MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – After a 38-26 setback at Miami (Fla.) on Saturday, Virginia Tech football interim head coach J.C. Price and select players met with the media for a press conference. Read what they had to say below.
HEAD COACH J.C. PRICE
On why starting quarterback Braxton Burmeister didn't play much:
"It was just playing the hot hand and was not due to injury. The offense was moving when [Connor] Blumrickwas in there. The threat of him being in there to run and run physically, we thought he was our best chance of moving the ball. It was nothing against Braxton, he's fine and is not injured. We decided that we would go with the hot hand."
On if the game plan coming in was to be aggressive or if the onside kick just felt right:
"We felt like coming into the game there was going to be an opportunity for the bunt kick. And, just like anything, you have tricks, you have gimmicks, the plays that you think can swing momentum, and it's all about the timing of it is. I thought we timed it up well and that's why on that drive we went for two (point conversion). We wanted to maximize that extra possession. The way we started in the first half, I thought we needed an extra possession to close the gap."
On the start defensively:
"Obviously, it was disappointing. We weren't ready to play. And that falls squarely on my shoulders. There's no excuse. There's no asterisk by it. Doesn't matter the situation. I told them before the game started and I told them when the game ended, a loss is a loss. There isn't going to be any asterisk. These kids have gone through more than any team in Tech history and football history. The amount of things these men have had to deal with, all the way back since the start of [Covid-19]. There's been so many times this year that we've been so close. I still love this team. Still like them. Like the fight. The fact that we came back and at halftime nobody panicked. Nobody flinched at halftime. We still felt during the third quarter, beginning of the fourth quarter that we were going to win this game. It just didn't happen."
On the coordinators and his input into play-calling decisions:
"Well, I did my best to stay out of the way. The coordinators did a good job of calling the game. The communication was open and it was positive. I had no problem with the communication."
On the secondary not being up to par and the success that Miami's quarterback Tyler Van Dyke had:
"Well, they've got very good receivers. He's a good quarterback and has got really good arm talent. He made some good throws. But on those throws, we've got to be in better position and make plays on the ball, but we didn't early. A lot of those yards came early in the game. I think when our guys settle down, I think their speed at wideout is really good. We knew going in, that they were a Miami team and possessed great speed. We felt like their offense was built around big plays and if they didn't get big plays, they would have trouble scoring – and that held true. On their big plays, they did score. And if they had to drive it, we were able to get off the field."
QUARTERBACK CONNOR BLUMRICK
On returning from his injury:
"Doctors said like four to six weeks. Right around the four-week mark, I felt good to go and they gave me the go. Did all the tests, I was all cleared to go. So, I felt confident about my week going into tonight."
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN JOHHNY JORDAN
On the turmoil of the past week:
"I think we did a really good job investing in each other and Coach Price did a great job of keeping the team together through the hard time that most teams don't really have to deal with. I think we did a really good job coming together."
WIDE RECEIVER KALEB SMITH
On what the team went through all week:
"That's tough. That's something that you never expect to happen, never expect to see on Tuesday morning, waking up early, heading to practice and then kind of get a bomb dropped on you. But I think the assistant coaches and head coach, J.C. [Price], did their best to show us, yes, this is not normal—they didn't want to pretend like it was normal—but it was [about finding] ways to get us focused. [They tried to] find ways to get us there every day and come out with the same energy."