Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Following its game Thursday against West Virginia, Virginia Tech football met with the media for a press conference. Read below for what head coach Brent Pry, receiver Kaleb Smith and defensive back Chamarri Conner had to say.
Head coach Brent Pry
Opening statement:
"First, I want to say a lot of thank yous. To the fans, it was an unbelievable environment to start that game off. It felt fantastic down there. I appreciate everybody coming out. We had Commissioner [Jim] Phillips from the ACC. Appreciate him coming to Blacksburg and spending some time with us. Obviously, disappointed. We didn't play complementary football. We're at a point right now as a team that we have to do that. We can't leave too much to overcome in any phase. Either we weren't making them earn it or we were shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit. We got to own it and be better in a bunch of areas, and we can be. That's the encouraging thing. That's a good football team. I don't want to take anything away from West Virginia. I thought they probably played their best game of the season. They've got a pretty good football team. Got some good skill. If we play a cleaner, smarter game – I think it was 16-10 going into the fourth (quarter) – we got a chance, but we didn't play very well."
On where the team is in establishing an identity in the program:
"We got to be a team that plays with fundamentals and technique. I'm a big believer in that. I feel like right now, in tight situations, we have a tendency to press and not play with fundamentals and technique. We play outside the framework and we get out of sorts. We got to fix that, and it's fixable."
Receiver Kaleb Smith
On how his body is holding up due to nagging injuries recently:
"It's been a struggle with a few minor injuries, but I'm feeling the best that I have coming out of camp."
On how disheartening it was seeing a multitude of penalties once again:
"I mean, it's frustrating for sure. It's something that we take on ourselves to work at every day and every week. It's hard to win a game as it is, so when you add those penalties on top, it puts more weight on our shoulders."
Defensive back Chamarri Conner
On if he felt like the team was pressing at all and how to explain the penalties:
"I feel like we made a lot of mistakes. The guys were trying to go hard and leave it all out there, and sometimes it just works out like that. We got to get better. We got to get better when it comes to those things."
On West Virginia's 17-minute possession time advantage and if the defense got fatigued in the fourth quarter:
"That's part of the game. Whatever comes at us, we have to attack it head on. We just have to attack it head on and keep playing and keep fighting."