By Jimmy Robertson
BLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech football team returned to the practice field Sunday still in a state of elation after playing its best game of the season in Saturday's upset of then-No. 22 Wake Forest.
The Hokies held Wake Forest to season lows in both points (17) and yards (301), and they scored the final 23 points of the game in a 36-17 victory. The win marked the Hokies' fourth in their past five games, with the only defeat being a 21-20 heartbreaker at Notre Dame on Nov. 2.
Virginia Tech now enters the final three weekends of the season in control of its own destiny in the ACC's Coastal Division. Win its final three games, and Virginia Tech will be playing for the ACC title Dec. 7 in Charlotte. The road to that starts Saturday in Atlanta, where the Hokies face Georgia Tech – and will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak to the Yellow Jackets.
No one anticipated any of this six weeks ago, particularly following the Hokies' 45-10 loss to Duke at Lane Stadium. The Blue Devils dominated in every phase of the game, and Virginia Tech looked destined for an awful season after starting conference play 0-2.
The performance prompted a season-changing team meeting – one in which head coach Justin Fuente took responsibility and promised changes.
"I just put it up there, and I told them, 'This is my fault. We are not a tough football team right now. We're not mentally, we're not emotionally tough, and we didn't play physically tough. There's examples of it on the film, and this is not your fault. It's my fault.'" Fuente said at his weekly Monday news conference. "I said, 'It's changing. Right now. I've let you down, and that's on me. I encourage everybody to look themselves in the mirror when things don't go well, and I'm doing it right now. I'm telling you, we're changing this. I'm going back to being myself. I'm not worried about anything else. If you want to go be a part of it, I'll see you on the practice field.'
"Guys have done a great job with it. I don't know how they feel individually, [but] that was my responsibility. I told them like it was and told them we're never going back to that. Doesn't mean we're going to win every game. We're not putting that on the field anymore."
Fuente didn't explain totally what he meant by going back to being himself, nor did he get into specifics about what he changed.
"The way we went about thing was different than what I had always done, and that's my fault," he said. "Quit worrying about all that stuff and just worry about getting our guys ready to play."
Obviously, his change worked, though he faces arguably his biggest challenge to date. Players often find it easy to get motivated for a big game or a special occasion – such as Bud Foster's recognition Saturday – but can this group be mature enough to win a road game against a team with a 2-7 record?
The Yellow Jackets actually have played teams tough. They've lost three games by 10 points or less, including a 33-28 defeat at Virginia on Saturday.
"Those guys are really playing hard in all three phases," Fuente said. "We are 0-3 the last three years against Georgia Tech. They came into our stadium and beat the mess out of us last year, so we've got to have a great week of preparation, as we move forward to our next challenge."
Here are some other notes from Monday's news conference:
VIRGINIA TECH STAFF TO SEE FAMILIAR FACE
The Virginia Tech coaching staff is quite familiar with Georgia Tech quarterback James Graham, who was once the high school teammate of Hokie offensive lineman Lecitus Smith. Graham, who has thrown for 952 yards and eight touchdowns, attended a Virginia Tech camp, though the Hokies' staff looked at him more as a wide receiver or defensive back.
"He's competitive," Fuente said. "You love those guys that play quarterback in high school, and he may have gone on to be a quarterback [at Virginia Tech]. Obviously, he is now, having success. He played for a good program. He was a good, tough, talented player coming through the high school ranks."
IMPROVED RUSHING ATTACK
Almost quietly, Virginia Tech ranks fifth in the ACC in rushing offense at 172.2 yards rushing per game, and in fact, only trails fourth-place Wake Forest by a yard. The Hokies rushed for less than 140 yards in three of their first four games, but have rushed for at least 150 in four of their past five games – a string that coincides with Hendon Hooker's insertion into the starting lineup and with the staff's commitment to playing true freshmen Bryan Hudson and Doug Nester.
"We're gaining some experience, and certainly we made a change at quarterback," Fuente said. "We haven't done anything really new schematically. I do believe our execution level has increased and our technique has gotten better. You can look at a bunch of different factors for that."
