Virginia Tech Handling Early Part of Fall Camp Well Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

Hokies head coach Justin Fuente feels good about how his players have responded to uncertainty early in fall camp

The Virginia Tech Hokies took the field for practice on Sunday afternoon to kick off the second week of fall camp.

The Hokies made great progress in Week One considering all of the circumstances the roster has dealt with thus far. 

From other conferences canceling fall college football, to internal roster fluidity with Raheem Blackshear's waiver being denied, head coach Justin Fuente is proud of how his team has handled the uncertainty thus far.

"[The practices] have been productive and good given the circumstances, in my opinion. It was a long layoff. We didn't have an entire summer to prepare. We've taken those things into consideration. That's why our practices, particularly early, have been spaced out because of that. We knew we weren't going to be rolling into camp with the benefit of the entire summer, conditioning-wise," Fuente said on Friday.

"I think our kids have done a great job. I couldn't be happier with them. These young people are dealing with a lot, and it changes every single day. I'm not being critical, but between the COVID situation and the NCAA continuing to go through all this, and everything they read, they've got a lot going on, and I think they've done a remarkable job handling it all of that and trying to focus on what they can control and get in good work," Fuente continued.

Fuente's assessment regarding the overall outlook of college football is correct. There is a whole lot going right now.

With the Big Ten, MAC, and PAC-12 all canceling the fall football season last week, to the Big Ten having its top player, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, attempt to overturn the decision, there is nothing but uncertainty surrounding college football right now.

There is certainly an onus placed on the Virginia Tech roster to continue to focus on what it can control - and given all that is happening surrounding the sport, the way that the players have been responding through one week of practices bodes well to how they'll handle the rest of camp and the upcoming season as a whole.