BLACKSBURG – After a 28-7 setback to Pitt on Saturday, Virginia Tech football head coach Justin Fuente met with the media for a press conference. Read what he had to say below.
HEAD COACH JUSTIN FUENTE
Opening statement:
"First of all, congratulations to Pat [Narduzzi] and Pittsburgh, they have a good squad. I still believe what I said before the game about their quarterback. That's a fine player. I'll just start off by telling you all the same thing I told the football team in the locker room. It's my responsibility and my job to get us to play as good as we can play, whatever that level is, and at times this season we've hit that. Really at no time today did we hit it. That's not play calling, that's not defensive scheme, that's not special teams, that's not players, that's the head coach. It's the head football coach's responsibility. I let them down, and I'm disappointed and mad at myself. The bottom line is whatever the top level of ability for a football team is, it's my job as coach to maximize it. We fell short of that in every manner today and that lies squarely at my feet. Again, I hope Pat knows I'm not trying to take away from their effort and what they did, I'm just saying I failed our football team today."
On Tech's passing game:
"I don't know if it was one issue. I think the wind on a couple occasions was a little bit of an issue, ball placement was an issue, we had to fight through tight coverage a couple times that was an issue, and we catch the ball but don't secure it all the way to the ground on what would be a big play. It wasn't one thing or one position, I think it was just a combination of everything."
On Tech's running game:
"Against [Pitt's] defense, big plays are few and far between. There are so many hats in there it forces you into the approach we had today. I felt like going into the game if we could find a way to get four to five yards running the ball to force them to continue to play that way, then we had chances for big plays in the passing game."
On quarterback Braxton Burmeister:
"I thought he did what we asked him to do a certain percentage of the time and give our guys a chance to go make some plays. There were some times where he wasn't as accurate or as disciplined in what we're asking him to do. I do think he's made some progress, and there were times where we're getting the expected outcome or delivery of the ball, and then there's times that we're not."