Everything From Brent Pry's Press Conference Following The Loss to Rutgers

Rutgers took down the Hokies 26-23.

Jul 23, 2024; Charlotte, NC, USA; Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry answers questions from the media during the ACC Kickoff at Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Here's everything from Brent Pry's press conference after his team suffered a tough loss to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

Question: In terms of the overall mindset of this group, we talked in the preseason there was so much 4 and 0 chat. Could you get off to that kind of start? Where do you guys kind of go from here, and what's your message to them?

Brent Pry: Yeah, obviously there are signs out there in each of these four games, the wins and the losses, of the team that we can be. We just haven't put it all together. You know, another slow start today, you can't dig yourself in a hole. As proud as I am of the way we battled back, you can't dig in the hole. We got to coach better and play better, you know, early in the game. But it's a four-quarter game. Games like today prove that. You got a chance to win it at the end, and they made two good plays, and we didn't make enough of them.

Brent Pry: Yeah, you know, again, we didn't listen to the expectations. I mean, we're happy to have them here at Virginia Tech. We know the team we have. We know the potential we have. But, you know, you can't just be about potential, you got to meet it, and we're not doing that right now. We are a better team than what we showed today. You make a few more plays on offense, you make a few more plays on defense, just a couple of plays on teams. You can't lose the takeaway battle and explosive play battle and win the game. Very difficult, and we almost did it.

Question: Brent, with regards to the slow starts, what do you feel needs to change to make that more of an aberration than what's been the norm for this team this year?

Brent Pry: Yeah, I don't know. We have to look at it because we've made some changes in the way we start practices, the mindset from play callers. We have to look at it some more. I can't answer that right now. We got to dive into it. When we've played well early in games, we've identified that. Let's lean into our strengths early. We started the game, we traded three and outs, which, you know, I think that's a good job by the defense, but we got to then go do something offensively when we open the game. So, you know, it's something that I have to look at as a head coach. I've asked the assistants. I don't know that it was a mindset; it was execution. I thought the guys were anxious to play and excited to play, great crowd. We just didn't execute like we need to.

Question: Drones put the ball out there a little bit too far and two deep balls. It looked like they were open, had the pick there at the end. Where do you think his confidence is right now, and how do you get that back to peak form for him?

Brent Pry: Yeah, I think he's confident. I think he's disappointed. We got to take shots. I'm not so sure there's not more we got to take. You connect on one of those, and it's a difference in the game. So we got to keep dialing those up and keep calling those. We just got to land them. We got to land them. I thought maybe the first one was a little closer than the second one. But we're going to throw shots.

Question: With Bhayshul banged up, you didn't give him the ball early, but what can you say about what he did, especially in the second half, just being able to establish the ground game and help be part of the catalyst of getting you guys back into it?

Brent Pry: Yeah, his toughness is evident right now. He's not 100%. We're taking good care of him during the week, and he's coming out there. It takes a minute to get going, but he gets greased up, and we got to get him touches. He's hard to deal with when he's on point and he's playing well.

Question: You mentioned this earlier in the week about their offensive coordinator. When you saw him at Minnesota, it was run, run, run, RPO. Their RPO game seemed like they went to it quite a bit and was effective. What did you see in what they were able to execute?

Brent Pry: Yeah, I think you're exactly right. They did a nice job. I thought they ran the ball just well enough to stay on schedule and to allow for the play action, which they did a nice job of. The quarterback was calm and cool, more than in the first two games they played. They really took a look at the defense, really tried to see what we were in, particularly in the first half. I think that hurt us. It's a good job by them. But, you know, that's a well-coached team. They're big and strong and physical. They also have a ton of guys back. But, you know, we obviously got to do some things, not just from an execution standpoint, but we got to lean into the things we do well. I said to the coaches that let's make sure that we take a hard look at what are the things that are our strong suits right now.

Question: The muffed punt at the beginning of the game, the momentum swing, what was your vantage point on that? What was your conversation with Jay Lane afterward, and what are your thoughts on the special teams' operation through four weeks? It feels like there's a little mistake every week.

Brent Pry: Yeah, I think we're hit and miss right now. We're making some plays on teams, but we've hurt our team also. Obviously, Jay Lane generally has really good ball security, and I got to take a look at it and ask Coach Holt to take a look at it. He catches the ball in traffic a lot. He's got great courage, and the one he returned for a touchdown was one that a lot of guys would fair catch. We got to be better with the ball now, that's for sure. I thought it was on the ground too much today, period.

Question: Hey Coach, offensively for a huge chunk of not just this game but in previous games prior, and we've talked about it, you guys have looked completely inept for a huge chunk of those games.

Brent Pry: Which games are you talking about?

Question: If we're talking the entire season, you're talking Vanderbilt, for three quarters of that game, this game, three quarters of this game. Marshall, I would say a half of that game, where you guys are just really, really struggling offensively. What do you guys do going into ACC play? What are you guys going to do differently to move the ball down the field?

Brent Pry: Yeah, that's obviously the goal, to move the ball down the field. I think there's enough good things that we got to build on and lean into. We got to look at the things that we don't do well. Some of them need to be thrown out. Let's stop hitting our head against the door. But there's been success offensively, so I disagree with you there. There's just not enough of it. We can't start the way we started today. We got to be better than that.

Question: I know you just said they ran the ball well enough, Rutgers did. Monangai is a guy who wears you down, breaks big runs. You didn't give up a big run to him. I know you want it better, but were you fairly pleased with the way you bottled him up?

Brent Pry: I thought we played physical. I thought we did some good things. We still didn't fit well enough. They are really good at what they do, and that had me thinking we have to be really good at the things we do well. They don't do a whole lot, but they do them really well. They've got five years kind of invested in things, or going into their fifth year here. So we got to capitalize on our strengths because we've got them too. We didn't let one break loose, but they stayed on schedule. That hurts you. It keeps them honest as a playcaller. It keeps us honest when they can just dial it up, the RPOs, the play action. We missed some key reads where we let that tight end get in the flat too much. We got to make them earn it. If you make that group earn it, that's where you want them.

Question: You tied the game up at 23. They ran that little screen play. It looked like Jones jumped to the inside and got to the sideline. What was your vantage point on that? How did you see that one play out?

Brent Pry: Yeah, the kid did a nice job cutting back outside. I thought he was going to try and get down across the middle, which we were in good shape. I thought it was a good play call, good execution by their wideout.

Question: You're now one and nine in one-score games since you've been here. Is that a thing this team needs to learn, how to win close games? What can you put your finger on with why it's been a struggle?

Brent Pry: Yeah, I think it's a fair question. I think finishing is part of it. I don't think Kyron made a bad decision at the end of the game right there. Their kid made a heck of a play. He jumped up, batted the ball, and then caught it. The guy we're throwing it to was wide open. We're going to move the sticks, we're going to get out of bounds. They made a good play right there. You talk about finishing. The screen got out on us, but the defense had really kind of tightened up and was getting some stops and giving us a chance to get back in the game. We had a chance right there to finish well. We were a couple of plays away from finishing the way you want against a good football team.

Question: Cole and Mansoor and Xavier all went down with injuries in the second half. Do you have any update on any of those guys' statuses?

Brent Pry: Yeah, you know, Xavier came back in. He's tough. They x-rayed him and checked him out, and you know he came back out and played, which I was proud of him. I think Cole will be okay, just sore. Mansoor went back in the game. Keli played here and there; he tried to battle through it. Obviously, Ali wasn’t available tonight.

Question: Layth didn’t play either. But, you know, Bob played. We saw Brody a little bit. What was your evaluation of the offensive line and do you have any updates you can share on Layth?

Brent Pry: Layth was out for medical reasons. We’ll learn more as we get into the first part of the week about where he's at, but obviously, we would have liked to have had him tonight. I thought the offensive line battled and hung in there. Parker got driven into Kyron on the safety; that was certainly a disappointing play. But I watched them go toe-to-toe with that group for a fair amount of the game. And that's a good front, you know. They got their D-end back, they got their linebacker back, they're strong and physical. I thought we gave ourselves enough of a chance, certainly not every play, but it’s a good group.

Question: Coach, When there was the delayed forced fumble on the two-yard line and then the ensuing safety, offensively with the roller coaster of emotions that went on, what did you say to the team on the sideline to keep everyone levelheaded and move forward?

Brent Pry: Yeah, I mean, there's just too much football left right there. We got to bounce back, and we talk about that all week. They're going to make plays, and we have to be able to respond. You're not going to play a perfect game, nobody does, but it’s how you handle the adversity. That's all the way back through training camp, and obviously, the guys battled back and I'm proud of that. But we just got to do some things better early in the game and that outcome can look different against a good team.

Question: Non-conference slate is now over. Miami next week, ACC play in general starting. What's the message to the team moving forward?

Brent Pry: Yeah, I mean, we talked about that in the locker room. We can’t do anything about the games we played other than learn from mistakes and be a better team. And we got to own it as coaches and players. If we'll go be the team that we can be, we'll be hard to deal with. But we got to do that, we got to move the needle in all three phases. We did not play good complementary ball today at all.

Brent Pry: All right, thanks everybody.