By Jimmy Robertson
BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente and coordinators Justin Hamilton and Brad Cornelsen met with media members via video teleconference Tuesday morning and touched on an assortment of topics, as the Hokies recently concluded the halfway point of their season and now gear up for an interesting – and dangerous – nonconference match-up with unbeaten and No. 25 Liberty on Saturday.
The game pits Fuente against Liberty coach Hugh Freeze, and the two of them know each other well. While at Memphis, Fuente coached against Freeze on two occasions when Freeze was the head coach at Ole Miss. The two touch base from time to time, including most recently at a Nike clinic.
Freeze has quickly turned Liberty into a formidable opponent. In his debut season last year, the Flames went 8-5 and won the Cure Bowl, and this season, they are 6-0, with wins over Syracuse and Southern Miss.
"I'm not surprised, no," Fuente said. "He's at a place with resources, and he's been proven to be a more than capable football coach through his many, many stops. I'm not surprised at all."
The Hokies sit at 4-2 on the season, thanks to an offense that averages 290.2 yards rushing and 37.7 points per game. The Hokies rank first among Power 5 schools in rushing offense and fourth nationally, and they rank in the top 20 in scoring offense.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Saturday, Nov. 7 – noon
Lane Stadium; Blacksburg, Va.
vs. Liberty (6-0)
Head Coach: Hugh Freeze (Second season)
Record at school: 14-5; Career: 56-37 (10th season)
Series: Tech leads 1-0 Last: Sept. 3, 2016 (W, 36-13)
Live Stats: CLICK HERE
Broadcast: ACC Network
Play-by-Play: Chris Cotter
Analyst: Mark Herzlich
Sideline: Taylor Davis
Radio: Virginia Tech Sports Properties
Play-by-Play: Jon Laaser
Analyst: Mike Burnop
Sideline: Wes McElroy
Virginia Tech Game Notes: CLICK HERE
Here are some takeaways from the day's media teleconference:
• Before the season kicked off, Fuente had planned on playing both Hendon Hooker and Braxton Burmeister at quarterback. But Burmeister hasn't played a snap in each of the past three games, and Hooker – given his 10-for-10 performance Saturday against Louisville – appears to have widened the gap between the two. Hooker moved to 8-3 as a starting quarterback at Tech with the Hokies' win Saturday at Louisville.
"There have been a lot of things happen that most people don't know about," Fuente said. "Obviously, Braxton's been dealing with things. It's just the way this season is, so we just take it week by week and keep going. With what information we had at the time, which seems like two years ago, but when we were starting the season, or thought we were starting the season, we announced that Hendon was going to start and Braxton was going to play and so on and so forth. Those were basically the best decisions we had at the time, and that's the way we'll keep doing. It's just you never really feel settled in 2020."
• Speaking of Hooker, the redshirt junior would be in the top 25 nationally in individual passing efficiency provided he had enough passing attempts. Aside from a three-interception game at Wake Forest in a 23-16 loss, Hooker continues to impress the staff. He's completing 63.4% of his passes, with four touchdowns, and he leads the team with seven rushing touchdowns.
"Certainly, there's been some ups and downs, but that comes with the position a little bit," Cornelsen said. "He continues to compete. It's what he brought to us last year the most. He got out there and competed, and the element that he adds, kind of that X factor, with his athleticism and carrying the ball and breaking tackles and scrambling out of the pocket when things break down and breaking one tackle, he's continued to do that, which is huge. It's been a crazy year for him and for all of us, so those ups and downs are there, but he continues to show and try to get better every day, and that's what all those guys are doing and need to continue to do."
• Khalil Herbert continues to get the lion's share of carries and attention within Tech's offense, and justifiably so after averaging 134 yards rushing per game in the Hokies' first six games. But Tech's staff wants to get Rutgers transfer Raheem Blackshear more involved. The dynamic Blackshear hasn't played poorly, but hasn't exploded yet, ranking third on the team in rushing at 221 yards and averaging 4.3 yards per carry. He's caught just five passes for 29 yards.
Cornelsen said that Blackshear's versatility actually is holding him back, as Tech's staff keeps moving him around and forcing him to learn multiple positions to create added depth in this pandemic-plagued season.
"It's a continual process," Cornelsen said. "I know he hasn't gotten the ball as much as he would like to, and we haven't been able to get him the ball as much as we would like to, so it's a continued process. It's not going to be something that you snap your fingers and it happens. It'll be something that we'll continue to work at, and because he's doing so many things, he's still learning the intricacies of those two or three positions that he kind of has to learn."
• Through the halfway point of the season, only three true receivers have receptions – Tré Turner, Tayvion Robinson and Kaleb Smith. Tech's staff continues to rely heavily on tight ends James Mitchell (who leads the team with 18 receptions) and Nick Gallo, who possess the ability to play outside as receivers, but the staff hopes to see a few other receivers emerge, as the Hokies enter the second half of the season.
"Those guys, between Evan Fairs and Changa Hodge, a couple of the young guys – Darryle (Simmons) and E-Bo (Elijah Bowick) – those guys get plenty of work and plenty of reps in practice, and they're coming along," Cornelsen said. "They've just got to stay the course because their number is going to be called at some point, and they've got to be ready to go."
• Hamilton met with the media for the first time since being hired as the defensive coordinator, and he started out by apologizing for not being available over the past several months. Of course, he's been quite busy as a coordinator, as a father for the third time, and as a recovering COVID victim.
Hamilton missed the first two games of the season, and he talked about the toll that it took on him, as he watched his defense take on NC State and Duke – both victories.
"At home during that time, it was probably the most useless that I ever felt," he said. "I'm conducting meetings, I'm with the players, but there is someone running the film and rewinding, playing, pausing while I'm trying to commentate over Zoom about it. The same thing in the unit meetings, and then at home, with a week-old son and two other children, I'm isolated to where they can't be around me. They can't be in the bedroom, so I'm of no use to them, and it felt like I was no use to the football team.
"So it was a tough time, and it was very challenging, but I found the hope in knowing that I was there for our kids and that we have a good group of coaches that can step up to those challenges, and they did."
Hamilton made his debut as Tech's defensive coordinator in the North Carolina game, and it didn't go as he wanted. The Hokies played without their starting safeties, were forced to juggle personnel at different spots, and ultimately fell 56-49 in Chapel Hill.
"Your welcome back gift is arguably one of the top three, four quarterbacks in the country and those backs and receivers," Hamilton said. "It's been a challenge. For me, I try to look at it as right now as we just put our head down and just try to get to the next day and the next opponent. I hope in five or 10 years I can look back and say that I really grew and developed as a human being during this time."