What Hokie HC Brent Pry had to say About WVU

Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry chats about the rivalry and gives some insight on the WVU offense

The West Virginia Mountaineers and the Virginia Tech Hokie will square off Thursday night with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. and broadcasting on ESPN.

Hokie head coach Brent Pry is in his first season at the helm. He spent three seasons as a graduate assistant from 1995-97 and was 3-0 over the Mountaineers during that span, and remembered his first two matchups against WVU fondly.

That was a fistfight. I think we’d had gone up there the year before and played pretty well, maybe blanked them (VT 27 WVU 0) and came back to our place with a lot on the line, and it was a fistfight just like we thought it would be. It was good play on both sides.”

Sep 10, 2022; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies head coach Brent Pry leads his team onto the field along with quarterback Grant Wells (6) before the game against the Boston College Eagles at Lane Stadium / Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Pry, a Lexington High School graduate (VA), and with his father Jim, a Marshall alum, and college football coach, his path led through the Mountain State. Jim served as a graduate assistant at Marshall, before making stops at West Liberty, WVU Tech and was the head coach at Lewis County High School. 

“I still have friends in West Virginia, I grew up most of my life there,” said Pry. “My dad had three or four coaching stops in the state before coming to Lexington. Personally, my first football game was West Virginia and Penn State at WVU.”

“I know it means a lot to a lot of people in this area and I certainly respect that,” added Pry.

Then, Pry turned his attention to the Mountaineer offense.

“They’ve got multiple threats. They’ve got a solid veteran offensive line – four or five starters back – good size. They’ve got two talented backs, three talented receivers, got a solid tight and now they’ve got a quarterback that can run the show, run the offense and make the throws. So, I think they’re very well-balanced and there’s really not a weakness in their offensive unit.”

The Mountaineers lead the all-time series over the Hokies 29-23-1, but Virginia leads the series in Blacksburg 12-7-1.

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