Everything Virginia Tech Head Coach Justin Fuente Said After Virginia Tech’s ACC Coastal Loss To Virginia
Opening Statement:
“First of all, congratulations to Bronco and his team. It was a heck of a football game out there today. Thanks to everybody that made the trip to support our kids. It certainly was a battle. It was a lot of back and forth. For a while there it looked like nobody was going to score, then it looked like everybody was going to score. I am really proud of our kids and the effort they put out on the field today. We didn’t always play well but they accounted for themselves well and we are competitors. Obviously, we made mistakes on both sides of the ball. We also made some plays too. We had a chance to win the game, and ultimately we didn’t get it.”
On Caleb Farley being out:
“Caleb is an accomplished player and he really wanted to go. His back has been stoved up for the last couple of days. It was just one of those deals. He has been battling it the whole season. He has really been a tough competitor the whole time and really wanted to play. He just couldn’t. Armani, I thought, accounted for himself well. He has had a lot of reps and he is a heady football player.”
On Hendon Hooker’s second half:
“He played pretty well. He competed his tail off. We got in a situation there at the end of the game where everybody knows we are throwing the ball and that is not our strength. They were pretty tough on him there.”
On post-game talk to team:
“I told them I loved them. I was proud of them. I told them they competed. I told them we can take this event and go one of two ways. It can draw us closer together, fuel our fire. We have one more opportunity to play football together with this group. One more chance to play better against whoever we play. That needs to be our focus.”
On Bryce Perkins:
“He is a good player, athletic and big. He certainly has been the catalyst for their offensive success. That is for certain. He is a very accomplished player. He is deserving of the praise he receives is what I should say.”
On turnovers:
“I am trying to think of them to be honest with you. Trey had one fighting for extra yards. One of Hendon’s was on 3rd and 28. They kind of forced the ball in there. They did a good job of mixing up looks. They can create pressure. They did a good job taking the ball away.”
On Hooker’s first loss as a starter:
“I think he was a competitor out there. It’s not always going to go your way. He did a good job of giving us a chance to win the ball game, particularly there in the third quarter. He was really playing well at a high level. He will learn that part of that position is you will get too much praise if you win and too much criticism when you lose. It is just the way the world works at that spot. I am awfully proud of him and I know he is out there competing, trying to win the ball game.”
On team reacting to loss:
“We have another game to play. We have got to go find out what bowl game we are going to, finish finals, train for that and develop young people. Hopefully, we will have another opportunity to play well together.”
