After Another Heartbreaker, Hokies Turn Attention To Yellow Jackets

On Monday, Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente addressed the media after the Hokies’ heartbreaking 41-36 loss to Syracuse. He addressed the frustration of being so close but coming up just short in multiple weeks, but said he believes in his team’s ability to keep its collective head up and turn it around.

“Three times, we’ve really failed to get over the hump,” Fuente said. “We ran the ball better than we’ve run it all year [vs. Syracuse]. … We played our worst game defensively.

Fuente said he certainly worries about the accumulation of losses, but feels good about his players and their mentality to turn this ship around. He praised the leadership of his group, specifically the captains and his older players, and how they’ve stepped up in tough moments.

“There are a lot of guys that can pound their chest and wave the pom-poms when winning, but losing is difficult. When you’re truly tested, it will reveal who you are.”

It’s the third time in Fuente’s tenure at Virginia Tech that the team has lost three consecutive games. In 2018, the Hokies lost four in a row, three at home. Last season, the same thing – four straight losses, three in Blacksburg.

Fuente’s seat continues to grow hotter. Sitting at 3-4 (1-2 ACC), Virginia Tech will try to get back on the right foot against Georgia Tech on Saturday, the Hokies’ first of four games on the road in their final five.

Offensive Line Moved The Pile vs. Syracuse

In the previous weeks, an extended effort has been made to get more of a push as an offensive line. The offensive players have preached running the ball more efficiently, starting with the big guys up front, and Virginia Tech did just that against Syracuse.

The Hokies had their best running game of the year against the Orange defense, a unit that was No. 2 in the ACC in total defense entering the weekend. Tech churned out 260 yards on the ground on 44 carries, equal to 5.9 yards per carry. That’s a season-high for both statistics.

Fuente listed three reasons for the offensive line’s solid performance on Saturday in the run game: taking advantage of what Syracuse gave them, Malachi Thomas’s spark and a solid day from the tight ends.

“I thought it was a combination of several things,” Fuente said. “Syracuse is a movement-based defense that can often cause you to become passive, and I thought we kept our aggression, in terms of rolling off the ball. I thought Malachi was different in there, and then I thought our tight ends played well. I think it boils down to those three things, among several others.”

Thomas finished as Virginia Tech’s leading rusher with 21 carries for 151 yards and three touchdowns. He is the first true freshman in program history to rush for three scores in a game.

He had a 47-yard touchdown run that gave the Hokies a nine-point lead with 5:36 to play. If the Hokies can move Georgia Tech up front this week and Thomas can get a few creases, it might open up some other things offensively for Virginia Tech.

Facing Georgia Tech

Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech didn’t square off last year due to COVID-19, the first year the two programs didn’t meet since the Hokies joined the ACC in 2004. Justin Fuente said this Georgia Tech team is “dramatically different” than it was the last time they squared off.

“[They’re] kind of into this 3-3-5 genre of defense that I think Virginia is playing some of,” Fuente said. “I think maybe Iowa State was one of the first teams that started to play it. They’ve changed it a little bit, so it’s a bit different from the last time we played them.

“They’re certainly not scared to bring pressure. That’ll be something that we’ll certainly have to be ready for.”

Geoff Collins and the Yellow Jackets are 3-4 overall, and 2-3 in the ACC. They’ve split their last four games – wins over UNC and Duke, losses to Pitt and UVa.

Georgia Tech ranks eighth in the ACC in total offense and tenth in total defense. GT’s offense is a bit more run-heavy, which might pose problems for a Hokie defense that struggled to stop the ground game vs. Syracuse.

There might be some ability to expose the Yellow Jackets’ defense, however. GT doesn’t generate many sacks (12th in ACC) or force turnovers (last in ACC). 

“Playing Virginia last week, everybody is unique from week-to-week, but they [UVa] make a concerted effort to throw the ball quite a bit, so as you can imagine, that probably changed Georgia Tech’s [defensive] approach a little bit.”

The Hokies have struggled to throw the ball for most of the season. Quarterback Braxton Burmeister was 10-for-20 against the Orange. But if VT can run the ball like it did vs. Syracuse, which completely changed the dynamic of the game, it might help the Hokies get back on the right foot in Atlanta.

Other Notes from Monday’s Press Conference:

• Justin Fuente said cornerback Jermaine Waller (foot) is day-to-day. He started against Syracuse but left the game in the first quarter. He was injured in the first half vs. Pitt on Oct. 15.
• On Tech’s defensive line, Fuente said losing Desmond Mamudi and Maxx Philpott to injury before the season really hurt that position’s depth. However, he’s pleased with Cole Nelson’s growth and how the other players at that position have rotated and split so many snaps.
• Fuente said the Hokies weren’t in the right coverage on Syracuse’s game-winning touchdown on Saturday. “The biggest thing was that we were supposed to check the coverage. We were not in the coverage we wanted to be in.” Fuente said Tech was choosing its look based of off what the Orange did, but the players didn’t adjust properly.