BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech football players spoke with the media for the first time since its regular season finale victory. Running back Bhayshul Tuten and cornerback Dorian Strong discussed their process of deciding to return to the program. Senior Norell Pollard reflected on his tenure as a Hokie and tight end Benji Gosnell reflected on the bowl game preparation.
Read below to see what they had to say.
Running back Bhayshul Tuten
On Brent Pry's and Elijah Brooks' impact on his return decision:
"They've been very helpful. They would love to see me succeed either way if I come back or go. So, they're just trying to give me just as much information as I need to go either route. They've been a great help."
Cornerback Dorian Strong
On the team's morale after making a bowl game:
"It was fun. Just going there and beating UVA, after all the social media talk like that and the new class coming in introducing them to the rivalry game. It was a big win for us. Just like the season, it didn't go the way we wanted it to go. You know, we had a lot of ups and downs. We fought through a lot of adversity as a team, you know, growth, maturity as a team. Just bringing everybody along and being confident. I think that's ultimately at the end of the day, like, it's just confidence. Like, we had to step on that grass every Saturday with confidence and some games, I don't think, you know, we did that. But just getting this bowl, it's been happy. Everybody's been happy. Just to add to the streak, you know, another bowl for Virginia Tech. So it's fun. Just to have the seniors one last time, have fun with them boys, and just make sure they go out right."
Defensive Lineman Norell Pollard
On the most memorable thing of playing at Tech:
"Just growing as a man. You know, I came in as a boy. Like it goes fast, you know. I always tell the young guys it goes fast. So, just maturing and seeing where I grew up the most. And just being able to look back and be like, yeah, I grew as a person, not only as a football player."
Tight End Benji Gosnell
On the first week of bowl game preparation:
"It's just a good way to kind of get the body right. We have a few days off soon and we've had a few days off. So it's been good to just kind of come back and work the little details like route details, structure details, blocking details, stuff like that. And for the younger guys, we've been getting really good work. We've been doing inner squad scrimmages because obviously, we have some people leaving. So, as far as the tight end room goes, we have some guys in three deep now that are potentially, in 12 personnel and stuff like that. So, it's been great to get them guys incorporated into the inner practice and throughout practice and get them a lot of good reps."
