BLACKSBURG – After a 41-36 setback to Syracuse 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:
"Again, thanks to everybody that came out. That's a tough way to lose a ballgame. Really proud of our kids again. I mean, they keep putting forth incredible efforts on the field, all the way to the end. I hurt for our players just because of the effort and the exertion they put out there today. They find a way to be up towards the end and then fought all the way until the last play the game, trying to find a way to win it. We'll have to get them rounded back together and get ready to go next week."
On what he says to a team after some close losses now:
"For us it's three times – West Virginia, Notre Dame and Syracuse. They have to believe that they're going to get paid off for the effort they're putting in. They have to believe that it's a test to see how long they can hold the rope, how long they can continue to put that effort out there, believing that they're doing it for the right reasons and going to find a way to get rewarded. We desperately want them to get rewarded. We've been really close three separate times."
On if he's disappointed they couldn't run out the clock more on the second-to-last drive:
"Yeah, I'm disappointed. I would've loved to have ended the game right there. But they had packed it all in after about the fourth drive of the game. We hit two huge runs with everybody in the box. I don't know that you're going to continue to do that versus cover zero with everyone in the box. It's just difficult to try and find ways to creatively run the football into those looks."
On what he liked from running back Malachi Thomas:
"He just continues to get better. He's shown up in fall camp, he's shown up through the early part of the season. Now the thing is beginning to trust him without the ball in his hands, protections, those sorts of things. He's made huge strides and he has a good feel for running the football. He's somebody that we made a concerted effort this week to get in there and hand him the ball and see what happened."