue to grow as an offense. We got to continue to get better. But the that particular moment, heck, I'd like to have scored on first down. But if it was going to take all four downs, we were going to figure out a way to make that happen."

On if Montgomery has received an explanation on the penalty:

"You know, I haven't got to see it on tape. I probably don't need to comment on it because that's probably going to get me fined. And that's probably not a good thing for me."

On how crushing multiple 15-yard defensive penalties were:

"Yeah, they were third down penalties. I think we had six in the game and obviously, some of those are in crucial moments. Again, I don't think that's a lack of discipline. I think it's guys flying around, being relentless to the football. We got to be a little bit smarter in those situations, but that being said, we had opportunities to get off the field right there. Those would have been big plays and big moments in the game. But our defense, I thought they played well all day. They came up with big stops. They had a big stop after our turnover, held them to a field goal. That's a huge play. There's all kinds of moments within the game that I thought both sides of the ball and on special teams that big plays happen. So, we got to continue to keep building on those, correct the things that we can correct, get back on the practice field and go back to work."

On if there was anything general from Wake Forest's defense that forced Tech into a multitude of field goals in the third quarter:

"They changed some stuff up from what we saw on tape. They do a good job with their front. They brought a lot more pressure against us, just like everybody else has than what they've been showing on tape. A lot of twist, a lot of looping, played a lot more odd vs. us than they have vs. other teams. That being said, we were prepared for all that stuff. We just got to go out and execute, right? And it's always one one little step here or, hey, if I'd have got my head across on this or if I'd have got this target and worked and worked my double team to that part of it or hey, I had an opportunity to bounce this out or I could have been working this. There's so many variables to it, right? We can break down all of those and we will, but to that point, they're solid. They make you earn yards. As you watch them on tape, this is kind of their scenario and their calling card, right? They play really, really well on first down and second down, get you behind the chains and then, they're going to play their games and mess with you on third down. And so, we just got to again find more consistency in what we're doing."

On why Montgomery opted to kick a field goal on a fourth-and-2 on Wake's 21 midway through Q3:

"Yeah, right there, we had a good drive going. Fourth-and-2. Two yards is a lot of yards in that scenario and with John as our kicker, I trust that guy. We needed the points. There was still quite a bit of time left in the game. So, I'm going to go ahead and take my points and know our defense is going to come out and play well. And we're going to get more opportunities and that scenario showed itself. We just got to finish it."

On changes to the offensive line and evaluation of the OL's performance:

"Yeah, just like everything else, injuries. Tomas [Rimac] has been the Swiss Army knife. I think now he's played right tackle, right guard, left guard and left tackle. So, we're just continuing to try to find the best five guys we can get on the field, the most experienced five guys we can get on the field. And Tomas has been unbelievable in the sense of being able to move around like he has. And so, we'll keep battling that part of it. Hopefully, we'll get some more guys back this this week. We'll see how they react off of that. May lose a couple of more. We had some guys go down and then come back in. And so, those guys are battling. They're laying on the line for each other, for their brothers, for this family, for this university, for this fan base. And so, I appreciate the amount of effort and the amount of work that they're putting into it."

On whether the passing operation suffered and if so, why:

"Well, I mean, they [Wake Forest] play with a really high cover to it, right? So, it's very difficult to get explosive passes. I thought in the second half, we came out and did some really nice things in that area. There were some things in the first half that I'd like to clean up, right. When we do a good job of giving Kyron [Drones] time, good things happen for us. So, I've got to figure out a better operation of creating opportunities for him to have a little bit more time. And we'll continue to keep working at that. Our offensive line is battling, man. They're battling. They're giving you everything they got and they give you a lot of different junk on the other side of it, whether that's at the twist game stuff, overload stuff, bringing blitzes, bringing guys from different levels. So, there was a lot on their plate. And so, we're going to continue to keep growing. We're going to continue to get better. But if you call it struggles, you can call it whatever you want to. I thought in the second half, uh, I thought AG [Ayden Greene], DG [Donavon Greene], I thought all those guys had opportunities and made some big plays and kept us moving down the field. We got to continue to keep doing those things."

On the Hokies' defense and waht made it so hard to get Wake off the field:

"Yeah, I thought our defense again played well. We had guys make plays in the secondary. We had guys make play at linebacker. We had guys make plays up front. I thought we were disruptive in their run game. Claiborne's a good back. He never really got loose. I think his longest run was 11 yards. When you look at their passing game, part of it, I thought there was a lot of screens, a lot of little misdirectional-type things in there. I thought our guys did a nice job of seeing it, rallying to it, getting it on the ground. I don't know what the the most explosive one was, probably there in the second half on a third-down play. [It was] where they took one across the middle and then we got it back on the ground. So, any time we can make tackles like that and get an opportunity to line back up and not just give an explosive play as a touchdown, I give a credit to our defense and we got an opportunity to line back up and get a stop. So, those guys are playing extremely hard. Those guys are are growing each and every time. We've got some young guys that are having to step up on that side of it too, just like we do offensively. And so, we continue to keep growing. But, guys like IBM [Isaiah Brown-Murray] and those guys, they made big plays for us today all day long, whether they were diving up, making stops on the run, picking off passes, making breaks. We got to continue to play with that type of effort."

On Wake scoring with 10 seconds left before halftime and how critical that stretch was in regards to not scoring any points:

"I mean, the penalty is what got us. I think Kyron popped a 20-plus-yard run that was probably putting us on the other side of the 50 or around the 50. And then all of a sudden, you line up and you're in first-and-20, I think, at that point. So now, you're just trying to battle and work your way back. When you get into two-minute operations like that, the thing you've got to do is pick up the very first down. You can't have a negative play or a penalty, and you have to find an explosive play. Found the explosive play on the first one and yet, we took the penalty with it. And now, you're behind the chains and now, you're in a tough look. So, those are things we'll learn from. Haven't got to see that part of it yet. But that was a tough one, with us, [having] the opportunity to go get points right there and cut it. That's what we were wanting. That's why we were trying to save and so we'll see how it plays itself out."

On dealing with a littany of injuries in the secondary, whether it's good to get the freshmen experience immediately and if he hopes to get some guys back:

"Yeah, I hope to get some of those guys back, but nobody can read the the tea leaves of what that is, right? So, the mentality that our team is playing with right now is [the] 'next man up' mentality. Doesn't matter if you're young, old or in the middle. We got to have each and every one of those guys in the locker room. And those guys have got to continue to grow and keep stepping up. And so, we're going to do everything we can to get as healthy as we can each and every week. But I promise you, when we step out on the field, those guys are going out and playing with a lot of passion about them and they're being relentless to it. And we got to find some fun and some joy and let that ooze out of us. And when we do those things, we're always at our best. But young guys are going to have to step up and play. That's where we're at."