By Jimmy Robertson
BLACKSBURG – With a three-game winning streak in hand and coming off an open weekend, the Virginia Tech football team appears ready for arguably its biggest challenge of the season.
The Hokies travel to South Bend, Indiana on Friday for a Saturday afternoon showdown with No. 16 Notre Dame in a game that marks the final nonconference game of the season for Tech. Unfortunately, Tech faces an Irish squad coming off a 45-14 loss in horrible weather at No. 14 Michigan – a defeat that dropped Notre Dame to 5-2 overall and all but ended their hopes of making the College Football Playoff.
Thus, the Hokies, who beat Notre Dame in South Bend in 2016 in a game that marked the schools' first meeting, expect to meet with an angry Irish squad. Notre Dame dropped eight spots in the latest Associated Press poll.
"The weather certainly was a factor," Tech head coach Justin Fuente said at Monday's news conference. "Just watching the game, I know that we will see the Notre Dame team that we saw in all the weeks before that. Just reading their comments and watching the game, they'll be ready to respond after that game last week."
2019 VIRGINIA TECH FOOTBALL TICKETS
(The Virginia Tech Athletics Department has individual football game tickets on sale. Fans interested in purchasing a ticket to any of the Hokies' final two home games may do so by clicking here.)
Tech will be looking to avenge last season's 45-23 loss to Notre Dame at Lane Stadium. The Hokies trailed just 17-16 at halftime, but the Irish scored 21 unanswered in the second half and pulled away.
Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book played a major role in that. He threw two touchdown passes during that 21-point outburst and completed 25 of 35 for 271 yards in the game.
"I really felt like last year – I believe it was last year at some point, but I may be wrong – some point early in the year, they made the move to go fully with [Book] as their quarterback, and it really changed them offensively," Fuente said. "It really hasn't stopped since they made that move. He's a guy that can throw the ball, but is athletic – gets out of trouble, makes plays with his feet, keeps his eyes downfield, and can really hurt you on the move. I think he's been a really efficient, good player for them, and maybe one of the reasons over the last year and a half they've made pretty big strides on that side of the ball."
The game could be a matchup of two very good quarterbacks, as the Hokies' Hendon Hooker is 3-0 since taking over the starting job. Hooker missed the second half and all six overtimes of Tech's 43-41 victory over North Carolina on Oct. 19 with a lower leg injury, but Fuente expressed optimism in regards to Hooker's status for Saturday.
"It's kind of interesting, … but when he kind of slipped in the game, I thought that's when he got hurt," Fuente said. "That was not it. Talking to Hendon, it was the play before that. So, he's out there going [at practice] and looks good."
Here are some other notes from Monday's news conference:
PATTERSON GETTING MORE REPS
Fuente hedged when asked whether Quincy Patterson had moved into the backup role after guiding the Hokies for much of the second half and the six overtimes against North Carolina. Patterson came in in relief of Ryan Willis and rushed for 122 yards, and he also threw a fourth-down touchdown pass to Damon Hazelton to extend the game in the second overtime.
"Quincy's taken more reps, as we prepare for this week and on in the future," Fuente said. "We'll still need Ryan, as we move forward, whether it be situationally or just in the game. Things can change awfully quickly. All three of those guys have to be ready to play."
CRAZY COASTAL
No team in the ACC's Coastal Division benefited more from what transpired this past Saturday than Virginia Tech. Miami beat Pittsburgh, handing the Panthers a second league loss, and North Carolina held off Duke, which marked the Blue Devils' third league loss. Tech is now one of four teams in the division with two losses.
"I feel like we had the same discussions last year," Fuente said when asked about the crazy nature of the division. "I feel like it's just the way the division is. It seems like anything can happen, and in some cases, anything has happened. In my short time, it seems to be a fairly regular occurrence."
INJURY UPDATES
Fuente said that both tailback Jalen Holston and defensive end Zion Debose are getting closer to returning to action after suffering injuries earlier this season. Debose injured his foot in August and hasn't played this season, but he dressed for the North Carolina game.
"He's working to get back," Fuente said. "Just got to knock the rust off. It's one thing to be healthy, [but] it's another thing to be ready to play. He's working hard, getting some good reps in there, [and] trying to work his way back into the rotation."
As for Holston, he is a little farther away in terms of time, but Fuente expects him to be back before the end of the season.
"We're certainly in the realm of saying we're looking at things in terms of weeks as opposed to months now," he said. "He's made good progress. I just don't know when [he will be available]. He's doing quite a bit more than he has, not in terms of practice, but just in terms of mobility and running around and that sort of stuff. Those things are kind of hard to project, but I still feel like there's a good chance we'll have him. I know he wants to be back. We'll have him at some point during the year."
