Virginia Tech football coach Justin Fuente talks with reporters. The Hokies (2-1) host East Carolina (2-1) on Saturday.
Opening Statement: “I want to go over last week’s game briefly. I thought it was a great atmosphere. The fans did a fantastic job. We will need that exact same energy and focus this week. We have a tremendous challenge in front of us. We have plenty to teach off the film from last week. We have improvements to make. To go up against this East Carolina team, they are incredibly dangerous and talented. They have a fantastic tradition there. Obviously, they beat N.C. State. Last week, they completely dominated the game against South Carolina. They had a couple of turnovers in the Red Zone. Otherwise, they would be undefeated. We know what has happened the last two years very well. It definitely has our kids’ attention. I think I have some familiarity with that league. We didn’t play East Carolina too many times when I was at Memphis, but I know the quality of play that we are going to be up against and the type of football players that we are going to play against. We are going to have to have an incredible week of focus and attention to detail in all aspects of the game in order to give ourselves an opportunity to win the game.”
On if he has to bring the previous East Carolina games to the team’s attention: “They all know about it. They know about that. I can assure that East Carolina has a full respect of all our players. We don’t operate on revenge or those types of things. We operate on focusing on ourselves and making sure that we do a great job preparing. We still have to teach in the process and give ourselves a chance to have success.”
On what he told QB Jerod Evans after the TD throw to WR Isaiah Ford in double coverage: “Jerod knows that we aren’t supposed to throw the ball into double coverage like that (chuckles). It’s a minus on the grade sheet and a plus on the result sheet.”
On if the play showed the ability that WR Isaiah Ford has: “It was nice. Obviously, he went up and made the play. We feel good about Isaiah and our chances with him. It was a heck of a catch. I don’t think we want to start chucking it to him with two people on him at a team though.”
On if RB Marshawn Williams looked like he missed anytime on Saturday and how he figures in going forward: “I don’t know. I felt good about the way he played and the he prepared. Two-a-days was really the first time that I had a chance to see him play. I really felt like he was at full strength, and I was pretty excited about him. Obviously, we had a couple weeks there where we couldn’t play him. I thought it was good that he had a lot of work in there at the end (of the game) with the second group. He needed some of that rust off. I didn’t see any rust. It’s not just the first game of the year for him. It’s the first game in some time. We will continue to see how that rotation goes. I know you all are awfully interested in who gets the carries and all that good stuff. It’s not really a central focus for us. We will continue to teach the game plan and see how those guys practice. How they practice usually dictates how we feel about them in terms of playing them in the game.”
On what’s the biggest thing that stands out for East Carolina: “There are several things. First of all, this is a program with great tradition. They have won a lot of games. They have very good football players. When you watch them play, they are athletic. Defensively, they are moving all over the place. They had over 500 yards of offense last week. They had a receiver catch 22 balls last week. They can hurt in so many ways. They are a very good football team. Overall, they are incredibly athletic and well coached. They have a tough mind.”
On why WR Cam Phillips didn’t play early in the game: “He played in the first series.”
On why he played less after that first series: “I didn’t like the way he played in the first series. Playing time is earned, and I love Cam. Cam works hard, and Cam is going to be a good player for us. We have to approach things with the right mind set. It doesn’t matter what position, offense or defense. You have to be ready to execute. He responded in the right way. I liked the way he responded, but you have to do things right.”
On building a program and staying consistent week-in and week-out: “It’s an incredibly difficult thing to do. That’s why you see upsets every week. That’s why you see disappointing performances. These kids have other things that are going on in their lives on top of the football games. They have exams, girlfriends and family members. Maintaining your focus week-in and week-out, handling your emotions and the ups and downs of the game is hard. The bottom line is that there are some games that you play on an emotional high and there are some games that you have to work really hard in. Trying to lay the ground week in a 12, one-game season is hard. Regardless of the outcome, you have to turn the page and throw all of your focus into the next game. The only way I know how to do it is to approach every Tuesday the same. The same level of intensity and the same demanding demeanor that we have on the practice field. We are not going to settle for anything less than our guys best. That’s what I told them yesterday in so many words. If they think that this Tuesday is going to be any different than last Tuesday, then they are wrong. We absolutely still have things to fix, and we have to bring in a great amount of focus to this game.”
On redshirt the ejection of DE Houshun Gaines for targeting: “There’s no recourse for those things. It’s a good call. I think it’s the correct call. I don’t think it was malicious in any way. It’s a very tough play to coach because he is not allowed to block low. As a result of us legislating safety, which I fully agree with, there are going to be some plays like that where guys lose opportunities to play. That’s just the way it is. He could’ve lowered his target a little bit, but we showed it to the whole team and talked about it. We don’t like it, but there is not much we can do about it. I certainly understand our standpoint on safety.”
On how P Mitchell Ludwig has improved: “He did a good job in the red zone. It was nice to have some of those short fields. We work really hard. We do it every Tuesday on red zone punts. I think those are big plays. The only criticism I have with our team is that we didn’t celebrate them enough. We didn’t act like those were big plays. The feeling that an offense gets when that ball bounces into the end zone as opposed to when you down it on the eightyard line is dramatic. It’s a sense of relief, and I am proud to see us make progress in terms of our red zone punting. There still quite a few things that we have to work on in terms of punting. It is not all Mitchell. We did do a good job. We were efficient down there.”
On ball control and if he was happy with the preparation in terms of ball control: “We did a good job. We will continue to draw the line in the sand and demand that we see visual evidence of those things going through our kids’ minds, whether they are in traffic or in the open field. We saw great examples of that on film and talked about some of those on Sunday. Hopefully, we can continue that. For us to have a chance to be successful, we are going to have to do a better job at it.”
On if he had to bring the team down after the big win on Saturday: “I don’t know. We had a quick workout yesterday. We talked about that and how everyone is going to tell you how great you are until this Saturday. You have to prove it. You have to go out and play. We try and address those things. I know those external factors are things that we have to mature with and understand how handle it. I try to explain to them that we live in overreaction society. I am not pointing my fingers at anybody. Everything is either the best thing ever or the worst thing ever. There is never any in between. It’s up to us to mediate that. We have to make sure we understand that it is a process. We try to ignore those external things and focus on the task at hand.”
On if he is comfortable with what he sees at the center position: “I am not comfortable with it at all. We have to keep working and try to get it worked out. It’s a process for us right now. That’s about as much comment on it as I can give you. We are still working on it right now.”
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Chris Graham
