Everything From Virginia Tech Interim HC Philip Montgomery At Tuesday's Press Conference

Virginia Tech football interim head coach Philip Montgomery spoke to the media at Tuesday's weekly press conference, here's the entirety of what Montgomery had to say:

Opening statement:

"Getting colder walking them dogs this morning. It was cold. All right. Excited about the weekend. Obviously, we've got a great test in front of us, but just really, really happy for our coaches and our players more specifically. And the way they battled, the way they stayed locked in, really, really tough game. I mean, Cal's a good football team and we knew we had to come in and and play a complete game. And not only did we have to play a complete game, but we had to play a couple extra overtimes to get it done. So, I was proud the way our guys stayed locked in. They stayed resilient through it all, had some ups and downs throughout the game, but it sure is a lot easier to correct things after a win than it is a loss. So, I was happy for them, excited for them, joyful for them. And then we came in and made our corrections and did the things that we needed to do. I thought they were in great spirits when they came back in. We know we got another tough opponent this week. Obviously, Louisville, I think they're 16 in one poll, 17 in the other. So, you got a top-20 matchup. Just like we needed our fans the other night to be able to pull that out, we're going to need them again tonight or this week. They were outstanding the other night. Did an outstanding job and really helped us in that win. And so, this week will be no different. So, we're going to need a great crowd. We're going to need them coming in here, being loud, trying to disrupt some of the things they do from that standpoint. but uh very very talented Louisville team. Coach [Jeff] Brohm's done a tremendous job since he's been there and throughout his career. So, they're explosive offensively. They're very attacking defensively. So, we know we got our hands full this week. Got to have a a great week of work and then we got to put it all out there on the field and let it happen."

On whether there was something in Tech's rushing attack that unlocked vs. Cal:

"Well, first of all, I thought our offensive line did a tremendous job. Did a really nice job of identifying some things, getting us targeted correctly, really creating movement up front. You look at our running backs, especially with Hawk [Marcellous Hawkins] and Terrion [Stewart] both. Both of them did a really nice job after contact of picking up yards, too. Ran very physically, did a great job with their vision and when they had an opportunity for an explosive run, they hit him. And I think when you added Kyron [Drones] to that, especially in the second half, he had, I don't know what he had, a hundred and something yards rushing. The one-two punch between the two of them, being able to spread the field a little bit more in that way. I think all of those factored into it. But, No. 1, you got to take your hat off to the offensive line and the way they played, especially with all the things they've gone through this year."

On if Montgomery thinks that defenses get tired of tackling Drones/Hawkins/Stewart over the course of a game:

"Well, they're strong runners, they're physical runners. Like you said, they're not little guys. And so, I think after a while, obviously, that starts to take a toll. And again, I think our offensive line and our tight ends did a really nice job of being physical at the point of attacks. And, I do think that factors into it as the game of kind of rolls on. But overall, those guys, they've been working extremely hard. Some good things paid off for us the other night. We needed it."

On if adding motion and the option pitch gives Drones more opportunities to hit the alley by making the defense think:

"Yeah, and we've been doing it all year long in spots. And so, it's just part of who we are, in the fabric of what we're doing right now with our personnel and what we're doing offensively. And so, it does add some some layers to it and it allows you to to hopefully use it in the right way, right? And so, we'll try to keep things off balance. When you think about Louisville, they're a very attacking defense, and it all starts with their guys up front, their linebackers, the way they play downhill, play a lot of different bare fronts and give you a lot of different pressure looks. And so, you've got to do a good job of getting things targeted right, but then you got to do a good job of trying to find space when you can."

On what Montgomery has incorporated from teams who've achieved run-game success over Louisville into this week:

"Well, there hasn't been many when you look at it. You look at what they've done defensively. Everybody struggled running the football against them. They're in the top of the conference in almost every defensive category. So, they do a great job, No. 1 in takeaways. They get you behind the change. They bring you a lot of different pressure looks. And then they make you get into a situation where you put the ball in jeopardy and they've got a lot of eyes to it. And they've gotten a lot of interceptions from that. So, we got to do a good job of trying to stay ahead of the chains, be patient, but also you got to stay aggressive in some sense of the word, to try to put a little bit more pressure on them. But, again, their linebackers are attacking. They do a great job of tackling out in space and their front is active. They're big. They're long and they're always moving them around and giving you different looks."

On what stood out about the tight ends and receivers blocking on the perimeter for Hawkins and Drones:

"Yeah, they did a tremendous job. I mean, the unforgotten part of that equation is those guys blocking on the perimeter. And our perimeter blocking has really improved over the last two, three weeks and those guys have taken a lot of pride in that. We needed every bit of that the other night. Every yard mattered. When you get into games like that, every play, every yard, every situation, every series, guys just being locked in, staying focused and understanding what I got to do and doing my job. We talk about that a lot offensively. There's 11 guys on the field and we got to be machine-like and and everybody's got to be clicking and hitting on the right cylinder at that point. And so, especially in the second half, I thought our guys did a tremendous job of that."

On what stands out about Louisville's quarterback Miller Moss and the weapons around him:

"Yeah, he's got a ton of weapons. I mean, both all their running backs, but the two they primarily play, I mean, those guys are electric. We've played some pretty good backs already this year. These guys, with the combination of the two, the amount of speed they have, they're electric, got great vision. They do a great job from a schematical standpoint of getting those guys out in space, too. They use them as receivers at times and so, they get the ball to them in a lot of different ways. You look at their receivers, they're big, they're tall, they can run, they've got a great catch radius. [Caullin] Lacy does everything. They move him around and do a lot of different things with him. So, he's [Moss] got a lot of weapons around him. I think he's a outstanding quarterback. I think he's really efficient in what he does. He doesn't put the ball in jeopardy very often. And they mix it up and try to stay balanced. They've had so many explosive plays and that's one of the things you got to look at from our defensive standpoint. It's like you've got to limit those opportunities for them. And so, we got to get a lot of hats around the football and we got to get the running backs on the ground. We got to get pressure on him when we have our opportunities, especially if we can get him behind the chains, try to get him off his spot, try to confuse him a little bit, provide some pressure in that sense. And you can't allow the explosive pass play or run play because they can eat you up when they do that."

On what Drones is like at the end of the game after tallying 21 carries:

'He was a dude the other night from that standpoint. He never blinked an eye about what we were doing or how we were doing it and it was whatever we got to do to win and so, he was locked in and he was focused. Did a tremendous job of reading things and having the ability to pull the ball at certain times. Some of them were more designed things for him and he did a really nice job with all that and stayed locked in. And I mean, obviously, that was a huge reason why we had the opportunity to win that football game."

On what will be key for Tech's defense, which has not made a red-one stop this year, to earn one or hold opponents to more field goals:

"I think, more than anything, our defense is has been something we've leaned on. I think about the play there late in the game, when they're trying to steal a few more yards and get a little extra for their field goal, the one they ended up missing late in the game. I thought Sam [Siefkes, the defensive coordinator] and the staff and and the guys stepped out on the field and executed a call that rarely comes up but really limited made them, really throw the ball out of bounds and gave us the opportunity to to line up and try to block the field goal, which they missed. And so, uh, I think our defense has done a really good job all year. Our defense up front, our linebackers with everything that has gone on, they've played extremely well, they've played hard and those opportunities are going to come. Obviously, Louisville, they're good in the red zone. They got a lot of weapons. They can hurt you in a lot of different ways, whether it's with the tight end or whether it's one of the receivers getting matched up on a corner when you've got to [be like] 'Hey, I got to load the box and you got to be mono a mono out there.' So, if you lighten it all up, then obviously, their run game can can hurt you. So, it's kind of that back and forth battle, but I've got a lot of faith in our defense and those guys over there."

On LB Noah Chambers and his growth:

"Yeah, I think he's got a really bright and tremendous future. He continues to get better each and every day, whether that's in the meeting room, whether that's on the practice field, in-game. Just the more things that he sees, the more things he's putting away in the memory bank and being able to use that and grow. But I think he's going to be off the charts when it gets down to it, from the time he graduates or gets done playing college football. He's got great tools, he's got length, he's got speed, he's got size. He's physical, he's relentless and he's hungry about getting better. And that's what you love about him."

On whether Montgomery sought clarification from the ACC on the roughing-the-passer call on Ben Bell:

"I guess all I can say is yes, I did seek. And they did disagree with me and that's probably about all I can say on that. Body weight."

On if it entered his mind to go for two in the first overtime:

"Yeah, I mean, you think about those scenarios until you're right there and you got to make a decision pretty quick, right? But I felt like it wasn't the right opportunity for us to go to try to win it in the first one. Let's kick the field goal. You've seen multiple opportunities throughout the last couple of weeks where coaches have elected, 'Hey, I'm going to go for two and try to win it right here.' And it didn't play out great in that scenario. And so, it was a pretty quick decision for us. We went ahead and kicked it and let's roll into the next one and see what happens. I think the longer we play, the the better chance we got. And so, I thought from that standpoint, it was the right decision for us at the moment."

On the challenge that Lacy has posed at punt return:

"Yeah, we didn't play as well as we needed to the other night for sure. But Coach [Stu] Holt has done a tremendous job around here over the years special teams-wise. And I've got a lot of faith in our special teams. We've got uh guys back there that are very talented and they're hungry to get better. Obviously, we take a lot of pride here on how we play in special teams. And I know this week we'll do a good job with that. He's obviously a weapon. He's a guy that you've got to know where he's at. We've got to do a great job of of um putting the ball in the place that we want to. Our coverage teams have got to do a great job of getting a lot of hats around the ball and we got to find ways to get him on the ground. Once he gets started, he's really difficult to stop and so, we got to do a great job of of limiting the amount of space that he has to start to create."

On if he stayed up to watch Game 3 of the 2025 World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers, which the Dodgers won 6-5 in 18 innings:

"I did not. I don't even know who won to be real honest. That sounds like it was an amazing game. My [Houston Astros] aren't in it, so I I haven't really paid that much attention."

Statement: 2:55 a.m., Coach.

"I guess you did stay up for it."

Statement: "Oh, no. I crapped out in the 13th."

"Well, you sounded like you stayed up for it, man. I thought you were like the warrior there that made it all the way through."

On if Montgomery made any adjustments to the defensive line rotations for Cal:

"No, I mean JC [Price] does a really good job. Him and Sam get together and they talk about those scenarios, but he does a really good job and we got a lot of faith in the guys that we are rotating in right now. I mean, stepping up and being able to make plays. The biggest thing for us is trying to make sure that we can keep them as fresh as long as we can. And so, those guys do a tremendous job. They all get after the quarterback. They do a great job in the run game. They play relentless. They play physical. They play violently. We do a lot more movement and things with them. And so, they handle all of that in a really good way. And so, we didn't really adjust how we did it. But I thought those guys, it was nice for them to have a break, get a little bit fresher and I thought you could tell through the course of the game."

On how the two wins compare with one another:

"The thrill of winning, the joy that you see in in our players and our staff, I really can't describe to you what that locker room's like, but it's a tremendous locker room in those ways. And so, I don't know that you can say, 'Oh, this one was better than that one,' or vice versa. I'm just so, so happy for our players and proud of them, the way they've stuck together and the way they've worked through everything else that has gone on. And for them to have the opportunity to feel that type of excitement and joy, there's no price that that you can put on that."

On if Louisville linebacker corps will be one of the better groups that Virginia Tech plays this year:

"Yeah, I mean, those guys, again, they're physical. They do a great job. Their D-line is tremendous to start with, and so, it's really hard to get to their linebackers. So, as you're trying to work double teams, if you're trying to get movement, if you're trying to do all those things, they make it pretty difficult for you to get to them. So, it allows them to kind of flee free and flow and really track the football. So, we got to do a good job of creating that movement, trying to push that D-line back into the linebackers, try to limit some of that space that they're playing with and give our backs an opportunity to get started."

On what stood out about the blocked punt:

"Yeah, there's plenty of things to correct on that. That being said, it wasn't a unique look. It was just really a miscommunication thing on our part. And the biggest thing is everybody's got to be on the same page. I mean, that's such an important unit. We work it all the time with a bunch of different looks and exotic looks. But more than anything on that one, it was just a miscommunication thing that rarely happens and you can't let have happened. Most of the time, when when you have a miscue like that, especially in special teams, it's very difficult for you to come back and find a way to win. And that's one of the things I was proud of. We didn't play perfect. But our guys stayed locked in. They stayed resilient and they stayed really focused on what our goals are, what we needed to do and still found a way to win. So, I'm really proud of them for that."