Everything Virginia Tech Head Coach Brent Pry Said After Win Over Boston College
The Boston College Eagles (4-3, 1-2 ACC) football team lost to the Virginia Tech Hokies (4-3, 2-1 ACC) 42-21 on Thursday night at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va.
After the game, Hokies head coach Brent Pry spoke about the victory and what he saw in his team’s performance.
Below is a transcript of everything Pry said.
OPENING STATEMENT: You know, again, I know I seem like I say this a lot, but unbelievable environment out there tonight. So proud of our fans, the way they turn out and they don't just sit in their seats. It's an active group. Really made an impact on the game. I think it affected Boston College. I think it affected their offense. I think it rattled them at times. Thursday night, national TV, I don't know where else you'd rather be than Blacksburg, Virginia. So hats off to our fans. Hats off to our players and coaches. Obviously, tonight wasn't perfect, but a lot, a lot of good things, and then certainly some things that were basically ugly. Combination of penalties and turnovers made for an ugly third quarter, but I'm very proud of the way they responded and big fourth down stop, and then a couple of runs, and all of a sudden, the momentum swung back our way, and we kept it from there. So that's a good team we beat tonight, and I think we beat them pretty soundly.
Q: Got to start with the obvious, Bhayshul 266 yards on 18 carries. What can you say about what he was able to do tonight?
PRY: Yeah, we obviously gave him a game ball. And he's a dog. He's finally healthy. He didn't wear his brace tonight, medical staff approved that he was confident, and he looked fast. I thought the holes were big, holes he was running through and once he gets out there in the open, he's hard to catch now. Very proud the way he played tonight. I think he's a special back.
Q: You put him back in there on the last drive in the fourth quarter. Did someone radio in saying, Hey, he's this close to the program record?
PRY: Yeah, Coach Brooks, the running back coach, but I normally don't like that, but a school record at a place like Tech where there's been so many great running backs, and he was deserving of his performance. So, a credit to the O-Line, we gave them a game ball as well. You get that kind of rushing yardage, it’s special. I've been saying they’ve been getting better every week. That's a good rush defense that we went against tonight. And I thought the way we were able to do some things, our blocking on the perimeter was really good, not just up front. So, proud of the effort.
Q: Tuten had the fumble they lost there in third quarter. How badly does he lobby to get back out there?
PRY: They both did, Kyron in him. As hard as we work on ball security, it was disappointing to me. I think both of those are avoidable, a little bit careless with the ball. We're fortunate. Hopefully a lesson can be learned in a victory. We got to be more intent with the ball, and I love the effort. They both give tremendous effort to finish runs, which is what we hope for, what we teach, what we want, but you got to secure the ball all the way through the tackle, and we didn't do a great job of that.
Q: Do you cut him any slack when he rips off 60 and 80 air drops after that?
PRY: I’m still hugging his butt in the locker room, trust me, but they both heard from me on the sideline after they turned it over.
Q: You guys were up 28-21. They had that fourth down play around midfield. Keller came in, had that critical stop. How big was that? What did you see on that play?
PRY: That's when the momentum swung back. JK has flashed at times, and I think tonight was his best performance. Hopefully I can get him over the hump and he can be that guy every week. Hit ten tackles, the fourth down play was a really impactful play for us, because then we went three straight runs, two with Tuten and one with Ayden Greene and we scored, and the momentum was back on our side, and it kind of stayed with us from there.
Q: APR, another four sack game, most in school history. He now is tied for the nation's leading sacks. What can you say about his performance tonight?
PRY: A tremendous effort. He’s been a little bit banged up, and I think he had a chance to feel a little bit better going into this one with the extra time, but he's got a real knack for rushing the quarterback and you got to get guys off schedule. We were able to do that, get them in some situations where APR can pin his ears back and go. And he's a good one now, I mean, he's got a knack for it. I think just supporting cast, adding rush lane integrity on a guy like Castellanos was really important. We're gonna look at that film. There's a couple sacks we left out there.
Q: Is there a look he gets in his eye? And I know Coach Price says sacks come in bunches, but when he gets one, is there a look he just gets in his eye where it's like, I'm gonna go get more and more?
PRY: He’s always hungry. He's very confident. He's hungry. He's one of those guys you can look to him to make a play when you need it. He's proven that. The other thing I'll say is Bruce Smith was here again. Last time Bruce was at the game, he had four sacks. He's there tonight, so Bruce is coming by asking make sure he's there the rest of the season.
Q: You guys forced three turnovers. Two of them came in the first half. APR fell on one fumble, but that one was right in the red zone. Again, what did you like about your guys’ ability to disrupt them, especially early?
PRY: Yeah, I think when you play physical and you get downhill and you don't look to get blocked, things happen around the ball and you got to put your pads on people. You got to be flying to the football because when it pops out, man, it's anybody's game, right? And we got to be the ones around it to be able to get it. And I thought they did a good job of that.
Q: The first half, you guys were 12-for-13 for 144 through the air. What was clicking with the passing game in the first half? Then what adjustments that Boston College would make to kind of negate that in the second half?
PRY: Yeah. First of all, I thought Kyron was spinning the ball really nice in that first half of the game. He had some great throws, and we had some good catches. I don't know that they adjusted anything necessarily in coverage. I think we had to drop with Ali and then it was a miscommunication, I think on the scramble with Kyron’s interception. I think he thought the guy was going deep and he broke it off and Kyron threw it. So we'll have to look at that one on film, but yeah, I thought we did things tonight on the backs of our ground game.
Q: Benji Gosnell four catches, team-high 49 yards, including 28 after the catch. What's made him a more dynamic guy, kind of after the catch and being able to break those tackles and turn short plays into 10/15 yarders?
PRY: Yeah, first of all, credit to our strength and conditioning staff. Benji had an awesome offseason, put on a bunch of good weight. He's strong. And then the confidence he gained from having some success, that catch he made was was really impressive. And I don't know if last year, at that time, he thinks he's going to go make that catch, and he's just got a demeanor right now. He's learning to master his craft and again, I think his offseason is impacting him right now.
Q: You guys have been working in Brody Meadows and Johnny Garrett on more consistent basis the past few games. How much you think that has helped both of the run and pass blocking for this team?
PRY: Yeah, it has helped. The depth that those two guys provide, and I thought they both played well tonight. I watched Johnny isolated on No. 6 a couple times, and he held his own against one of the better rush guys in the league. So it's certainly great to get those guys a spell in there so that you're strong in the fourth quarter.
Q: That’s three straight games you score on your first drive to open a game. All of them have come after defensive stops. You asked quite a bit about fast starts, but just does that set a tone, especially with this offense being able to do that for consecutive games now?
PRY: Yeah, I think so. I mean, hopefully there's some confidence there. We worked hard at having the right plan out of the locker room, particularly on offense. And you go through the openers, and you practice them, and then you walk through them, and then you walk through them, and then you practice them, so that everybody's confident in execution on the opening drive or two. So I think Coach Bowen's done a good job there. It's paid off.
Q: David asked you about the three takeaways. You scored touchdowns after every one of them. It seems like you guys are now capitalizing on the takeaways. Has there been a key in the sudden change where your offense is able to seize that momentum? Have you noticed that in recent weeks?
PRY: I think it's complimentary ball. You want to be able to do that. When you stall and you got to kick field goals, you get a takeaway, you got to capitalize on it. And I thought just good football teams play complimentary ball and we did that for the most part this evening, not for the entire game.
Q: To follow up on APR, when you said he's got a knack for sacks, is that something he's developed over the last couple years, that's something you've taught him over the last couple years? Did he walk in the door with that? How has he got to this stage?
PRY: It's both. He brought a skill set in that we didn't have in the room, to be honest. And so he elevates everybody with his skill set. They see him, they learn from him. They compete with him. He helps our O-Line get better because what he brings and then we've done a lot of work. We did not rush the quarterback well enough in year one, and so we emphasized it. We invested in our pass rush, we brought in guests, we did a lot of work to improve that area and generally, when you make the investment, it pays off. And that's what's happened up front when I rush.
Q: Caleb Woodson, nine tackles, including one and a half for loss. What have you seen in his growth and development working in that inside linebacker role?
PRY: Yeah, honestly, he's adjusted to playing in the box quicker than I thought he would. It's not easy to go from playing that overhang to being in there, particularly at will, which is one of the tougher positions in our defense. And he's able to play fast and physical. He hustles he plays with great temperament. He's not playing perfect. He's got some things he still has to clean up, but I'm pleased with where he's at. He's only going to get better and better.
Q: Just to circle back to Tuten, you’ve seen a lot great backs in your career I'm sure as a defensive coordinator. Is he compared to anybody that you've seen in the past?
PRY: I don't know if there's any one person, but I said coming into the season, I felt like he was underrated, undervalued. I don't know what he doesn't do well. He can make you miss, he can outrun you, he can break a tackle, he can catch the ball out of the backfield, and now he's cleaned up his pass pro. He's playing at a high level right now.
Q: Right before the blocked field goal, Jaylen Jones had a PBU in the in the back of the end zone, sets up the blocked field goal, and then you guys turn that into a touchdown right after that. Your vantage point on that sequence of events. How proud are you of just the way you guys were able to respond quickly?
PRY: Yeah, again, it's a lesson learned. Teams can drive into your red zone, and that's where you got to bow up and find a way to get a stop. And it's always get that first down play. You know, get a no gainer or a minus yardage, get them to second and long, get them behind the sticks a little bit in the red zone. Guys understanding that there's only 20 yards to work with right there, or 30 yards to work with. It’s a short field. Their whole menu is not available to them. We're getting better there. We're not where we need to be yet, but we're getting better.
