Everything From Virginia Tech OL Kyle Altuner On Tuesday Ahead of Cal

Virginia Tech offensive lineman Kyle Altuner spoke to the media at Tuesday's weekly press conference. Here's the entirety of what Altuner had to say:

On how the offensive line has utilized the bye week to recover from injuries:

"Yeah, it's been nice getting some time off. Getting the bodies back right where we want them. Um, have some time to stretch, get the body right, and feel good going in this next week."

Q: When you get to mid-season, is any offensive lineman healthy, whether or not they're actually on the injury report or not?

"Yeah, you're always going to have those nicked up bruises and whatnot. But yeah, I mean, a lot of the guys who have been fighting injuries are getting back and where they want to be at and feel great. To be able to go out and perform the way they want to and even myself included, just get my body right to want to feel like I can go out and perform to the best of my ability."

On if this offensive line combination will get close to where they were in the opener vs. then-No. 13 South Carolina:

"Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I think our guys are pretty much overall all around feeling pretty good."

On how the two-game stretch where Gavin Crawford and Aidan Lynch did for the O-line and now having other players back and helathy:

"Yeah, it's awesome having [them]. Even though they're young, having guys that can come in and play. And I'm building chemistry with everyone in the room every day. So, it's honestly nice having that comfort, knowing that the next guy up, we'll be ready to go."

On whether the offensive line worked on anything in particular to take some of the pressure off of the backfield:

"Yeah, honestly, it's not even just the bye week. Every week, we're working on twists and all the little games that a defense can bring. And it's been fun as a group to learn as the time goes. We don't want to mess up those twists and looks that they give us. But it's a learning curve and I think that we're doing pretty well with that."

Q: What do you see from Cal's pressure packages up front? What do they bring that might be unique?

"They're not very exotic. They got some big guys up front, so we're just going to trust what [offensive line coach Matt Moore and assistant coach Jens Danielsen] are teaching us and do it to the best of our ability."

On if the bye week is a good opportunity to take a look at film from the first six or seven weeks:

"Just kind of reviewing stuff and tinkering. That's funny you said that [about looking at film]. We did do that. A little recap of our first half of the season. And we got to look at some stats and whatnot that we usually don't get to see so much. So, it's good to look at that, watch some film on us. Things that we could fix up and do much better. That was good for us to do."

On where Altuner feels different growth-wise as opposed to Week 1:

"Yeah, I think being out there just more comfortable, keeping that communication as best as we can throughout the five guys up front, tight ends, even quarterbacks. So, that's been good. And yeah, the comfort's definitely coming and I'm having a lot of fun out there."

Q: When teams are showing pressure like that on you, how does that change your job? What are your responsibilities in that situation? Are you calling stuff out? Do you have to adjust on the fly? How does that work for a center?

"Sometimes, different looks, they can give it away. And that's when the film comes in handy and watching a bunch of film, seeing if you can get some keys on certain guys or certain looks that they give you. But yeah, what it comes down to is just technique and doing your job and that's what us guys are working on right now."

On where Altuner is processing-wise compared to a season ago:

"I think every week, I'm just building confidence. Looking at defenses, a lot of teams bring different stuff, but it's all kind of similar. And I'm having fun with it learning every week, just little things and trying to get better every week, every day.

Q: When you guys have run the ball, you've run the ball effectively. I think Marcellous [Hawkins] and Terion [Stewart] are both averaging better than five yards a carry. What's worked with being able to run the ball when you guys do run it and being able to run it successfully?

Yeah, I think the guys up front just like I said before, we just put our head down and work. And I think the running backs are trying to build trust on us. And I think they've been doing a really good job of toting the rock and doing their thing and we're just out there working our butts off."

On adjusting in-game and whether it's encouraging to see that they're still able to have an effective run game despite functioning against a plethora of pressure:

"Yeah, that goes throughout the week. Just preparing, trusting what Coach Moore and Coach Jens are teaching us every day. And we just go out there, have fun and play as fast as we can, as strong as we can. And trust what Coach Moore's teaching us."

On playing on Friday night:

"Yeah, it'll be fun. You always dream of playing under the lights in front of a big crowd, so that'll definitely be fun."

On Altuner's evaluation of the season so far:

"It's been good. I feel like all the guys are coming together. We've been through some adversity. But I think that's good for us. It builds the team chemistry. It's like I said, it's just fun, going out with the same guys, fighting through adversity, playing games and just trying to do the best that we can each week."