Hokie ClubBy Jimmy Robertson
Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente and Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops met with the media Wednesday morning at a news conference in Charlotte, as part of the buildup for the upcoming Belk Bowl on New Year's Eve.
The news conference featured several questions, and of course, the Hokies' last appearance in the Belk Bowl came up. Tech played Arkansas in 2016 – Fuente's first season – and the Hokies trailed 24-0 at halftime. But behind Jerod Evans, Tech scored 35 unanswered in the second half and won, capping the largest comeback in school history. Evans accounted for 330 yards and four touchdowns – two passing and two rushing.
"I remember a great week of preparation and a great week of enjoying Charlotte with activities," Fuente said. "I felt in all earnest that our players had a really good time. We had a great senior class that really wanted to win the game. When it got to game time, we did not play well in the first half. Arkansas did play well. It was not a situation where we were sleep walking in the first half. We had great leadership, and we just weren't playing very well. Our guys really responded at halftime and came out and played up to our ability the second half and found a way to win the game."
This year's matchup features two teams that played well the latter part of the season. The Hokies enter the game with an 8-4 record and having won six of their past eight games, while the Wildcats come in at 7-5 – but winners of three straight and all by more than three touchdowns.
Fuente, who has been busy juggling staff changes and recruiting responsibilities, said he has watched film of the Wildcats' defense, but seemed more anxious to take a look at what Stoops and his staff are doing on offense. Injuries forced Stoops to move Lynn Bowden from receiver to quarterback, and he led the Wildcats to five wins in his seven starts. In those seven games, he rushed for 1,137 yards, including a 284-yard, four-touchdown performance against Louisville in the season finale.
"When you play a Stoops brother, you know you're going to get great defense," Fuente said. "I've watched them on that side of the ball through several games. Obviously, very well coached and doing a fantastic job there.
"I'm looking forward to looking at, in depth, what they're doing offensively. I know they've made some changes at quarterback. They've had to think outside the box and been really productive with it. Tremendous credit to Coach and his staff for being willing to adapt and find ways to be effective and win games. I'm looking forward to looking at what they're doing and how they're doing it."
Tech practiced last weekend and the team returns to the practice field again this weekend and will practice at various times next week, though university students will be in the middle of exams.
FUENTE TALKS STAFF CHANGES
On Sunday, Fuente tabbed safeties coach Justin Hamilton as the new defensive coordinator once Bud Foster retires after the game. On Wednesday, he explained his rationale.
"I didn't not offer the job to anybody except Justin," Fuente said. "It just kept coming back to him and his ability to lead and our ability to surround him with a great staff. Justin is going to be our defensive coordinator moving forward, but a staff is a puzzle, and you're putting pieces of the puzzle together. We're pretty far down the road in terms of doing that … We'll be able to announce those things moving forward.
"There are a lot of variables in terms of timing of announcement. I can just tell you that we're pretty far down the road in terms of staff. But it just came down to Justin and his leadership and his intelligence. I believe he is a star in the making in this business. I just kept feeling that he was going to be the guy to be beat. He set the bar in terms of what we were looking for, and I just did not feel like anybody exceeded his ability to do that job."
More changes are in the works, as cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell and running backs coach Zohn Burden will not be coaching in the bowl game and will be departing the staff.
Fuente announced Wednesday that Adam Lechtenberg, who was serving as an assistant head coach/executive director of player development, will move into the role as running backs coach. In his previous role, Lechtenberg worked directly with Fuente in overseeing the program's recruiting efforts and managing Tech's roster. The Butte, Nebraska native originally joined the Virginia Tech staff as director of player development in March 2017 and had worked with Fuente at Memphis from 2012-15.