Everything From Brent Pry’s Press Conference Ahead of Matchup Against Georgia Tech

What did Brent Pry have to say about the Yellow Jackets?

Aug 31, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies head coach Brent Pry during the second half at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Pry faced plenty of questions this week, ranging from the absence of C.J. McCray, the possibilities at quarterback for Georgia Tech, and Bhayshul Tuten's historic performance on Thursday Night.

Here's everything from Coach Brent Pry's weekly press conference ahead of the Hokies' heavily anticipated game against Georgia Tech.

Coach Brent Pry: I'd like to start by thanking all our fans again. Can't thank them enough. It was an incredible environment Thursday night in Lane Stadium. I don't want to take that for granted in our program. We're very fortunate. I also want to thank everyone that's involved in putting that game on—so many people in the setup, in the breakdown, in the management and operation of it. A lot goes into that being successful. It's not just our football team and coaches. So thanks to everybody. Special thanks to Bruce Smith and Mike Vick for being on the sideline. Not many programs can tout having two number-one picks on the sideline of their football game, which is awesome for us. Appreciate their support. We'll need it again this weekend.

Coach Brent Pry: Homecoming, quality opponent, in-conference, maroon effect, sellout, breast cancer awareness—so much going on again in Lane Stadium. An awesome opportunity for our football program against a very good football team. Coach Key, I've known him for a while. Tremendous respect. Much like myself, he's invested in Georgia Tech for a lot of reasons, personal reasons, and he's done a nice job. Did a good job last year. He's been super competitive this year in each game, and I know we'll have a good football team come in here. So I'll take some questions.

Question: Georgia Tech looks like a team that's pretty black and white. When they run the ball well, they've won. When they haven't run the ball well, they've lost. How critical is that for you guys to slow down the run this week?

Coach Brent Pry: Yeah, it's going to be a key to success without question. We haven't been consistent enough in our run defense, and that's a point of emphasis for us this week, obviously. They've done a nice job schematically and with the skill they have. I think their line's played well. They play well together. I think they have some quality backs, particularly number 11. They run their quarterbacks well, and they've got some perimeter guys that they hand the ball off to. This is one of the better run teams we've seen.

Question: Where do you feel like you guys have lacked in consistency and would like to see better effort from in the rush defense?

Coach Brent Pry: Yeah, I think our front's played pretty well, to be quite honest, game in and game out. I think our second-level run fits, tackling in the perimeter, things like that have to be better.

Question: On the depth chart, it looks like Keller or Brumfield at that MIKE spot. Is that a function of Keller coming along? What do you see at that spot, and how do you imagine a split going forward?

Coach Brent Pry: Yeah, you know, going back to the last question, we've got to shore things up at that level. Those guys have all had good moments. Keli, Caleb, J.K., Sam, McDonald at times before the injury. So, you know, there's pieces there. It's about putting the best group out there for the most number of snaps that give us the best chance. Right now, back-to-back weeks, Jaden has played very well, been the most consistent, and made more plays. Caleb's been trending for three or four weeks, and right now we feel like that's our best two. But certainly, Keli and Sam are more than capable and will play significant snaps as well.

Question: Brent, you've mentioned over the last couple of years about how highly you think of Jaden Keller. You felt the game on Thursday was a thing to get him over the hump. What has been the key to getting him over that hump and getting him to the level that you see in practice and that can translate to the game?

Coach Brent Pry: I think more than anything, because he's demonstrated it in practice for quite some time now, it's the confidence that you can go out there and play with. I hope, I would think, that he gains tremendous confidence from his performances the last two weeks and that we can get his best ball moving forward.

Question: Georgia Tech quarterback situation is a bit up in the air, whether Haynes King is out or in. You have played Zach Pyron back in 2022. Does that help that you do have some in-game experience against him in case he's the guy who goes on Saturday?

Coach Brent Pry: Yeah, I think so. I hope so, that we've seen him and some of our players are familiar with him. Those two quarterbacks are pretty similar, both 6'3", 220, dual-threat guys. I don't think their offense changes much from one to the other. Certainly, Pyron will come in here with some confidence. He's beaten Virginia Tech in Lane Stadium already once in his career.

Question: In the early pregame warm-ups on Thursday, we saw Tucker Holloway out there catching some passes from Kyron. Is he getting close to being ready?

Coach Brent Pry: I tell you, he looks great to me. We haven't had any advanced conversations yet with the medical staff, but he's improving all the time. I see him doing more and more off on the side, but he's not practicing in practice, garnering reps with our team yet.

Question: Georgia Tech has a pretty stout defensive front. You've been no stranger to that the last couple of weeks. What do you see in that matchup with what your guys have to do to run the ball against this group?

Coach Brent Pry: Yeah, I think it's the greatest challenge yet for our offensive line. They've certainly improved a bunch, our group, but this is a big test. They're well-coached. Coach Jess Simpson is a good D-line coach. They're strong, they're physical, they have explosiveness. We're going to be challenged.

Question: What has been the key, do you think, for your offensive line coming together and playing better the last couple of weeks?

Coach Brent Pry: I think their practice habits are some of the best on the team. Coach Crook and Coach Davis just rep after rep after rep of footwork and hat placement and team blocking. It's almost like circuit training down there for their 10 to 15 minutes of individual, and I think it's paying off. They play very well together right now, and there's certainly a lot of experience up there.

Question: With Chaplin specifically, you got the ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week. What have you seen of his play, and has he advanced his game in any particular areas this year that you've seen a big step forward for him?

Coach Brent Pry: Yeah, I think his confidence has grown but also his level of comfort at the position. Last year, as a first-time starter, he relied on the guy next to him to help with calls and to identify things. He wasn't always right, but he's growing into the position at left tackle. He's certainly skilled, athletic, has size, and is intelligent. He practices very hard. I think it's the experience and the comfort level that's starting to pay off and allow him to play a little faster.

Question: After the way you guys won on Thursday night, what was your message to the group coming back in on Saturday and Sunday regrouping? You played well and won, but there were some penalties and turnovers to clean up.

Coach Brent Pry: Win or lose, we're going to have things to correct, and the guys understand that. We celebrate a bunch of positive plays at the end of our team meeting on Sundays, and we did that again. But then it's into the film room to make the corrections, then out to the walkthrough to address the corrections, and then move on. I told them at the beginning of the team meeting I'm sure they had plenty of time to celebrate on Friday and Saturday. Now, we need to put this one behind us, much like we did Miami, and get our focus on Georgia Tech ASAP.

Question: Everybody loves to talk about APR and what he's doing, but with 20 and a half sacks in about 20 games, does it ever shock you how well he's performing? He's climbing up the all-time sack numbers at Virginia Tech rapidly.

Coach Brent Pry: No, I'm not surprised. His skill set, the way he works at his craft, and the emphasis we put on it. The history here at Virginia Tech with rushing the quarterback is strong. It's part of who we need to be. I'm happy for him; he has done a tremendous job. It also goes along with the type of defense, the caliber of defense we need to play year in and year out here at Virginia Tech.

Question: With five games left, it starts to bring in the conversation of the four-game redshirt rule. Have any of the true freshmen or even a guy like Tucker or Braylon jumped off the page this week or soon to get packages in for them?

Coach Brent Pry: That's a great question. It's been a conversation for the last couple of weeks where we could use some of those guys. Braylon Johnson has played a couple of games now. We've got Gabe Williams, Josh Clark, Chance Wiggins, and Keylan Adams among others practicing and listed on our depth chart on special teams. When we activate those guys, they have a chance to help us for our sake and gain some experience.

Question: Is there an update on CJ McCray? He didn't see any snaps against Boston College.

Coach Brent Pry: Right now, he's just down the depth chart a little bit. He works his butt off and is a great practice player. We're giving Aycen an opportunity right now, but CJ's certainly on the ready and is one play away from playing a bunch of football.

Question: What do you feel made an impact on Thursday? Was it Bhayshul being healthy, the offensive line coming together, or a different play call strategy? What did you see on Thursday?

Coach Brent Pry: I think it's a combination of all those things that you mentioned and the tight ends blocking. Benji's done a great job, Harry's helped us, and the perimeter blocking by the wide receivers. Very proud of it; they've embraced it, they owned it. They've turned some of those runs that would be 8 to 10-yard runs into explosive plays by what they're doing on the perimeter. So, I think the play calling, the plan through the week has been good. I think we've got the ball to a lot of different guys, not just Bhayshul. When you look at what Quan did on the sweep and Jay Lane and Ayden Green, mixing it up a little bit. I think you see what Coney did at the end of the game. Malachi certainly has had some success, the quarterbacks have had success. So, there's a combination of a lot of things right now. Certainly, it starts up front and with the O-line, with Bhayshul, but there's a lot of things that I think are happening that are allowing us to run the ball better.

Question: I wanted to ask a follow-up on Xavier and what makes him so good as a left tackle and allows him to be a blindside protector and also get some good blocks on those run plays.

Coach Brent Pry: Yeah, I think there's a couple of things. He moves very well, he's light on his feet, he's smart, and he's a very hard worker. So, he's getting better all the time.

Question: Ali, Ali Jennings, his snap count went up. I know he probably wants the drop back because that was right in the breadbasket, but is he getting back into rhythm now after dealing with the injury and kind of working himself back?

Coach Brent Pry: Yeah, I think so, and I think he looked more like himself as far as running around and the things he was doing. We obviously need Ali. He's a big part of what we do in that wide receiver room and, you know, like anybody else in that room, he'll bounce back from that drop and just when we need it, he'll make a big play for us.

Question: When you look at this Georgia Tech defense, you faced kind of a Brent Key defense before. What stands out to you about this unit that you'll face on Saturday?

Coach Brent Pry: Physical. Yeah, they're a physical group, and I think they've got a really nice front. When you can put a good front out there, you know you've got a good chance to get people off schedule and merit some stops, minimize scores. They certainly have that. They're well-coached. Coach Santucci, their defensive coordinator, good school he comes from, been around a lot of good coaches, did a nice job at his previous stop, and he's got the guys playing sound, playing hard. It's a good group.

Question: I think it was Keller who got flagged for the hit on the quarterback right on the sideline, where it was pretty borderline with him being out of bounds when he made contact. I ask because you see in the NFL, some of these games like Mahomes going to the outside, nobody hits him, and then he kind of sneaks up the sideline. How do you teach that as a defensive coach when you hit a guy who's sort of inbounds and you get flagged, and if you let him go, he maybe sneaks down the sideline still?

Coach Brent Pry: That was a questionable call. We talk to our guys about not putting it in the hands of the official, so where you can err on the side of making sure they see that you're trying to do the right thing. When you watch that play, every indication from JK is that the quarterback's coming at him. I don't know if he's baiting him or what, but you got to find a way to capture him but minimize the collision. I disagreed with that play; we turned that one in.

Question: Can you flip a switch like that when you're on the field?

Coach Brent Pry: It's hard. I tell guys it's the same with Josh Fuga's penalty. I think it can go either way. You see those called, you see them not called. Does he have a chance to twist his body and minimize how much he really comes down on the quarterback? Maybe not wrap him, maybe come down on your elbows, turn to the side when you fall. Any of those things can make the difference. It's a judgment call by the official, so where you can show some type of intelligent effort to minimize a penalty like that, I think hopefully they appreciate it.

Question: This is the first time since the 2019 season a Virginia Tech team has forced turnovers in six consecutive games. What's been the key for your group in being able to get takeaways?

Coach Brent Pry: First of all, it starts with Coach Marve and his staff. They work at it like crazy, pre-practice and in practice. They've stayed consistent with the drills. If you come out to our practice, you're going to see some of the same things happening all the time, and the guys are getting better and better at it. The second piece is, we're always coaching that things happen around the ball. You got to knife, you got to blade, you got to rip, you got to get to the ball. You never know until you know; you got to be there when it happens. The guys have done a good job with that.

Question: Do you feel the uptick in takeaways this season is in large part because the quarterbacks have a shorter clock in their head because of the pass rush coming at them?

Coach Brent Pry: Yeah, that could be. When you're looking at us and our front, and APR, you hope we've got people thinking they can't just drop back and take their time to throw the football. You hope we're making them plan for that, taking away one of our strengths, and that allows us to do some other things.

Additional Links:

Virginia Tech Football: Brent Pry Earns Head Coach of the Week Honors

Virginia Tech Football: Bhayshul Tuten Named Walter Camp National FBS Player of the Week

Virginia Tech Football: Hokies Release Depth Chart for Matchup Against Georgia Tech